Characters in the Aeneid

Priam

King of Troy, son of Laomedon of the line of Darnanus, father of Paris and Hector

Proserpina

(Persephone) Daughter of Ceres and wife of Pluto who abducted her from earth to the underworld where she rules among the dead

Polydorus

Trojan, son of Priam, who placed him under the guardianship of king Polymestor of Thrace; where Priam's fortunes fialed. Killed by Polymestor who took his treasures

Phoebus

Title of Apollo derived from a Greek word meaning brilliant with a sense of purity

Palamedes

Legendary Greek hero, son of Belus, falsely accused of treason by Ulysses- whom he had exposed as a draft dodger at the outbreak of the Trojan War- and consequently put to death, as narrated by Sinon

Palinurus

Trojan helmsman of Aeneas' ship; washed overboard, his burial site becomes a cape on the western coast of Lucania that bears his name

Pyrrhus

Son of Achilles, and the killer of Priam

Rumor

Takes vengence on gods and men with her evil tongue

Rhadamanthus

Son of Jupiter and Europa, brother of Minos, and the lawgiver who, after dispensing justice in Crete, presides in the underworld.

Vesta

Roman goddess of the hearth, the home and family, who keeps the hearthfire continuously burning, with a temple prominent among the monuments of the Roman forum

Celaeno

leader of the Harpies, possessed by prophetic powers

Augustus

Imperial title awarded to the first Roman emporer, Octavius Ceasar, the grand nephew of Julius Ceasar and adopted as his son

Atreus' sons

(Menelaus and Agamemnon) known as the Atrides

Dardanus

Son of Jupiter and Electra

Anchises

Grandson of Assaracus, son of Capys, father by Venus of Aeneas, second cousin of Priam,

Aeolus

lord of the winds, father of Salmoneus and Misenus and so called grandfather of Ulysses

Agamemnon

Greek, king of Mycenae, son of Atreus, husband of Clytemnestra, murdered by her and Aegisthus. Brother of Menelaus.

Ajax

Greek, son of Oileus, destrpyed by Minerva on their homeward run from Troy.

Ascanius

Grandson of Anchises, son of Aeneas and Creusa, also called Iulus.

Achaemenides

Comrade of Ulysses, who abandons him on the Cyclop's island and is saved by Aeneas

Apollo

son of Jupiter and Latona, twin brother of Diana, a patron of the arts, a prophet with a famous oracular shrine at Delphi in central Greece.

Andromache

wife of Hector, then Pyrrhus, and finally of the prophet Helenus. Mother of Astayanax.

Astyanax

Son of Hector and Andromache, flung to his death from the walls of Troy by the Greeks

Anna

Sister of Dido, who attempts to intercede between Dido and Aeneas

Lavinia

Daughter of Latinus and Amata, Turnis considers her his betrothed, but her father Latinus recognizes that she is fated to marry Aeneas

Latium

A region between Tiber and Campania settled by Saturn

Latinus

King of Latium, son of Faunus, father by Amata of Lavinia

Libya

Region of northern Africa that faces the Mediterranean Sea. Its capital is Carthage

Hector

Trojan, supreme commander of Trojan forces, eldest son of Priam and Hecuba, husband of Andromache, father of Astyanax and killed by Achilles.

Helenus

Trojan, son of Priam, prophet and warrior, and later married to Andromache

Hecuba

Daughter of Dymas, wife of Priam and his queen, mother of Hector

Helen

Daughter of Jupiter and Leda, wife of Menelaus

Sinon

Greek. Master of fraud, whose cunning induces the Trojans to lead the wooden horse into their city

Romulus

Legendary founder of Rome, son of Mars and Ilia

Remus

Kills his brother for leaping over the walls of Rome in a gesture of rivalry

Eurypylus

Greek, emissary to Apollo's oracle during the seige of Troy

Orestes

Grandson of Atreus, son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, murders Clytemnestra and Aegisthus and driven mad by her furies

Achilles

Son of Peleus and Thetis, grandson of Aeacus, father of Pyrrhus, commander of the Myrmidons, and killer of Hector.

