Curriculum Online - The Journey of Aeneas

(i) Mapwork

Using a map show thelocations of: Troy, Mount Ida, Thrace, Delos, Crete, Strophades, Actium, Corfu, Sicily, Carthage, Tyre, and Rome.

(ii) Primary Source

"the Aeneid".

(iii) Summary of the "Journey"

As Troy burned, Aeneas's mother Venus appeared and told her son to flee. She said it was the Gods who were to blame for the fall of Troy.
Anchises picked up the statues of the family Gods (Penates) and then Aeneas lifted him on to his back as he was an old and feeble man. Aeneas to ok Ascanius, his son, by the hand and his wife Creusa walked beside them. This was a classic example of Roman "pietas" and the reason why Aeneas was referred to as "pius" Aeneas. they arranged to meet their friends and servants at a hillock outside Troy and near Mount Ida.
when Aeneas arrived at the hill he realised his wife was not there. He was desperate and rushed back to Troy. He searched the burning city for his wife but could not find her. Finally the ghost of his wife appeared. The Gods had taken her and she told Aeneas not to worry but to go to Italy where he would marry a new Queen.
Aeneas, broken-hearted, returned to the hill where the others were waiting. They built ships and set out on their journey which led the m along the following route:-

(1) Thrace (NE of Troy - the Cicone area of the Odyssey)

Aeneas intended to build a city there and call it after himself but when he began to prepare the ground, blood oozed from the roots of the plants. it was the burial place of Polydorus the son of King Priam of Troy, who was killed by his treacherous host. Aeneas therefore moved on.

(2) Delos (Aegean Sea)

Aeneas entered the temple of Apollo. The oracle told him to move on to the place of his ancestors. Anchises interpreted this to be Crete.

(3) Crete (Mediterranean Sea)

They went to Knossos. One legend says that Aeneas's ancestors were from Crete. However, while sleeping, Aeneas had a vision. The Penates appeared and told him to go to Italy. (Another legend says his ancestors were from Italy). They set off again.

(4) The Strophades Islands (Ionian Sea, W° Peloponnese)

The Harpies lived here. Celaeno, One of the Harpies, told them that Italy was their destination. Anchises told them to move on. They passed Ithaca (home of Odysseus), visited Leucate and arrived in Actium.

(5) Actium (W. Greece)

Aeneas held the Trojan Games here
He fixed a shield on One of the doors in their memory. It had been taken from the Greeks during the Trojan War.
They then moved on to Buthrotum.

(6) Buthrotum (on the Greek mainland opposite Corfu)

Aeneas was surprised to meet Andromache here. Andromache was the wife of Hector who was killed by Achilles during the Trojan War. Andromache was now married to another son of Priam - Helenus - and they lived here in Greece. Andromache enquired about Aeneas's young son Ascanius. Helenus then appeared. he had built Buthrotum to resemble Troy. Aeneas referred to it as the "Little Troy". Helenus, prophesied the remainder of Aeneas's journey [Carthage was not mentioned]. he said Aeneas would know, by a sign, when to build his city in Italy. the city was to be built when Aeneas saw a white sow with thirty young. He had to offer sacrifice and clothe himself in a purple garment.
Before they left, Andromache gave gifts of mantles to Ascanius who reminded her of her little dead son Astyanax.

(7) Ceraunia (coastof Albania)

They sailed north to Ceraunia and beached for the night. From here they could see Italy (this was the shortest distance across the Adriatic to Italy).

(8) Italy (South Coast)

On reaching Italy they saw Minerva's temple and the prophetic sign of the four white horses.

These were the sign of the war which they had tofight i n Italy. They sacrificed to Juno, as Helenus had suggested, and continued on their way until they reached Tarentum. From here it was said that they could see Mount Etna (Sicily) and hear Charybdis (the whirlpool). They continued not knowing where they were and drifted to Sicily.

