The Aeneid

by Robert Fagles; Bernard Knox Virgil

  ANGITIA (ayn-gi‘-ti-a): a sorceress, sister of, or perhaps epithet of Medea herself; Lake Fucinus, modern Piano del Fucino east of Avezzano, was sacred to her for its healing powers, 7.881.

  ANIO (a‘-ni-o): a tributary of the Tiber, rising in the Apennines and passing through the territory of the Sabines, source of a contingent allied with Turnus, 7.796.

  ANIUS (a‘-ni-us): priest of Apollo and king of Delos, who welcomes Aeneas’ party to the island, 3.97.

  ANNA (an‘-a): sister of Dido, who attempts to intercede between Dido and Aeneas, 4.11.

  ANTAEUS (an-tee‘-us): Latin under Turnus’ command, killed by Aeneas, 10.667.

  ANTANDROS (an-tan‘-dros): town under the heights of Phrygian Mount Ida (1), where Aeneas builds his fleet, 3.6.

  ANTEMNAE (ayn-teem‘-nee): Sabine town at the juncture of the Anio and the Tiber; a source of armaments for Turnus’ forces, 7.734.

  ANTENOR (an-tee‘-nor): Trojan escapee from the fall of Troy, who precedes Aeneas to Italy, founder of Patavium, now Padua, 1.287. See Note 1.287-97.

  ANTHEUS (ayn‘-theus): Trojan, companion of Aeneas, fathered by Sarpedon, and pilot of a shipwrecked vessel in his fleet, 1.215.

  ANTIPHATES (an-ti‘-fa-teez): an ally of Aeneas, killed by Turnus, 9.791.

  ANTONY (an‘-toh-nee): triumvir, Marcus Antonius, 8.803. See Introduction, pp. 2-6.

  ANTORES (ayn-toh‘-reez): Hercules’ aide who affiliated himself with Evander, comrade of Aeneas, killed by Mezentius, 10.920.

  ANUBIS (a-noo‘-bis): Egyptian deity in Cleopatra’s train at the battle of Actium; protector of tombs, typically portrayed with the head of a dog or jackal and the body of a man, 8.819.

  ANXUR (aynks‘-oor): (1) Volscian town in Latium, sacred to Jupiter, also known as Tarracina or Terracina (modern Terracina) and renowned for its grove where Jupiter presided, 7.928. (2) Rutulian killed by Aeneas, 10.645.

  APENNINE (a‘-pe-neyen): belonging to the central mountain ridge of the Italian peninsula 11.826; its divinity is “Father / Apennine himself,” 12.814.

  APHIDNUS (a-feed‘-nus): Trojan killed by Turnus, 9.797.

  APOLLO (a-pol‘-oh): god, son of Jupiter and Latona (Leto), twin brother of Diana, a patron of the arts, especially music and poetry. Also an archer, a healer, and a prophet with a famous oracular shrine at Delphi, in central Greece. The principal divine champion of the Greeks, 1.400. As Augustus’ patron divinity, he presides appropriately over the battle of Actium, in Virgil’s description, 8.826. See Note 4.179.

  AQUICULUS (a-kwee‘-cu-lus): Rutulian stopped at the gates of Aeneas’ encampment, 9.778.

  ARABIANS: inhabitants of Arabia Felix, modern Yemen, against which the Romans sent an ill-fated expedition in 24 B.C., 8.827.

  ARAXES (a-rak‘-seez): river in Armenia, bridged by Alexander, but the span was ripped from its moorings by the stream’s powerful current, 8.853.

  ARCADIANS (ar-kay‘-di-anz): 8.54, inhabitants of ARCADIA (ar-kay’-di-a), a region in the rugged central Peloponnese where Evander was born, 8.113. It is treated by Virgil in his Eclogues as the place of origin of pastoral poetry.

  ARCENS (ayr‘-kens): Sicilian, father of a nameless ally of Aeneas, killed by Mezentius, 9.660.

  ARCETIUS (ayr-ket‘-i-us): Rutulian killed by Mnestheus, 12.539.

  ARCHIPPUS (ayr-kee‘-pus): Marsian king who sent Umbro to fight on Turnus’ side, only to be killed by Trojans, 7.874.

  ARCTURUS (ark-too‘-rus): the Bear-Watcher, most brilliant star in the constellation called the Wagon; its rising coincides with heavy spring rains, 1.894. See GREAT AND LITTLE BEARS.

  ARDEA (ayr‘-de-a): the Rutulians’ capital city, south of Rome; the home of Turnus and place where he was born, 7.480.

  ARETHUSA (a-re-thoo‘-sa): fountain at the seaward edge of Syracuse, that, according to legend, draws its waters underground from the Alpheus River in Greece, 3.804.

  ARGILETUM (ar-gi-lee‘-tum): a main artery leading from the Roman Forum northeast toward the Esquiline and Viminal hills. Virgil derives its name from “the death of Argus” (2), but it more likely stems from argilla (clay), 8.405.

  ARGOS (ar‘-gos): 1.30, city or district in the northeastern Peloponnese, or the general region of the Achaeans, mainland Greece, inhabited by the ARGIVE (ar’-geyev) people, 1.50.

  ARGUS (ar‘-gus): (1) hundred-eyed monster, guardian assigned to Io by Juno and killed by Mercury, 7.918. (2) Legendary guest of Evander, who was killed for plotting against his host, 8.406.

  ARGYRIPA (ayr-gi‘-ri-pa): city in Apulia, established by Diomedes and called thereafter Arpi, 11.296.