Calchas

Son of Thestor, prophet of the Achaeans, in the service of Apollo and the armies of the Greeks

Circe

goddess and enchantress of Aeaea, who changes men to animals and beats

Cupid

Personification of love, son of Venus

Carhage

capital city of Phoenician exiles, led by Dido, who settled them in northern Libya, a nation greatly favored by Juno, and later to become the mortal enemies of Rome in the Punic Wars

Venus

(Aphrodite) goddess of love, daughter of Jupiter and Dione, wife of Vulcan, and mother of Aeneas by Anchises, and of Cupid.

Fates

The three Parcae visualized as the three women spinning the thread of human life. These figures ultimitely control the destiny of mortals

Minerva

(Athena) goddess and daughter of Jupiter, defender of the Greeks.

Ulysses

(Odysseus) grandson of Arcesius and Autolycus, son of Laertes and father of Telemachus by Penelope. King of Ithaca who helped plot the deceit of the Trojan horse

Capys

Trojan companion of Aeneas, restored to him after the storm of Libya

Nisus

Trojan, comrade of Euryalus, competitor in the foor race who places fifth, later killed by Volscians when he tries to save his younger friend during their exploit on behalf of Aeneas

Allecto

One of the three furies

Deiopea

Sea-nymph offered by Juno to Aeolus as in inducement to destroy Aeneas' fleet with a tempest off the coast of Carthage

Styx

The main river in the underworld

Jupiter

(Zeus) Son of Saturn, king of the gods, husband and brother of Juno, father of the Olympians and many mortals

Sibyl

Deiphobe, prophetess in Cumae, Aeneas' guide to the Underworld

Ilioneus

Trojan representative of Aeneas before Dido and Latinus and killer of Lucetius

Diomedes

Greek, son of Tydeus, king of Argos, founder of Argyripa, later called Arpi

Achates

loyal confident and steadfast comrade of Aeneas

Neptune

Roman god of the sea, son of Cronus and Rhea, younger brother of Jupiter, father of Polyphemus

Cumae

Campanian town, founded by the Greeks who migrated from Chalcis on the island Euboea; an legendary entrance to the underworld, its cavern the favortie haunt of Sibyl

Acestes

king of Sicily, born of Trojan stock, son of Crinisus and an ally of Anchises and Aeneas, whom he hosts in his island home. He placed first on the archery contest

Cassandra

Daughter of Priam, sister of Hector, love of Agamemnon, murdered with him by Aegisthus and Clytemnestra. She was a prophetess who foresaw the doom of Troy

Androgeos

Greek captain killed at the fall of troy, son of Minos the king of Crete

Coroebus

Phrygian, fiance of Cassandra, comrade of Aeneas, killed by the Greek Peneleus at the fall of Troy

Menelaus

Son of Atreus, king of Lacedaemon, brother of Agamemnon, rightful husband of Helen

Teucer

first king of the Trojans, father of Bateia, the wife of Dardanus, forebear of Aeneas

Troilus

Trojan, son of Priam, killed by Achilles

Mars

(Ares) Roman god of war, son of Jove and Juno, and father of Romulus and Remnus

Cerberus

watchdog with three heads that guards the Underworld

Deiphobus

Son of Priam, commander-in-chief of the Trojans after Hector's death; consort of Helen after Paris dies. Aeneas sees him in the Underworld.

Golden Branch

Aeneas must find this to travel to the Underworld

Mercury

(Hermes) messenger of the gods, son of Jupiter and Maia, giant killer, the guide of dead souls to the underworld

Creusa

Daughter of Priam by Hecuba, wife of Aeneas and mother of Ascanius

Iarbas

African warlord, son of Jupiter Hammon, rebuffed by Dido in his advances towards her.