- 01Virgil's summary of Aeneas's wanderings and destiny
- 01Juno’s fear of Troy’s destiny
- 02Juno appeals to Aeolus
- 03The storm wrecks the Trojan fleet
- 01Neptune rebukes the winds and restores calm
- 01Landing on the Libyan shore and making camp
- 02Aeneas hunts the stags and shares the feast
- 01Venus pleads for Aeneas and Troy
- 02Jupiter’s prophecy of Rome
- 01Prophecy of Rome and Caesar's future empire
- 02Mercury sent to open Carthage to the Trojans
- 03Aeneas sleepless in the night
- 01Venus appears as a huntress in the wood
- 01Dido’s flight from Tyre and founding of Carthage
- 02Venus guides Aeneas to the city
- 03Carthage under construction and the temple omen
- 01Aeneas sees the painted scenes of Troy
- 02Dido’s entrance and rule in the temple
- 03Ilioneus pleads for Trojan refuge
- 01Dido’s welcome and offer of aid
- 02Aeneas reveals himself and thanks Dido
- 03Dido recognizes Aeneas and prepares the feast
- 01Venus sends Cupid in Ascanius’s form
- 02The feast at Dido’s court
- 03Dido’s wine, song, and request for Troy’s story
The Aeneid
Roman national epic and political mythology.
12Chapters
127Lessons
355Topics
Certificate of completion included
This course was produced by Cavua from a public-domain text.
Skills this course leaves you with.
- Summarize the plot and structure of Books I through VI of The Aeneid
- Explain how Virgil presents Aeneas as a hero of duty and destiny
- Analyze the roles of Juno, Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury in the poem's action
- Describe major episodes such as the fall of Troy, Dido's story, and the descent to the underworld
- Interpret the poem as Roman political mythology and national epic
- Identify key themes including exile, fate, piety, and empire
Curriculum
The full table of contents.
Every chapter, every lesson, every topic — laid out before you enroll. Click any chapter to expand it.
- Chapters
- 12
- Lessons
- 127
- Topics
- 355
- 01The fall of Troy and Aeneas’s escape
- 01The Greeks’ abandoned camp and the Trojan debate over the horse
- 02Laocoon’s warning and the spear through the horse
- 03Sinon’s capture and fabricated backstory
- 04Sinon’s tale of Greek withdrawal and his escape
- 05The false explanation of Minerva’s wooden frame
- 01Laocoon’s death by the serpents
- 02The Trojans drag the horse into Troy
- 03The Greeks emerge and open the gates
- 01Hector’s ghost warns Aeneas to flee Troy
- 02The gods’ statues and the first signs of Troy’s fall
- 01Pantheus’s warning and the fall of Troy
- 02Night assault in the streets
- 03Coroebus’s disguise and the mistaken Greeks
- 04Cassandra’s rescue and the final rout
- 01Assault on the palace walls
- 02Postern passage to Priam's closet
- 01Pyrrhus breaches Priam’s palace
- 02Priam’s death at the altar
- 03Aeneas sees Helen and Venus reveals the gods
- 01Anchises refuses to flee Troy
- 02Omens persuade Anchises to depart
- 03Creusa lost in the escape
- 04The Trojan exiles gather at dawn
- 01Flight from Troy and the voyage to Thrace
- 02Polydore’s murder and funeral rites
- 03Delos, Apollo’s oracle, and the mistaken call to Crete
- 01Teucrus, Cybele, and the founding of Pergamus in Crete
- 02The household gods reveal Italy as the true destination
- 03Departure from Crete and the storm at sea
- 01Arrival at the Strophades and the Harpies' attack
- 02Celaeno's prophecy and the departure from the islands
- 01Landing at Leucate and Buthrotus
- 02Helenus’s prophecy and instructions for Italy
- 03Departure gifts and farewell from Buthrotus
- 01Departure from the shore and arrival in Italy
- 02Sacrifices at Pallas and Juno's shrines
- 03Sailing past Tarentum, Charybdis, and Mount Aetna
- 01The volcanic island and the stranded Greek
- 02Achaemenides’ escape from Polyphemus
- 03Polyphemus returns to the shore
- 01Escape from the Cyclops and the voyage past Sicily
- 01Dido confides her love for Aeneas
- 02Anna urges marriage and alliance
- 01Dido’s sacrifices and consuming love
- 02Juno and Venus plot the hunt
