Virgil: Aeneid

Virgil’s Aeneid is commonly regarded as one of the most influential works of ancient Roman literature, offering a sweeping epic that chronicles the perilous journey of Aeneas, a Trojan hero destined by the gods to found Rome. The Latin epic poem was written by the Roman poet Virgil between 29 and 19 BCE and comprises 9,896 lines in dactylic hexameter. The first six of the poem’s twelve books tell the story of Aeneas’s wanderings from Troy to Italy, while the second half recounts the Trojans’ ultimately victorious war against the Latins. The poem begins with Aeneas fleeing the fiery ruins of Troy after its fall to the Greeks, and his journey across the Mediterranean is fraught with dangers, daring escapes, and divine interventions. Along the way, Aeneas faces trials such as encounters with the vengeful goddess Juno and the temptations of Queen Dido of Carthage.