Chapter Synopsis of The Aeneid - Study Guide by Virgil

War begins and Latium is in uproar. An embassy is sent to Diomede to ask his help. Meanwhile, as Aeneas sleeps, Father Tiber appears to him, telling him that he has reached his destined home and that proof of this will be a great white sow with her litter of thirty piglets that Aeneas will see beneath ilex trees on a shore. This will be a sign that in thirty years Ascanius will found Alba Longa. He goes on to say that Evander, king of the Arcadians at Pallanteum, is at war with the Latins and that he should seek an alliance with him.

Aeneas wakes and prays to Father Tiber, promising him everlasting worship. Having picked our two biremes from the fleet and manned them with rowers and comrades, he finds the white sow and sacrifices it to Juno. The Tiber then checks its current, and the Trojans gently float upstream towards the city of Evander on the future site of Rome.

Evander is sacrificing to Hercules with his people, when he becomes alarmed by the appearance of the Trojan ships. His son Pallas goes to ask who they are and then welcomes them and escorts Aeneas to Evander's palace. Aeneas pleads that he and Evander are descended from a common ancestor, Atlas, and should make common cause against a common enemy. Evander replies that he remembers Anchises once coming in the train of Priam and he consents to make an alliance and invites them to a banquet. They sit down and begin to feast. Evander explains the origin of the worship of Hercules, telling the story of Hercules and Cacus. As evening falls, the festival is renewed and two bards sing the praises of Hercules.

Evander then escorts Aeneas, telling him of the former state of Latium, the golden age of Saturn, the following decay and his own arrival. He shows him the Asylum, the Lupercal, the Argiletum, the Capitol, the Janiculum, the hill of Saturn, and leads him into his own humble palace.

Venus, alarmed on Aeneas' behalf about the savagery of the fighting in Latium, appeals to Vulcan for help, and, stirred by her embrace, he agrees to make him armour. He goes to the forge of the Cyclopes, where they are making thunderbolts for Jupiter, a chariot for Mars, and an aegis for Pallas Athene. He stops everything and organises the making of Aeneas' armour.

Evander goes to Aeneas and tells him that he and his people are weak, but that the Etrurians who have just expelled their tyrant Mezentius are seeking a foreign leader. He himself is too old, so Aeneas should become their leader and Pallas will go with him to fight in Latium. Aeneas is pondering these words gloomily, when sudden thunder and lightning accompany a vision of arms in the sky. He sacrifices and sends a fleet back to Ascanius, selecting warriors of outstanding courage for his own entrance into battle. Evander bids a touching farewell to Pallas, recalling the exploits of his own youth and praying for life, if he is to see his son again, and for instant death, if he is not.

The Trojans and Arcadians go out towards Caere, halting in the grove of Silvanus, and from the nearby hills they see the camp of Tarchon. Venus then brings to Aeneas the armour made by Vulcan. On it, he sees: (1) Romulus and Remus; (2) The Sabine Women; (3) Mettus Fufetius; (4) Tarquin and Porsenna; (5) Horatius; (6) Cloelia; (7) Manlius and the Gauls; (8) The Salii; (9) The Luperci; (10) The Underworld; (11) The Battle of Actium; (12) The Triumphant Return of Octavian to Rome.

Book 9 - Nisus and Euryalus

Juno tells Iris to inform Turnus that Aeneas is away gathering help from Evander and that it is now a good time to attack the Trojan camp. Turnus heeds this advice and his army advances like a stream. The Trojans see them coming and in obedience to Aeneas' command, they shut themselves within the camp. Turnus vainly challenges them to come out and fight, and after riding round the camp, decides to set fire to their fleet. Virgil invokes the Muses to tell how the ships were saved from the fire and then relates how Cybele had prayed to Jupiter that these ships, built from her sacred wood, be indestructible. As a result, a voice is heard from Mount Ida, bidding the ships go free, and, dipping beneath the sea, they emerge as nymphs. Turnus, however, is unperturbed by this and encourages his men to rest and