(9) Sicily (Cyclops Harbour - East Coast)

From here they could see Mount Etna

A stranger - dirty and hungry - appeared from the forest. He was Achaemenides. He said he was a Greek and was left there by Odysseus and his men when they visited the Cyclops cave. he described the giants and the cave of Polyphemus. He related how Odysseus and his men blinded the Cyclops. Polyphemus then appeared and they took the stranger on board and moved off (read the passage on Polyphemus in "Aeneid" Book III).

They decided not to go near Scylla and Charybdis (this was between Sicily and the toe of Italy and would have been the shortest way to the west coast of Italy). [Sailing between Scylla and Charybdis is used idiomatically to indicate a choice of situations where each alternative presents danger].
They took the longer journey around Sicily instead and passed by Selinus. Shortly after, Aeneas' father, Anchises, died. they left Sicily again.

Juno asked Aeolus, the God of Winds, to start a storm. Aeneas and his men were caught out at sea in the storm. Neptune, God of the Sea, stilled the storm and Aeneas, exhausted, made for the nearest coast, which was Africa.

(10) Carthage

Aeneas met Queen Dido. She was from Tyre (Phoenicia - known today as Lebanon).
her husband was Sychaeus; she loved him deeply but he was killed by her brother.

She had to escape to avoid being killed also and she was building a new city in Carthage. She was very beautiful and was compared to Diana.

She was independent and intelligent and was making her own laws and directing the work. She was cultured, and the temple to Juno which she was building showed her love of art. It featured pictures of the Trojan war including Aeneas himself. She was loved by her people who respected and looked up to her. She had high morals and had taken an oath to her dead husband never to marry again.

Juno and Venus plotted to make Aeneas and Dido fall in love. Venus sent Cupid (in the form of Ascanius) to give presents to Dido and Cupid would then make her fall for Aeneas. Dido felt uneasy at falling in love with Aeneas. She did not want to break her oath to her dead husband. She discussed the situation with her sister Anna who persuaded her to allow herself fall for Aeneas for the following reasons:

she was lonely and had no children
she was surrounded in Africa by enemies
her brother could come from Tyre and kill her too
if she married Aeneas it would bring fame to Carthage

Next day Aeneas and Dido went hunting. the Gods sent a heavy shower and they sheltered in the same cave! Dido and Venus considered that there was a marriage. Aeneas, however, although he liked Dido did not consider it a marriage. Jupiter sent Mercury to tell Aeneas that he had to continue to Italy. Aeneas was up set and wondered how he would tell Dido. He ordered his men to prepare the boats. Dido then realised that Aeneas was going and she was very angry. She called him a traitor. She felt very let down and also felt she had let herself down. She asked Anna to try and persuade him to stay.

but for Aeneas, following the Will of the Gods was more important and so he vowed to leave. Dido asked Anna to build a pyre so that she could destroy everything associated with Aeneas. Anna built the pyre and Dido stepped on to it and killed herself.

By now Aeneas had left and was heading for Sicily again. From the sea he could see the flames and guessed what Dido was doing.

(11) Sicily

Aeneas and his men arrived in Sicily for a second time. It was here his father had died twelve months earlier. Aeneas decided to have games in his honour. Before the games he went to the burial mound and offered sacrifice.
The games consisted of:-
(a) a boat race
(b) a running race
(c) bow and arrow competition
(d) a boxing competition
(e) a parade of horses, led by Ascanius.

(Contrast these games with the Games for Patroclus in Book XXIII of the "Iliad").

Juno made the women go mad and they set fire to the ships.

Aeneas was now seven years wandering and wondered if he should stay in Sicily. But the prophet Nautes told him to continue his journey with a small group and leave the older people behind in Sicily to found a city of their own.

(12) Italy (Cumae - W. Coast)

Here Aeneas met the Sibyl, a Goddess, who acted as his guide and brought him to the Underworld. He saw the golden temple at Diana's wood.

Daedalus built this temple to Diana
the sculptures tell stores of Crete.

To get to the Underworld they needed the Golden Bough. They got the Golden Bough by following a pair of doves.

