I have to.
Written during the Pax Augusta, a time of great optimism for Rome, Virgil's Aeneid chronicles the adventures of Aeneas, the Trojan hero & mythical progenitor of the Roman people.
Due to the help of his mother, he is the lone Trojan able to escape defeat at the hands of the Greeks, fleeing with his father on his back & his son in his hand. Aeneas eventually winds up in Italy, where his son founds the city Alba Longa, the predecessor of Rome. Between the 2 cities, Aeneas has a long journey & many adventures.
In a dream, Aeneas is told that he is destined to sail to Italy, known then as Hesperia, the Western Country. On the way, he & his crew encounter the same Harpies whom the Argonauts battled. Unable to defeat them, they are forced to escape. They next encounter Hector's widow, Andromache, enslaved by Achilles' son after the war. After her captor's death, she marries the Trojan prophet Helenus. Helenus tells Aeneas that he should land on the western coast of Italy & gives him directions & tells him how to avoid the dire Scylla & Charybdis. He does not know about other dangers along the route. Luckily, when the Trojans land on the island of the Cyclopes, they meet a sailor whom Ulysses (Odysseus) has left behind. They escape just as Polyphemus charges the ship.
Juno is still angry with the Trojans, however, as she still resents Paris choosing Venus over her & has learned that Aeneas's descendants are fated to found a city that will one day destroy Carthage, her favorite city. Juno recruits Aeolus, King of the Winds, to send a gigantic storm. Though Neptune's intervention saves the Trojans, they are blown off course all the way to Africa, near Carthage. Juno conspires to have Aeneas fall in love with Carthage's queen, Dido, figuring that if he does, he will not leave Carthage. Venus makes her own plan, & sends Cupid to ensure that Dido falls in love with Aeneas & that Aeneas never reciprocates the feelings. Dido lavishes attention on Aeneas & his men, he
Due to the help of his mother, he is the lone Trojan able to escape defeat at the hands of the Greeks, fleeing with his father on his back & his son in his hand. Aeneas eventually winds up in Italy, where his son founds the city Alba Longa, the predecessor of Rome. Between the 2 cities, Aeneas has a long journey & many adventures.
In a dream, Aeneas is told that he is destined to sail to Italy, known then as Hesperia, the Western Country. On the way, he & his crew encounter the same Harpies whom the Argonauts battled. Unable to defeat them, they are forced to escape. They next encounter Hector's widow, Andromache, enslaved by Achilles' son after the war. After her captor's death, she marries the Trojan prophet Helenus. Helenus tells Aeneas that he should land on the western coast of Italy & gives him directions & tells him how to avoid the dire Scylla & Charybdis. He does not know about other dangers along the route. Luckily, when the Trojans land on the island of the Cyclopes, they meet a sailor whom Ulysses (Odysseus) has left behind. They escape just as Polyphemus charges the ship.
Juno is still angry with the Trojans, however, as she still resents Paris choosing Venus over her & has learned that Aeneas's descendants are fated to found a city that will one day destroy Carthage, her favorite city. Juno recruits Aeolus, King of the Winds, to send a gigantic storm. Though Neptune's intervention saves the Trojans, they are blown off course all the way to Africa, near Carthage. Juno conspires to have Aeneas fall in love with Carthage's queen, Dido, figuring that if he does, he will not leave Carthage. Venus makes her own plan, & sends Cupid to ensure that Dido falls in love with Aeneas & that Aeneas never reciprocates the feelings. Dido lavishes attention on Aeneas & his men, he