ancient roman stories tell of heroes demigods ancestral fathers and sometimes some stories
have got a little of all in this video we will be telling the story of aeneas a great hero who was a
defender of troy a city destroyed in the trojan war by the greeks this hero would go on to lead
the surviving trojans to the land now called italy he and his comrades founded rome became
rome's first great hero and legendary father as is a common theme for all legendary heroes stories
aeneas was a nobleman as well as a demigod he was the son of ankias who was of the royal family of
troy and his mother was venus the goddess of love ankia sees his father was a strong handsome young
man whose appearance particularly attracted the goddess she seduced him and bore him a son aeneas
when venus revealed her identity as a goddess to ankis he was frightened still she told him no harm
would come his way if he kept their relationship a secret youngerness was raised by mountain nymphs
until he was five years old before being sent to live with his father ancases forgot his promise to
the goddess never to reveal the nature of aeneas's birth to anyone he was struck by lightning after
divulging that venus was the mother of his son the lightning made ankys blind and lame
meanwhile aeneas grew to be an upright and moral man called the pious because of the respect and
obedience he had for the gods in return the gods poseidon apollo and his mother gave him protection
aeneas was a great and mighty warrior who became the lieutenant of hector the greatest warrior in
troy at the time the greeks invaded troy it was said that aeneas didn't join the war immediately
this wasn't because he was afraid of war but partly because he had a prickly relationship with
king priyam the king of troy at that time also it was believed that aeneas also resented that hektar
priyam's son was the supreme commander of the trojan forces the king wasn't too fond of aeneas
as poseidon had predicted that the descendants of aeneas and not his son would rule trojans
in the future regardless of their underlying hatred for each other and the situation at
hand with the war aeneas married one of priam's daughters creosa who bought him a son called lulus
the war was a fierce one that claimed the lives of several great warriors of troy
and this included hector aeneas fought bravely at the war but when the ghost of hector appeared
to him to warn him of the impending fall of troy he fled the city along with his father and son
with the help of his mother he and a group of trojan warriors together built ships with which
they sailed to thrace where they had hoped to set up a new colony but as anea slept at night a ghost
of a trojan warrior murdered by the thracians appeared to him to tell him to leave the land at
once they left for delos where an oracle of apollo told the trojans to return to their ancestral land
assuming the oracle meant crete they made for this island which was uninhabited and plagued
aeneas constantly had dreams that revealed that his future home lay far to the west in italy where
trojan dardanus had come long before so aeneas now knew where his destiny laid so they left crete but
were caught in a storm that drove them up the western coast of greece on getting to greece
they were driven by harpies bird-like creatures to a paris where they found
prince hellenis of troy who had married hector's wife andromache at the time troy fell andromache
was taken captive by achilles son pierce and when he too died andromache married helenus
aeneas told helenus of his quest for which helenus warned of how perilous the journey would be
especially through the strait of menissa where cilla and charybdis awaited
he also advised denis to consult the sybil who was an oracle that lived in cumae
after departing eperus they briefly stopped on the western coast of italy to worship in their
homeland but the place was inhabited by greeks and this felt trouble for them sailing south they
appeared at where they encountered their first challenge in the form of a whirlpool of charybdus
they eventually made it to sicily near mount etna to find a wretched-looking sailor left by ulysses
the king of ithaca the sailor told them of nearby cyclopses and as soon as they returned to the sea
polyphemus the one-eyed son of poseidon charged into the water after them they were able to
make it to drepanum on the west coast of sicily where they were well received by king assesstes
a man who also shared a common origin and this was unfortunately where aeneas father anchiasses died
juno a goddess regarded as the queen of the gods hated all trojans and hated aeneas
even more because of paris son of priem brother of hector knowing that in the not so distant future
the descendants would destroy her beloved city of carthage which was being built juno wasn't
going to fold her arms and let that happen so she bribed aeolus to unleash a dangerous storm
on aeneas and his ship the typhoon led to the wreckage of one of aeneas ships when
neptune would finally calm the storm only seven of aeneas ships made it to shore on the african coast
meanwhile venus went to jupiter to complain about her son's misfortunes however jupiter
assured her that her son would found a great nation regardless of the many trials he may face
she said this was his destiny and this was something even juno would come to terms with on
arriving in the new land aeneas and akates one of his comrades set out to scout the place then they
came across a venus disguised as a huntress and she told them that the land they were was libya
near carthage carthage was a land ruled by the beautiful queen dido the queen dido had fled tear
with some of her loyal followers to libya where they were building a new city called carthage
venus left the men but concealed them in a mist so they could enter the city unnoticed both men
entered the city and found a temple of juno which was adorned with the murals of the trojan war they
found dido in the temple performing her queenly duties they also found some of their companions
who had been lost in the sea seeking the queen's permission to stay and repair their battered ships
the queen granted their request and further added that they're welcome to stay in carthage
afterwards aeneas stepped forward greeting his cobrates and requested the queen's help
and hospitality dido felt pity for aeneas as she was moved by his plight
also she had great admiration for the handsome commander an admiration that was turned into
love by cupid acting on the order of venus from that moment the queen could only think of aeneas
the love struck queen married and niers with the blessings of juno and venus on one of their
many hunts aeneas and dido came upon a storm and they saw shelter in a cave where they made love
the news of their affair spread across the land reaching larbus one of dido's former suitors who
also happened to be the king of libya labus didn't take the news very lightly just as he was getting
used to life in carthage aeneas was reminded by mercury of his promised homeland in italy
this broke his heart but he wasn't willing to give up on his destiny and secretly made plans to leave
dada got wind of his plans was heartbroken too she begged him to stay but all her pleas fell
on deaf ears aeneas eventually left carthage with a heavy heart heartbroken and abandoned
dido threw herself onto a funeral pyre after sending her people to a vengeance treachery as
they journeyed he made a stop in sicily where some of his followers waited behind to found a colony
but aeneas continued to italy when he got there he went to seek the advice of sybil a powerful oracle
sybil took a nearest to the underworld and he saw the ghost of dido but she didn't turn to talk to
him then he saw the ghost of his father who told him he would found the world's greatest kingdom
strengthened by what he had heard from his father aeneas went to latium in central italy
where he married lavinia the daughter of the latin king turnus wasn't happy that the woman
he had hoped to marry got married to a foreigner but latinus lavinia's father only agreed to give
her daughter to aeneas because it was foretold that his daughter would marry a foreigner
turnus was the leader of a tribe called the virtually and they launched a war against the
aeneas and his men but as this was the city he was destined to found he could not be defeated
he killed the mighty turners and married lavinia then he founded the city which he called lavinium
where latins and trojans were united aeneas lived a great and fulfilled life and upon his death
lunas ruled over livinium and founded his own city called alba longa which became the capital
of the trojan latin people there you have it guys the story of aeneas if you enjoyed the
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