How does Aeneas begin this book?
He continues to tell his story to Dido.
The Trojans build a fleet, but aren’t sure where the fates will take them.
In early summer, they set off, bringing the household gods
Where does Aeneas first direct his fleet?
Thrace, a land friendly to Troy
What happens on Thrace?
Aeneas lands and prepares to sacrifice a steer.
When he uproots a plant to shade the altar, the stem bleeds.
Frightened, he pulls up another plant, which also bleeds.
He prays and pulls up a third plant, which groans and speaks, introducing itself as Polydorus.
What does Polydorus say?
Polydorus explains that Priam sent him to Thrace so that he would be safe if Troy lost the war.
Polydorus explains that Priam sent him to Thrace so that he would be safe if Troy lost the war. Polydorus also brought gold to secure his protection, but, as Troy fell, the Thracian king killed him and took his gold.
The spears that struck Polydorus became the plants Aeneas uprooted. Aeneas gives Polydorus a proper funeral before setting sail again.
Where is the second place the Trojans sail to?
An island, Ortygia, blessed by Apollo.
They go to a city ruled by Anius, a friend of Anchises.
What happens to Aenas on Ortygia?
Aeneas goes to pray for guidance from Apollo.
Apollo speaks to him, elling him to find the land of his forefathers and return to his “ancient mother,” where Aeneas’s descendents would rule the world.
How do the men interpret Apollo’s instructions?
Anchises believes this ancient homeland to be the nearby island of Crete.
After sacrificing animals to Apollo, Neptune, and the winds, the Trojans head off for Crete.
What do the men find on Crete?
They find Crete in the grip of an intense drought, rife with death and disease.
Anchises wants to return to Ortygia to consult Apollo again.
What happens to Aeneas on Crete?
The household gods appear to Aeneas in a dream, and tell him that their homeland is actually the distant Italy.
Aeneas recounts this to Anchises, who recalls that Cassandra once said the same thing.
What happens when the Trojans set sail from Crete?
A storm forces them off course, and they wander for three days before landing at the Strophades islands, which are the home of the Harpies, monsters with women’s faces and filthy bird bodies.
What do the men do on the Strophades Islands?
The men make a feast with the goats and oxen they find on the island, but the Harpies come screaming down from the hills and destroy their food.
The Trojans try to fight back, but fail.
What do the Harpies say?
Caelano, the head Harpy, scolds the men for stealing the Harpies’ animals and trying to fight them off their own territory.
What future misfortune does Caelano reveal?
They won’t manage to establish their city in Italy before they undergo a famine so great that they will try to eat their tables. Anchises begs the gods not to bring such trouble to the pious Trojans.
Where do the Trojans sail after the Strophades islands?
Actium
They enjoy themselves with games and wrestling, happy to have sailed unnoticed past Greek territory.
What does Aeneas do at Actium?
He leaves a shield he took from a Greek he fought as a symbol that he hasn’t been defeated.
From Actium, where do they go?
They continue to Buthrotum, where Pyrrhus’s former kingdom is now under the rule of the Trojan siblings Helenus and Andromache.
What does Andromache do and say when she sees Aeneas?
She is so shocked to see Aeneas that at first she thinks he might be a ghost.
Andromache explains that she was the slave of Pyrrhus, until another Greek killed him, after which Helenus inherited some of his territory.
She asks after Ascanius, and Helenus leads everyone to the city, which resembles a smaller Troy.
What does Aeneas do before leaving Buthrotum?
He asks Helenus what the future holds, and how he can avoid Caelano’s prediction of famine.
How does Helenus respond to Aeneas’ question?
Helenus describes how to reach Italy and mentions that Aeneas must first descend to the underworld.
When Aeneas finds a white sow and piglets under an oak tree, he will have reached his final destination.
The famine will not be a problem, Helenus says, but he counsels Aeneas to avoid certain unfriendly cities and to make sure to avoid the hazardous waters near Charybdis and Scylla.
Helenus recommends praying to Juno and visiting the Sibyl of Cumae.
What do the Trojans see when they come within sight of italy?
Four peaceful white horses near the shore.
They see Mount Etna in the distance and row to escape Charybdis. They drift to the island of the Cyclops
What happens when the Trojans arrive on the Cyclop’s island?
A Greek man, Achemenides, dirty and ragged, begs the Trojans to take him away from the island.
He describes the bloodthirsty Cyclops, and how Ulysses blinded him. Achemenides was left behind when the Greeks departed and survived by hiding.
The Trojans take him aboard
Where do the Trojans go after the Cyclops’ island?
Drapenum, Sicily.
This is where Anchises dies