- 03The royal hunting expedition
- 01Dido and Aeneas in the cave
- 02Fame spreads the secret love
- 03Hyarbas’s complaint to Jupiter
- 01Jupiter sends Mercury to Carthage
- 02Mercury delivers the warning to Aeneas
- 03Aeneas plans a secret departure
- 01Dido’s accusation and plea for delay
- 02Aeneas’s defense and divine command
- 03Dido’s curse and Aeneas’s departure preparations
- 04Dido’s renewed appeal through Anna
- 01Aeneas rejects Dido’s pleas
- 02Dido’s omens and resolve to die
- 03The funeral pyre and magic rites
- 04Dido’s final night of despair
- 01Mercury's warning and Aeneas's departure
- 02Dido's fury and call to pursue the Trojans
- 01Dido's curse against Aeneas and his descendants
- 02Preparations for sacrifice and death
- 03Dido's suicide on the funeral pyre
- 01The town’s outcry and Anna’s grief
- 02Dido’s final agony
- 03Juno sends Iris to release Dido
- 01Storm-driven landing in Sicily
- 02Acestes welcomes the Trojans
- 01Anchises’ funeral rites and promised games
- 02The serpent at Anchises’ tomb and renewed sacrifices
- 03The opening of the funeral games
- 01The four-galley naval race and starting lineup
- 02Gyas, Menoetes, and the first turn at the rock
- 03Mnestheus overtakes Sergesthus and Cloanthus wins by vow
- 04Prizes for the victors and Sergesthus’s consolation
- 01Race prizes and starting lineup
- 02The foot race and disputed finish
- 03Aeneas settles the dispute
- 01Challenge for the gauntlet fight
- 02Entellus’s aged strength and the heavy gauntlets
- 03The bout, Dares’s defeat, and Aeneas’s intervention
- 01Bull-slaying sacrifice and renunciation of the gauntlets
- 02Archery contest for the dove
- 03Acestes’ flaming arrow and the omen
- 01Ascanius summoned to lead the cavalry display
- 02Trojan boys’ cavalry maneuvers and legacy
- 01Iris stirs the Trojan matrons
- 02Beroe’s speech and the ship-burning
- 03Ascanius and Aeneas halt the fire
- 01Nautes advises leaving the weak behind
- 02Anchises’ shade and the descent to Pluto
- 03Founding Acesta and organizing the settlement
- 01Departure rites at Eryx
- 02Venus pleads with Neptune
- 03Neptune promises safe passage
- 01Neptune’s calm passage and Palinurus’s sleep
- 02Palinurus cast overboard and the ship’s escape
- 01Arrival at the Cumaean shore and the Sibyl's cave
- 02Daedalus's carvings in the temple of Phoebus
- 03The Sibyl's sacrifice and prophetic cave
- 01Aeneas’s prayer to Apollo and the Sibyl’s possession
- 02The Sibyl’s prophecy of Italian wars
- 03Descent to the underworld and the golden bough
- 01Misenus found dead on the shore
- 02Aeneas seeks the golden bough
- 03Funeral pyre and burial rites for Misenus
- 01Misenus’s funeral rites
- 02Sacrifices at Avernus and the underworld gate
- 01The phantom guardians of the underworld
- 02Acheron, Cocytus, and Charon's ferry
- 01The Stygian floods and unburied ghosts
- 02Palinurus’ death and plea for burial
- 03Charon’s challenge and the golden bough
- 01Cerberus and the judges of the dead
- 02The Mournful Fields of lost lovers
- 03Aeneas pleads with Dido's shade
- 01Heroes and Trojan shades in the underworld
- 02Deiphobus’s account of Helen’s betrayal and death
- 01The left path to Tartarus
- 02Rhadamanthus and the punishments of the guilty
- 03The Elysian fields beyond the gate
- 01Teucer’s heroic race and the blessed dead
- 02Musaeus and the path to Anchises
- 01Anchises greets Aeneas and shows the souls
- 02The souls in Lethe and the world-soul
- 01Purification of souls and the Lethean flood
- 02The line of Trojan and Alban kings
- 03Augustus and the Roman kings
- 04Roman heroes and Marcellus
- 01Anchises’ prophecy of Marcellus
- 02The gates of Sleep and Aeneas’ departure
- 01Circe’s enchanted coast and Neptune’s rescue
- 02Arrival at the Tiber and invocation to Erato
- 01Latinus’s lineage and Lavinia’s suitors
- 02Portents foretelling Lavinia’s foreign marriage
- 03Faunus’s oracle at Albunea
- 01The omen of eating the trenchers
- 02Sacrifices, thunder, and the search for Latium
