Chapter Synopsis of The Aeneid - Study Guide by Virgil

After nine days of festivities, the Trojans prepare to embark amid much weeping. Venus appeals to Neptune, fearing that Juno may again try to raise a storm. Neptune reassures her, reminding her of past instances of his care for Aeneas, and promising that the Trojans will reach Italy safely, with the loss of just one man.

The Trojans set sail, with Palinurus at the helm. The god of sleep tries to lure him from his post, but, finding him inflexible, afflicts him with sleep and throws him overboard. Aeneas takes his place, amid great lamentation.

Book 6 - The Underworld

The Trojans arrive at Cumae and prepare for a meal. Aeneas goes to consult the Sibyl at Apollo's temple, and gazes in admiration at the picture on the temple doors before being called in by the Sibyl. In her inner sanctum, she goes into a prophetic trance and calls on Aeneas to pray to Apollo. He asks to be allowed to enter the kingdom promised by fate and promises a temple to Apollo and Diana, and a special shrine for the Sibyl. She gives a prophetic reply, showing that many trials still await Aeneas but urging him to press on nonetheless. Aeneas replies that he is not put off by the prospect of such a dangerous task, and asks to be allowed to visit Anchises in the Underworld. The Sibyl describes the formidable nature of such a journey, stating two prerequisites : the Golden Bough and the due burial of one of Aeneas' companions.

Aeneas leaves the cave heavy at heart, only to find that the body is that of Misenus, killed when foolishly challenging Triton to a trumpet contest, and so he sets about organising funeral rites. As he prays to see the Golden Bough, two doves guide him to it. He plucks it off and takes it to the Sibyl. All this time, funeral rites for Misenus have been occurring on the shore. After dutifully raising a great mound as a tomb, Aeneas makes preparatory sacrifices and, together with the Sibyl, descends into the Underworld.

There is an interlude as Virgil invokes the gods of the dead to allow him to tell of what Aeneas and the Sibyl saw. At the entrance, they are confronted by various horrible shapes of personified forms of suffering, and a host of unnatural monsters. At the river Styx, they see Charon and his boat. The ghosts keep crowding around, but only some are admitted. The Sibyl tells Aeneas that only the buried may be ferried across, while the rest must wait one hundred years. Aeneas meets the ghost of Palinurus and hears the story of his death. Palinurus begs for burial or to be taken across the Styx unburied. The Sibyl tells him that this is impossible, but consoles him by telling him that the cape where he died will always bear his name. Aeneas and the Sibyl are challenged by Charon, but when she shows him the Golden Bough, he ferries them across.

Having crossed the Styx, they see the barking, three-headed dog Cerberus guarding the far bank. In order to pass him, the Sibyl throws him a drugged cake, which puts him to sleep. As they continue, they first meet the souls of infants, then the unjustly condemned and then the suicides. They enter the Mourning Fields, inhabited by those who have died of love. Here, Aeneas sees Dido, but in spite of his appeal, she turns from him without a word.

They come to a place for dead heroes, and meet warriors of both sides from the Trojan War. Aeneas meets the ghost of Deiphobus, cruelly mangled, and asks him the cause of his suffering. Deiphobus tells him how he was attacked while sleeping, betrayed by his wife Helen to Menelaus and Ulysses. He then asks Aeneas about himself. The Sibyl interrupts, reminding Aeneas that he has the rest of the Underworld to see, at which Deiphobus retires.

Next they see Tartarus, surrounded by a fiery river and echoing with the sounds of torture. In reply to Aeneas' question, the Sibyl tells him that he may not enter, but describes some of the sinners and their punishments. They hurry from Tartarus towards Elysium and leave the Golden Bough at Pluto's palace. They enter the Groves of the Blessed in Elysium, and see an idyllic scene of beautiful contentment. Musaeus, the poet, offers to guide them to Anchises. This he does and Aeneas meets Anchises surveying his Roman descendants. Anchises welcomes his son with joyful surprise and Aeneas is shown a great