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Contents
The hero of the poem and the ancestor of Rome's founders. Aeneas is pious and dutiful, which means he does what the gods and Fates demand even when it destroys him personally. He is not a swaggering warrior like Achilles. He carries grief, and it weighs on every decision he makes.
Queen of Carthage and the poem's most fully realized character. She is a capable ruler who built a city from nothing after fleeing her murderous brother. She falls in love with Aeneas, is abandoned by him, and kills herself. Her story is the emotional argument against Roman triumphalism.
Queen of the gods and Aeneas's divine enemy. Juno hates the Trojans for reasons both personal and political, and she spends the poem throwing obstacles at Aeneas. She cannot stop fate, but she can make the journey as painful as possible. She is the engine of most of the plot's complications.
The Latin warrior king who was promised Lavinia and refuses to give her up. Turnus is brave and passionate, and Virgil gives him enough dignity that his death feels like a loss. He is not simply a villain. He is a man fighting for something real, on the wrong side of fate.
Aeneas's elderly father, whom Aeneas carries out of burning Troy on his back. Anchises dies in Sicily before the Trojans reach Italy. In the underworld, his shade shows Aeneas the future of Rome. He represents the weight of the past and the reason Aeneas keeps going.
Goddess of love and Aeneas's divine mother. Venus protects Aeneas throughout the poem, arranges the love affair with Dido (partly to keep Aeneas safe in Carthage), and commissions his divine armor. She is a counterweight to Juno, but her protection also creates complications.
The young son of Evander, sent to fight alongside Aeneas. Pallas is killed by Turnus early in the Italian war. His death is the emotional trigger for the poem's ending: Aeneas kills Turnus not in cold judgment but in grief over Pallas.
The prophetess at Cumae who guides Aeneas into the underworld. She is not a major character, but she controls access to the most important scene in the poem. She knows what Aeneas will face and tells him plainly.
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