Abas, one of Aeneas’ followers.

Achates, one of Aeneas’ followers.

Achilles was the greatest warrior on the Greek side in the Trojan War. In the final stages of the siege of Troy he killed Hector, the son of King Priam of Troy and the leader of the Trojan forces. Achilles was himself killed by Paris, another son of Priam, before the end of the war.

Achilles, the grandson of Aeacus. See Achillēs.

Aeneas. Hero of the Aeneid. Trojan prince who led a group of survivors of the Trojan War from Troy to Italy. The gods gave him the task of establishing a new people in Italy who would be the ancestors of the Romans. In Book 1 of the Aeneid Aeneas’ ships are caught in a storm as they set out on the last stage of the journey, from Sicily to Italy. The survivors land at Carthage on the north coast of Africa.

Aeolia, the kingdom of the winds. An imaginary place, but Virgil identified it with the island of Lipari, the largest of the Aeolian islands, off the northern coast of Sicily.

Aeolus, the king of the winds.

Africus, the south-west wind.

Ajax. He was known as Ajax son of Oileus to distinguish him from the more famous Ajax son of Telamon. Ajax was one of the Greek warriors who took part in the siege of Troy. During the sack of the city he raped Cassandra, the daughter of King Priam of Troy, in Athene’s temple. To punish him, Athene destroyed Ajax and his fleet on their voyage home from Troy.

Alban, belonging to Alba Longa. (adjective). Alba Longa was a city founded by Aeneas’ son, Ascanius.

Aletes, one of Aeneas’ followers.

The north wind.

The Altars, a ridge of rocks in the sea off the coast of Sicily. Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History, mentions some rocks of this name between the islands of Sicily and Sardinia. Virgil has transferred the location of the rocks.

Argos, a city in the Peloponnese, in mainland Greece. Virgil uses Argos to stand for the Greek states as a whole.

The Greeks. Strictly, the Argives were the men of Argos, a city in mainland Greece. (See Argī.) But Virgil uses Argīvī as a name for the Greeks in general.

The south wind.

The Greeks. Danaī means ‘descendants of Danaus’. Danaus was the legendary founder of the Greek city of Argos. The Greeks are often called Danaī by Virgil.

Deiopeia, one of Juno’s Nymphs.

The east (or south-east) wind.

Ganymede was a Trojan prince who was kidnapped and taken to Olympus to be cupbearer to Jupiter (Greek: Zeus).

Hector was a son of Priam (the king of Troy), and leader of the Trojan forces. He was killed by the Greek Achilles in the final year of the Trojan War.

Trojan. Ilium was another name for Troy. See Trōia.

Ilioneus, one of Aeneas’ followers.

Troy. See Trōia.

Italy. The ultimate destination of Aeneas and his band of survivors from Troy.

Juno, queen of the gods; sister and wife of Jupiter (Iuppiter); daughter of the god Saturn. She is also known as Sāturnia (daughter of Saturn). In Book 1, in an attempt to prevent Aeneas reaching Italy, she causes the storm which wrecks his fleet. The reasons for Juno’s hostility to the Trojans are explained in lines 29-33. She has heard that a Trojan is fated to found a race which will destroy her beloved city Carthage. But her hatred of the Trojans goes further back: their founder, Dardanus, was the illegitimate son of her husband, Jupiter, the king of the gods - Juno was jealous of Jupiter’s affair with a mortal woman, Electra; the Trojan prince Paris had slighted her by preferring Venus (Greek: Aphrodite) to her in a beauty contest; Jupiter had arranged the capture of the young Trojan prince Ganymede to be his cupbearer - jealousy again.

Jupiter, king of the gods; brother and husband of Juno (Iūnō); son of the god Saturn.

Carthage, a city on the coast of North Africa (modern Tunisia), opposite Italy. From the point of view of Virgil and his contemporary Romans, Carthage was an ancient city, and one that was well known to them from a series of wars between Rome and Carthage from 264-146 BC. These were known as the Punic Wars. (The word Punic comes from the Latin word Pūnicus (or Poenicus), which means 'Phoenician'; the Carthaginians were descended from the Phoenicians.) Carthage was destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC. In the story of the Aeneid, however, Carthage has been recently founded and is still being built by Dido, the widow of King Sychaeus of Phoenicia, who had fled from Phoenicia with a band of loyal followers after her husband had been murdered.

