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Aeneas
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. 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.
Romulus and Remus
Romulus and Remus were twin brothers. Their father was Mars, the God of War, their mother was Rhea Silvia, a vestal virgin and daughter of the King, Numitor.
Numitor's brother, Amulius, had taken the throne from him and had forced Rhea Silvia to become a vestal virgin so that she would not have any children who might try to
take back the throne.
When the boys were born, Amulius seized them, put them into a basket and threw them into the river Tiber. He hoped that they would drown. However, the boys
were rescued by a she-wolf who fed the babies with her own milk and cared for them. They grew up and were found by the shepherd Faustulus, who took them
home and looked after them until they were grown up.
The two young men discovered who they really were and decided to kill Amulius and Put their grandfather back on the throne. After doing this they decided to build a
city of their own but could not agree where to build it. Remus favoured the Aventine Hill but Romulus wanted to use the Palatine Hill. They could not reach an agreement
and so each began to build his own city enclosed with walls.
One day, Remus visited Romulus and made fun of his wall by jumping over it and saying how easily it could be breached. Romulus was so annoyed that he killed
Remus and said the he would kill anyone who mocked his city or tried to break through the walls of Rome.
The legend says that Romulus became the first King of Rome in 753BC and populated his new city with runaway slaves and convicted criminals. He stole women
from the Sabine tribe to provide wives for the slaves and criminals and to populate his new city.
The Sabine tribe were not happy about this and declared war on Rome. The war went on for many years but eventually the Sabine tribe and Romulus reached an
agreement and the Sabines became a part of Rome under the Kingship of Romulus. The legend ends by telling how Romulus was carried up to the heavens by his
father, Mars, and was worshipped as the God Quirinus.