- 03The embassy to Latinus and the first sight of the city
- 01Picus's palace and ancestral carvings
- 02Latinus receives the Trojan embassy
- 03Latinus's prophecy and gift of horses
- 01Juno’s complaint at the Trojans’ success
- 02Juno summons Alecto to stir war
- 01Fury’s assault on Amata
- 02Amata’s Bacchic frenzy and the women’s procession
- 01Amata’s frenzy and the Fury’s deception
- 02Alecto’s dream warning to Turnus
- 03Turnus’s scornful reply and Alecto’s wrath
- 01Turnus roused to war
- 02The Fury stirs conflict among the Trojans
- 01Ascanius wounds the stag
- 02Allecto stirs the Latins to war
- 01Juno sends the Fury to stir Italy
- 02Turnus and Amata inflame the people
- 03Latin king resists the mob
- 01Mars’s gates and the Roman declaration of war
- 02Juno forces open the gates of war
- 03Italian cities arming for battle
- 01Latium’s war preparations
- 02Mezentius, Lausus, and Aventinus
- 03Coras, Catillus, and Praeneste’s forces
- 04Messapus and Clausus’s allied contingents
- 05Halesus, Oebalus, Ufens, and Umbro
- 06Virbius and Turnus in command
- 01The gathering of allied forces
- 02Camilla’s arrival and martial grace
- 01Turnus assembles the Latin forces
- 02Venulus sent to Diomedes
- 01Aeneas’s anxious deliberation
- 02Tiber’s prophetic dream and promise
- 03Aeneas’s morning prayer to the river gods
- 01Sacrifice of the sow and departure by river
- 02Arrival at Evander’s Arcadian settlement
- 03Aeneas’s plea for alliance
- 04Evander’s recognition and promise of aid
- 01Evander’s account of Hercules and Cacus
- 02Evander’s feast and Hercules’ shrine
- 03Arcadian origins and Rome’s early sites
- 01Venus pleads with Vulcan for Aeneas
- 02The Cyclops forge Aeneas’s shield
- 01Evander prepares to meet Aeneas
- 02Evander’s pledge of aid and the story of Caere
- 01Mezentius overthrown and the Tuscan revolt
- 01Evander's promised cavalry support
- 02The divine omen of the shining arms
- 03Aeneas interprets the sign as war's call
- 01Evander’s sacrifice and farewell lament
- 02The Trojan and Arcadian march to the Tuscan camp
- 01Vulcan’s promised arms for Aeneas
- 02The shield’s prophetic Roman scenes
- 01The rape of the Sabine women and the peace oath
- 02Metius, Porsena, and early Roman heroes
- 03The silver goose and the Gallic assault
- 01The underworld and Roman heroes on the shield
- 02Actium and Cleopatra’s defeat
- 03Caesar’s triumph and the nations of Rome
- 01Juno sends Iris to Turnus
- 02Turnus rallies the Latin confederates
- 03The Trojan camp prepares its defenses
- 04Turnus challenges the camp from the ramparts
- 01Juno's plea and Jupiter's promise
- 02The ships transformed into sea nymphs
- 03Turnus rallies the Rutulians
- 04Night watch and Nisus with Euryalus
- 01Nisus proposes a night raid
- 02Ascanius and the Trojan rewards
- 03The slaughter in the enemy camp
- 04Flight through the forest and Nisus’s prayer
- 05Nisus kills Volscens and dies beside Euryalus
- 06The aftermath of the raid and the mothers' grief
- 01Amata’s grief and the alarm in the camp
- 02The assault on the walls and the tower set ablaze
- 03Turnus’s slaughter at the breach
- 01Ascanius kills Numanus
- 02Apollo restrains Ascanius
- 03The battle intensifies at the walls
- 01The Latins force the gate and Turnus rushes to the breach
- 02Pandarus opens the gate and admits the war
- 03Turnus kills Pandarus and drives the Trojans back
- 01Turnus kills the Trojan champions
- 02Mnestheus rallies the Trojans
- 03Turnus is driven back to the river
- 04Jove sends Iris to withdraw Turnus
- 05Tiber carries Turnus to safety
- 01Jupiter's council and decree of neutrality
- 02Venus's complaint and appeal for the Trojans
- 01Juno’s plea to spare Ascanius
- 02Juno’s defense against Venus’s accusations
- 03The gods’ debate over Trojan and Latin claims
- 01Jupiter's decree on the Trojan war
- 02The siege of the Trojan walls
- 01Trojan and Tuscan forces join for war
- 02Catalogue of the Tuscan allies
- 03The sea-nymphs warn Aeneas
