Aeneas
If the tale of Romulus and Remus appears the more popular Roman founding tale
today, then the tale of Aeneas, harking back to yet earlier times, was perhaps the more
popular in the days of the Roman Empire. In fact through Virgil the Aeneid became the
national epic of the Roman empire and the most famous poem of the Roman era.
Aeneas was to have been a hero fighting the Greeks in the Trojan wars. The son of
Venus and a mortal father, he escaped as the great city of Troy was sacked. After quite
an odyssey he landed in Latium through which the river Tiber flows. Aeneas married
the daughter of King Latinus, only to aggrieve King Turnus of Rutuli who himself had
his eye on her. As usual in ancient tales, there ensued a war for the princess between
Turnus and Aeneas, who was by then supported by King Tarchon of the Etruscans.
Naturally Aeneas, son of Venus, was triumphant.
The sack of Troy is dated to around 1220 BC. To fill the years from Aeneas to Romulus
the Romans therefore were required to produce a string of fictional Kings to make the
tale work. This was done across all the generations with some ease from Ascanius, son
of Aeneas to Numitor, grandfather of Romulus and Remus.
Story 2:According to Roman versions of the myth, Aeneas and his followers founded
Rome, and he became its first great hero and legendary father.
of the royal family of Troy. One day Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love (called Venus
by the Romans), saw Anchises on the hills of Mount Ida near his home. The goddess
was so overcome by the handsome youth that she seduced him and bore him a son,
Aeneas.
Mountain nymphs raised Aeneas until he was five years old, when he was sent to live
with his father. Aphrodite had made Anchises promise not to tell anyone that she was
the boy's mother. Still, he did so and was struck by lightning. In some versions of the
legend, the lightning killed Anchises; in others, it made him blind or lame. Later
variations have Anchises surviving and being carried out of Troy by his son after the
war. When the Greeks invaded Troy, Aeneas did not join the conflict immediately. Some
versions of the myth say that he entered the war on the side of his fellow Trojans only
after the Greek hero Achilles had stolen his cattle. Aeneas's reluctance to join the
fighting stemmed, in part, from the prickly relationship he had with King Priam of Troy.
Some sources say that Aeneas resented the fact that Priam's son Hector was supreme
commander of the Trojan forces. For his part, Priam disliked Aeneas because the sea
god Poseidon had predicted that the descendants of Aeneas, not those of Priam, would
rule the Trojans in the future. Nevertheless, during the Trojan War, Aeneas married
Creusa, one of Priam's daughters, and they had a son named Ascanius.
According to Greek tradition, Aeneas was one of the Trojans' leaders, their greatest
warrior after Hector. An upright and moral man, he was often called "the pious"
because of his respect for the gods and his obedience to their commands. In return, the
gods treated Aeneas well. Not only his mother, Aphrodite, but also the powerful gods
Poseidon and Apollo gave him their protection.
There are various accounts of the last days of the Trojan War. One story relates that
Aphrodite warned Aeneas that Troy would fall and that he left the city and took refuge
on Mount Ida, where he established a new kingdom. In later years, several cities on the
mountain boasted that they had been founded by Aeneas. Another version states that
Aeneas fought bravely to the end of the war and either escaped from Troy with a band of
followers or was allowed to depart by the victorious Greeks, who respected his honor
and piety.
The Roman Tradition. By the 300s B . C ., Rome was a rising power in the
Mediterranean world. As the city grew larger and more powerful, it faced a dilemma.
The Romans shared many myths and legends with the Greeks and had considerable
respect for Greece's ancient culture. At the same time, however, the Romans did not
want to be overshadowed by Greek culture and tradition. They wanted their own
connections to the ancient world of gods and heroes.
Roman writers found a perfect link to the legendary past with Aeneas, who was
supposed to have come to Italy around the time of the founding of Rome. Furthermore,
because Aeneas was a Trojan, he could give the Romans what they wanted—an
ancestry that was connected to the ancient heroes yet separate from the Greeks.
Over the centuries, a number of Roman myths developed about Aeneas. According to
Roman tradition, Aeneas fought with great courage in Troy until messages from
Aphrodite and Hector convinced him to leave the city. Carrying his father on his back
and holding his son by the hand, Aeneas led his supporters out of burning Troy. During
the confusion, Aeneas's wife, Creusa, became separated from the fleeing Trojans.
Aeneas returned to search for Creusa but could not find her.
Aeneas and his followers found safety on Mount Ida, where they began building ships.
After several months, they set sail to the west. Dreams and omens told Aeneas that he
was destined to found a new kingdom in the land of his ancestors, the country today
called Italy.