12 h 38 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Troy burns behind him. A new homeland lies across the sea. What must Aeneas lose to reach it?
In Virgil’s Latin epic poem, The Aeneid, a Trojan prince escapes his ruined city with his father, young son and fellow survivors. According to the poem, the gods charge Aeneas with founding a new people in Italy, from whom Rome will come. But Juno hates the Trojans, and her anger turns the sea itself against their battered ships.
Carthage offers shelter, and its queen, Dido, knows what exile means. She welcomes the Trojans as she builds a new city of her own. Yet Aeneas’s promised future leaves little room for the life he might choose. Through love, a journey into the world of the dead, and war in Italy, Virgil asks what loyalty demands—and whom it hurts.
What you’ll discover
- A city in flames Follow Aeneas out of Troy, carrying his father toward an uncertain future.
- Dido’s welcome in Carthage Meet a queen whose own exile gives the Trojans a place of refuge.
- Into the underworld Travel with Aeneas to the world of the dead, beyond his sea wanderings.
- A homeland worth fighting for Encounter Turnus, who resists the newcomers as hopes for settlement turn toward war.
- The weight of duty Explore pietas: loyalty to gods, family and community, with all its painful demands.
Is it for you?
This is for readers who love big stories of war, travel and fate, and for anyone curious about the roots of Roman culture and Western literature. It may be less suited to those who want fast, light plotting or a single clear hero.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Juno's hatred sends a storm
- Troy falls and a family flees
- Dido gives Aeneas a place and a heart
- Wanderings, games and a lost father
- A journey to the world of the dead
- Italy answers with love and war
- Evander, Pallas and a shield of Rome
- Duty, fate and the cost of empire
- How Virgil built his epic
Who’s who
- AeneasA Trojan prince and the poem's hero, loyal to gods, family and people, who must lead his survivors to Italy and found a new home.
- DidoQueen of Carthage and an exile herself, she builds a new city in Africa and welcomes the shipwrecked Trojans with open generosity.
- JunoQueen of the gods, she hates the Trojans and works at every turn to delay or destroy their journey to Italy.
- VenusGoddess of love and mother of Aeneas, she protects her son and pleads with Jupiter to keep his destiny safe.
- AnchisesAeneas's aged father, carried from Troy on his son's back, who guides him with advice and prophecy.
- TurnusA proud young Rutulian leader who expects to marry Lavinia and fights to keep the Trojans out of Italy.
- LatinusKing of the Latins, he welcomes the Trojans in line with omens, but he struggles to hold back the war.
- PallasThe young son of Evander, sent to fight beside Aeneas and learn the craft of war.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 12 h 38 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 15 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 9
Juno's hatred sends a storm
The poem opens in the middle of the voyage. Aeneas and his Trojans have been sailing for seven years, and Sicily has just dropped from sight. Virgil states his subject right away, a man driven by fate who suffered much on land and sea, and then asks why a goddess would torment someone so devoted to the gods.
The answer is Juno. She remembers the judgment of Paris, in which a Trojan prince passed over her beauty. She also fears that Trojan descendants will one day destroy her favorite city, Carthage, on the North African coast. So she goes to Aeolus, keeper of the winds, and bribes him to let them loose on the Trojan fleet.
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The author
Virgil
69 BC–18 BC · Roman epic poet
Roman poet.
“Arms, and the man I sing, who, forc'd by Fate,”
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What is the Aeneid about?
It tells of Aeneas, a Trojan prince who escapes the fall of Troy and sails to Italy, fated to found the people who will build Rome. On the way he faces storms, love, loss and war.
Why did Virgil write the Aeneid?
Virgil wrote it in the age of Augustus, after long civil wars, to give Rome a founding story that tied the city to Troy and the gods. It also reflects on the price of empire.
What does pietas mean in the Aeneid?
Pietas is the Latin word for dutiful loyalty to the gods, family and country. Aeneas shows it by carrying his father from Troy and obeying the gods even when it costs him dearly.
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