They crossed the River Styx in Charon's boat (read passage in "Aeneid", Book VI)
In the Underworld he met the spirits of : -
(a) Dido - she was still very angry and would not speak to him
(b) Those who died in the Trojan War
(c) the man rolling the boulder to the top of the mountain (Sisyphus)
(d) Spirits who would later become important people in Rome
Silvius, his son, by the queen he would marry when he arrived in Italy
Romulus, son of Mars, who gave Rome its name
the Kings of Rome, including Numa, who would give Rome her laws
Augustus who would become the first Roman Emperor.

[A philosophy of reincarnation is used to explain how the spirits leave the Underworld to become these future figures]

The philosophy of empire as explained by Virgil and Augustus was to put down the proud and bring peace to the world. (Book V ithe "Aeneid").

(13) Latium

Aeneas sailed up the River Tiber from Cumae. He engaged in war with Turnus.

Turnus was to marry Lavinia, the daughter of King Latinus, but a prophet told Latinus that his daughter would marry a stranger. Turnus was annoyed and therefore engaged in war with Aeneas.

Venus got Vulcan to make armour for Aeneas including the famous shield with scenes of the future Rome and Augustus.

Camilla, the warrior maiden, fought the Trojans and was killed by Arruns. Camilla was named after her mother. To escape the enemy, her father cast her across a river on a spear. She was brought up in a forest. She wore tiger skin. As soon as she could walks he was given a bow and arrow. She rode out, in regal splendour, on her horse to join Turnus, dressed in purple cloak with a golden bow and arrow.

(Virgil: "Aeneid" Books VII and Xl)

Turnus was killed (the"Aeneid" ends here)
Aeneas married Lavinia and his city was later called Rome, after Romulus (Story of Romulus and Remus).

(iv) Main Points

Aeneas means praiseworthy
Aeneas was a Trojan prince who survived the sack of Troy
He was a cousin of Hector
His mother was Venus (Aphrodite)
Jupiter was his grandfather
His father was Anchises (a mortal)
His son was Ascanius (Iulus)
His wife was Creusa

The ancestry of Aeneas was discussed in Book XX of the "Iliad", when Aeneas met Achilles in single combat.

When Aeneas met Achilles in the Trojan War he was in danger of being killed but Poseidon lifted him into the air and saved him
Aeneas was very important because he would leave Troy after it was burnt and would go, at the Gods' command, to Italy, to build a new Troy
This new city would later become Rome and its first Emperor would be Augustus, who claimed direct descent from Iulus (Ascanius), son of Aeneas. the poem, the "Aeneid", was commissioned by Augustus during whose reign Virgil wrote. (Augustus was emperor at the time of the birth of Christ).
In legend therefore, through Aeneas, Rome was connected with Bronze Age Troy.

(v) Plants, referred to in Virgil

The Golden Bough was like the mistletoe. (the hyacinth is used to describe Odysseus's hair).

(vi) Influence Oneuropean Culture

(a) Literature

The divisions in Virgil's Underworld seem to prefigure subsequent aspects of Christianity. He had a major influence on all Epic writers after him. In Dante, Virgil is the guide through Hell.
Chaucer: "the House of Fame", "Legend of good Women"
Marlow: "Tragedy of Dido"
Further authors influenced include:-
Statius, Spenser, Milton, Dryden and C.D. Lewis

(b) Art

Painting: Poussin, "Virgil being crowned by Apollo" on the title page of "Virgil", produced for Louis XIII, in 1641.
Mantegna - drawing for a monument to Virgil (Louvre)
Sculpture: Bernini, "Aeneas carrying his father".
Francini brothers, "Aeneas carrying his father" - Stucco work, Riverstown House, Glanmire, Co. Cork
A statue of Virgil, at Mantua.

Purcell: "Dido and Aeneas"
Colgrass: "Virgil's Dream"
Varesco: "Idomeneus, King of Crete" (based on Virgil)
Berlioz: "the Trojans" in two parts, "the Taking of Troy" and "the Trojans at Carthage"
Offenbach: "Orpheus in the Underworld".