Latin, of the Latīnī (adjective). The Latīnī were the Latins, the people who lived in Latium.

Region on the west coast of Italy where the Trojans landed. It was ruled by King Latinus.

Lavinian, of Lavinium (adjective). Lavinium, a city in the region of Latium, was traditionally the first settlement founded in Italy by Aeneas. It was named after Lavinia, the daughter of King Latinus; Aeneas married her after he arrived in Italy.

Libya, the Greek and Roman name for the coastal zone of North Africa where Carthage was situated.

The Lycians. They had fought on the side of the Trojans in the Trojan War, then accompanied Aeneas on his flight after the fall of the city.

Muse. The Muses were goddesses who were the source of inspiration for poets and other artists and writers. There were nine Muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (Memory), each associated with a particular branch of the arts or intellectual pursuits: Calliope (epic poetry), Melpomene (tragedy), Erato (lyric poetry), Polyhymnia (hymns), Thalia (comedy and pastoral poetry), Euterpe (flute-playing), Terpsichore (dancing and choral song), Clio (history), and Urania (astronomy). The underlying idea is that poetry comes from the gods, via the poet. At the beginning of the Aeneid Virgil prays for inspiration to Calliope, the Muse of epic poetry.

The south wind.

Oileus, the father of Ajax. See Āiāx.

Orontes, the leader of the Lycians. See Lyciī.

Athene (Roman: Minerva). Pallas was one of Athene’s titles and she was sometimes known as Pallas Athene or Pallas. Athene was the goddess of wisdom and war, and patron goddess of the city of Athens.

The Fates. There were three Fates: Clotho, Atropos and Lachesis. They were often imagined or depicted as three old women spinning the threads of Destiny.

Paris was a son of Priam, king of Troy. He judged a beauty contest (known as The Judgement of Paris) between three goddesses - Hera (Roman: Juno), Athene (Roman: Minerva) and Aphrodite (Roman: Venus) - and chose Aphrodite as the winner. This is one reason for Juno’s hostility to the Trojans. In return for her victory, Aphrodite had promised Paris the most beautiful woman in the world as his wife: this was Helen, wife of the king of Sparta, Menelaus. Paris abducted Helen from Menelaus, thus starting the Trojan War - Menelaus and his brother, Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, assembled an army to win back Helen and exact vengeance.

Rome. Rome was traditionally founded by Romulus, a descendant of Aeneas. The city was built on seven hills.

Roman (adjective).

Samos, an island in the Aegean Sea, just off the coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey). There was a famous temple to Juno (Greek: Hera) there.

Sarpedon, king of the Lycians, was an ally of the Trojans, killed by the Greek Patroclus. He was the son of Zeus.

Daughter of Saturn = Juno. See Iūnō.

Sicilian. Sicily is an island in the Mediterranean Sea, separated by only a narrow strait from the mainland of southern Italy. At the opening of the Aeneid the Trojans had spent some time on Sicily and were just setting sail for Italy on what they hoped would be the last leg of their voyage.

One of the two rivers on the plain of Troy. See Trōia.

The Trojans. They were sometimes called Teucrī because they were descended from Teucer.

Of the Tiber (adjective). The Tiber was the river on whose banks the city of Rome was built. The city itself was upriver, about 25 kilometres inland. The port of Rome, near the harbour city of Ostia, was at the mouth of the River Tiber.

The Trojans. The inhabitants of Troy and, in the Aeneid, those survivors who escaped with Aeneas after the city was captured and destroyed by the Greeks.

Troy. City in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Troy was captured and destroyed by the Greeks at the end of the Trojan War. Aeneas, a member of the Trojan royal family, led a group of survivors to found a new city in Italy.

Trojan (adjective). See Trōia.

Trojan (adjective). See Trōia.

Diomedes, son of Tydeus, one of the Greek warriors who fought at Troy.

Tyrian, from Tyre (adjective). Tyre was a city in Phoenicia, at the eastern end of the Mediterranean (modern Lebanon). Colonists from Tyre founded the city of Carthage.

The Tyrrhenian sea is the part of the Mediterranean Sea on the west side of Italy. It is bounded by the west coast of Italy to the east, Sicily to the south, and Corsica and Sardinia to the west. It is named after the Tyrrhenians, who have been identified with the Etruscans, who lived in the area of Italy north of Rome (modern Tuscany).