- 01Aeneas’ prayer and the fleet’s approach
- 02Turnus rallies the Latins at the shore
- 03The Trojan landing and Tarchon’s assault
- 04Aeneas’ first kills in combat
- 01Arcadian horse routed and Pallas rallies his men
- 02Pallas’s close combat and Arcadian counterattack
- 01Halesus’s death and Lausus’s rallying of the Trojans
- 02Pallas and Lausus face each other in battle
- 01Pallas challenges Turnus and prays for aid
- 02Turnus kills Pallas and takes the belt
- 03The Arcadians recover Pallas and Aeneas hears the news
- 01Aeneas’ pursuit of Turnus and Magus’s plea
- 02Slaying of Emonides and other Latin champions
- 03Tarquitus, Camers, and the rout of Turnus’s men
- 04Niphaeus, Lucagus, and Liger overthrown
- 01Aeneas cuts down the enemy and the Trojans break out
- 02Jupiter and Juno debate Turnus’ fate
- 03Juno’s phantom and Turnus’ removal by ship
- 04Turnus laments his disgrace at sea
- 01Turnus restored to Latium
- 02Mezentius rallies the Tuscans and slays the rebels
- 03Single combats and the gods’ witness
- 01Lausus shields his father from Aeneas
- 02Aeneas kills Lausus and honors his courage
- 03The father’s grief by the Tiber
- 01Mezentius mourns Lausus and resolves to die
- 02Mezentius rides out to challenge Aeneas
- 01Mezentius unhorsed and Aeneas’ taunt
- 02Mezentius’ final speech and request for burial
- 03Mezentius takes his own death
- 01Aeneas’ trophy of Mezentius
- 02Pallas’ funeral preparations and procession
- 01Truce for the dead and embassy to Turnus
- 02Evander’s lament for Pallas
- 03Funeral rites for Trojans and Latins
- 04Latian blame and support for Turnus
- 01Diomedes rejects the alliance
- 02Latinus opens the council and urges peace
- 01Drances attacks Turnus and urges peace
- 02Turnus answers Drances and defends his conduct
- 03Turnus argues for continuing the war
- 01Latin council rejects peace and arms the city
- 02Public alarm and preparations for defense
- 03Turnus arms for battle
- 01Camilla offers to face the Tuscan horse
- 02Turnus plans the ambush in the winding valley
- 03Diana recalls Camilla’s childhood and training
- 04The armies close for battle
- 01The cavalry melee and Tuscans’ counterattack
- 02Camilla’s mounted slaughter of the Trojan ranks
- 03Tarchon rallies the Etruscans and Aruns stalks Camilla
- 04Aruns kills Camilla and flees
- 01Opis kills Aruns and the Volscians rout
- 02Panic at the town gates and the women’s defense
- 03Turnus abandons the pass as the Trojans advance
- 01Armies face each other at dusk
- 01Turnus demands single combat
- 02Latinus urges peace and Turnus resists
- 03Turnus arms for the duel
- 04Preparations for the treaty and combat
- 01The armies assemble for the duel
- 02Juno urges the river nymph to intervene
- 03The sacrifice and solemn oaths
- 01The sworn peace and sacrificial rites
- 02Juturna stirs the Rutulians against the duel
- 03The omen of the eagle and swan
- 01Tolumnius provokes the battle
- 02Sacrilege and close combat in the melee
- 01Aeneas wounded in battle
- 02Iapis heals the wound
- 01Aeneas breaks the Latin line
- 02Turnus and Aeneas in the slaughter of champions
- 03Aeneas turns from battle toward the city
- 01Aeneas orders the assault on Laurentum
- 02Queen Amata’s despair and death
- 03Turnus hears the town’s cries and resolves to fight
- 01Sages warns Turnus of the burning city
- 02Turnus resolves to return and fight alone
- 03Turnus clears the field and challenges Aeneas
- 01The broken sword and pursuit
- 02The duel between Aeneas and Turnus
- 03The sacred olive tree and divine intervention
- 01Jove rebukes Juno's interference
- 02Juno's plea for Latin identity
- 03Jove's settlement and Juno's consent
- 01The Fury sent against Turnus
- 02Juturna's lament and retreat
- 03Aeneas taunts Turnus and the final stone-throwing struggle
- 01Turnus overwhelmed by fear and confusion
- 02Aeneas hurls the fatal spear
- 01Turnus’s plea for mercy
- 02Aeneas sees Pallas’s belt and kills Turnus
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