(vii) Additional Materials for Teachers

As well as the Primary Sources noted above the following would aid in the teaching of this section:

Slides and pictures of Troy and Rome.

Guide book to Riverstown House, Cork (picture of Aeneas leaving Troy with his father and son).

Slides of Cambridge Latin Course, Unit 5.

(viii) Suggested Activities for Students

Hold a class quiz based on the people and places in the Aeneid.

Draw a picture to depict an episode in the Aeneid.

Listen to Purcell's "Dido and Aeneas" or Offenbach's "Orpheus i n the Underworld".

(ix) Related to pics

(1) Story of Daedalus and his son Icarus

Daedalus was a skilled artist, architect, sculptor and inventor.

He built the Labyrinth at Knossos, Crete, but was locked up in the Labyrinth, with his son, Icarus. To escape, he made wings of feathers and wax. However Icarus flew to onear the sun. The wings melted and he fell into the sea.

The island of Icaria and the Icarian Sea are named after him. He is buried on the Island. His nephew Talos made the first saw from the jawbone of a serpent. Daedalic art of Archaic Period (e.g. Auxerre Kore) is named after him. He influenced Joyce, Gide, L. Cottrell and Mary Renault.

(2) Story of Orpheus and Eurydice

Orpheus lived in Thrace near Mount Olympus. he was a singer, musician and poet. He sang so sweetly that he could tame wild beasts, trees bowed to him, and most violent men became gentler on hearing him sing. He wenton the expedition of the Argonauts and surpassed the Song of the Sirens. He was married to Eurydice, daughter of Apollo, whom he loved dearly. However Eurydice died of a snake bite and Orpheus went to Hades to get her back and charmed everyone there with his song. Hades and Persephone agreed to give her back on condition that he would not look back before he left the Underworld.

He looked back and she died again. One story says he was torn to pieces by the women of Thrace who were jealous of his fidelity to Eurydice. His head and lyre floated to Lesbos which became the seat of lyric poetry. Tradition says he is the ancestor of Homer and Hesiod. He influenced Plato, Virgil,Ovid, Euripides

Anouilh, the films of M. Camus and Cocteau, the music of Offenbach, Gluck and Monteverdi and the ballet of Stravinsky.

(3) Roman Character

Aeneas described as "Pius" Aeneas

Importance of devotion to

Gods
Family
Community & State

(4) Writing Techniques

(a) - theme of travel as basis for a story

Ways of moving the character on
weather conditions - fear - chance - visit someone - revisit a place - see a monument, painting, sculpture

(b) Plot

Linear ~ beginning to end.
Or
Flashback format ~ middle to beginning and then to end; or end to beginning to end.

(5) Read Kavanagh's "Memory of Brother Michael".

(6) Great Epic Poets

(a) Homer

He was born somewhere in Ionia. A blind poet, he composed "the Iliad", which is the story of the Trojan War, and "the Odyssey", which describes the wanderings of Odysseus on his way home to Ithaca.

"the Iliad" and "the Odyssey" are oral (primary) Epics. Homer is praised as an Epic poet in Aristotle's "Poetics" Homer influenced western literature more than any other writer - Virgil, Dante, Chapman, Keats, Pope, Arnold.

He is featured in the paintings of Raphael ("Parnassus"); and Ingres ("Apotheosis of Homer"); and in sculpture - "Homer", 2nd century B.C. (copy Boston); - and "Apotheosis of Homer", 2nd century B.C. (British Museum).

(b) Virgil (70-19 B.C.)

He was born near Mantua, in Italy and educated at Cremona and Milan. He came to Rome and became a close friend of Horace. He spent the last ten years of his life in Naples and died at Brindisi (Italy) while returning from Greece. He is buried in Naples.

His most important work is "the Aeneid" which describes the wanderings of Aeneas from Troy to Italy and celebrates the achievements of Rome and Augustus.

He influenced western literature especially Chaucer, Dante, Dryden and H. Broch (novel "the Death of Virgil" 1945). A picture, by Poussin, on the title page of the royal edition of "Virgil" (1641), features Virgil being crowned by Apollo.