Also known as Hera - Queen of the Gods. (Goddess of
war) Hates the Trojans because of the Trojan Paris’s
judgment against her in a beauty contest. She loves
Carthage and knows that Aeneas’s Roman descendants
are destined to destroy Carthage. She takes out her anger
on Aeneas throughout the epic, and causes the storm that
keeps Aeneas out at sea.
Venus
The goddess of love and the mother of Aeneas.
Venus (Aphrodite in Greek mythology) is a benefactor
of the Trojans. She helps her son whenever Juno tries
to hurt him, causing conflict among the gods. She is
also referred to as Cytherea, after Cythera, the island
where she was born and where her shrine is located.
Jupiter
Also known as Zeus - King of the Gods. Jupiter directs
the general progress of Aeneas’s destiny, ensuring that
Aeneas is never permanently thrown off his course
toward Italy. Jupiter’s demeanor is controlled and
levelheaded compared to the volatility of Juno and
Venus. Guides Aeneas on his journey.
Neptune
God of the sea, and generally an ally of
Venus and Aeneas. Neptune (Poseidon
in Greek mythology) calms the storm that
opens the epic and conducts Aeneas
safely on the last leg of his voyage.
Aeolus
The god of the winds, Aeolus raises the waves in
an attempt to capsize Aeneas's ship, thereby
angering Neptune, god of the sea. He does this
because Juno asks him too and he owes her.
PEOPLE
Aeneas
The protagonist of the Aeneid. Aeneas is a survivor of the siege of
Troy, a city on the coast of Asia Minor. His defining characteristic is
piety, a respect for the will of the gods. He is a fearsome warrior and
a leader able to motivate his men in the face of adversity, but also a
man capable of great compassion and sorrow. His destiny is to
found the Roman race in Italy and he subordinates all other
concerns to this mission. The Aeneid is about his journey from Troy
to Italy, which enables him to fulfill his fate.
He was a Trojan. After the fall of Troy, he
led a band of Trojan refugees to Italy and
became the founder of Roman culture.
Dido
The queen of Carthage, a city in northern Africa, in what is now
Tunisia, and lover of Aeneas. Dido left the land of Tyre when her
husband was murdered by Pygmalion, her brother. She and her city
are strong, but she becomes an unfortunate pawn of the gods in
their struggle for Aeneas’s destiny. Her love for Aeneas proves to
be her downfall. After he abandons her, she constructs a funeral
pyre and stabs herself upon it with Aeneas’s sword.
Turnus
The ruler of the Rutulians in Italy. Turnus is Aeneas’s major
antagonist among mortals. He is Lavinia’s leading suitor until
Aeneas arrives. This rivalry incites him to wage war against the
Trojans, despite Latinus’s willingness to allow the Trojans to
settle in Latium and Turnus’s understanding that he cannot
successfully defy fate. He is brash and fearless, a capable
soldier who values his honor over his life.
RACES
Greeks
Aeneas begins by telling how the Greeks, unable to
defeat the Trojans in battle, sail away from Troy. On
the beach, they leave behind a giant wooden horse,
with Greek warriors hidden inside it. – though the
Trojans don't know that yet. The Greeks jumped out
of the horse and killed many Trojans and caused
Aeneas to leave.
Trojans
Aeneas and his fleet were Trojans. After the sacking
of Troy by the Greeks, the Trojans set off to find
themselves a new home. We are told of their downfall
in Book 2 of the Aeneid.