  ARICIA (a-ree‘-si-a): Latian city named for its resident nymph, the mother of Virbius, 7.885. See Note 7.884-908.

  ARISBA (a-reez‘-bah): city in the Troad conquered by Aeneas, 9.313. Beyond Virgil’s mention, the connection with Aeneas is obscure.

  ARPI (ayr‘-pi): alternative name for Argyripa, 10.34.

  ARRUNS (ay‘-runz): an Etruscan ally of Aeneas, and the killer of Camilla, 11.893.

  ASBYTES (ays-bee‘-teez): Trojan killed by Turnus, 12.431.

  ASCANIUS (as-kay‘-ni-us): grandson of Anchises, son of Aeneas and Creusa, also called Iulus, 1.320-21; see ILUS (1). For his relationship to the later Julian family, see Introduction, pp. 12-17.

  ASIA: actually Asia Minor in the context of the Aeneid; a region originally named for a Lydian city there, 1.467.

  ASILAS (a-see‘-las): (1) Rutulian, who kills the Trojan Corynaeus (1), 9.651. (2) Etruscan seer and a fighting ally of Aeneas, 10.211.

  ASIUS (a‘-si-us): Trojan, defender of Aeneas’ camp, 10.152.

  ASSARACI (ay-sa‘-ra-kee): two Trojans, both defenders of Aeneas’ camp, 10.153.

  ASSARACUS (ay-sa‘-ra-kus): son of Tros, brother of Ilus (2) and Ganymede, father of Capys (2), grandfather of Anchises, great-grandfather of Aeneas, 1.339.

  ASTYANAX (as-teye‘-a-naks): “Lord of the City” in Greek, infant son of Hector and Andromache, flung to his death from the walls of Troy by the victorious Greeks, 2.571. See Iliad 6.471-577, 22.566-96.

  ASTYR (ay‘-stir): Etruscan comrade of Aeneas, 10.218.

  ASYLUM: the Asylum, a grove between the two summits of the Capitoline hill, was established by Romulus as a place of refuge, 8.402.

  ATHENA (a-thee‘-na): 2.208; see MINERVA, PALLAS (1), and TRITONIAN; Notes 1.49-55, 2.211; and Introduction p. 17.

  ATHOS (a‘-thos): mountain on a promontory in the northern Aegean Sea, 12.813.

  ATINA (a-tee‘-na): Italian town, still bearing the same name, that housed a Volscian clan, 7.733.

  ATINAS (a-tee‘-nas): Rutulian captain, routed along with other allies of Turnus at Aeneas’ gates, 11.1017.

  ATLAS (at‘-las): father of Electra and Maia, tutor of Iopas, the Carthaginian bard, a Titan who upheld the pillars separating the earth and sky (for Atlas’ powers, see Odyssey 1.62-64), and was transformed into Mount Atlas, a peak in northern Africa, 1.889.

  ATREUS (ay‘-troos): father of Agamemnon and Menelaus, 1.553.

  ATYS (a‘-tis): Trojan youth in the equestrian display at Anchises’ funeral games, soon to be the source of the Latin ATIANS (ay’-shanz) (5.625). By the name Atys, Virgil is suggesting the origin of the gens Atia and hence of Augustus, whose mother Atia, married to Caius Octavius, was the niece of Julius Caesar. See Introduction, pp. 1-2.

  AUFIDUS (aw‘-fi-dus): river in Apulia, now the Ofanto, whose strong currents empty into the Adriatic, and so the river cannot possibly flow backward from the Adriatic, 11.485. See Note 11.483-85.

  AUGUSTUS (aw-gus‘-tus): imperial title, awarded in 27 B.C. to the first Roman emperor, Octavius Caesar: the grand-nephew of Julius Caesar and adopted as his son, 6.914. See ATYS; CAESAR, JULIUS; ILUS (1); JULIUS; and Introduction passim.

  AULESTES (aw-lees‘-teez): allied to Aeneas, an Etruscan captain who sails the Triton, 10.251.

  AULIS (aw‘-lis): district in the narrow strait between Euboea and the Greek mainland, where the Greek fleet gathered before sailing for Troy and A
gamemnon sacrificed his daughter, Iphigenia, 4.534.

  AUNUS (aw‘-nus): Ligurian, his son killed by Camilla, 11.826.

  AURORA (aw-roh‘-ra): interchangeable with Dawn, 3.684.

  AURUNCAN (aw-run‘-kan): of the original Italian people, named after Aurunca, an ancient Campanian town northwest of Naples, 7.236.

  AUSONIA (aw-soh‘-ni-a): 7.61, land of the AUSONIANS (aw-soh’-ni-anz), people of southern Italy, and a collective name for all of Italy too, 9.728.

  AUTOMEDON (aw-to‘-me-don): Achilles’ henchman, charioteer, and armor-bearer, 2.594.

  AVENTINUS (a-ven-teye‘-nus): son of Hercules (mentioned nowhere else, see Williams, 1973, note 7.655f.) by a priestess, Rhea, 7.762; eponym for the AVENTINE (a’-ven-teyen) hill, one of the seven hills of Rome, 7.767.

  AVERNUS (a-ver‘-nus): modern Lago di Averno, lake in a volcanic crater just east of Cumae and west of Naples; “birdless” or “over which no birds will fly,” as the name implies, since the caldera emitted noxious fumes; located near a legendary entrance to the Underworld, and so the name is often used of the Underworld in general, 3.519.

  BACCHUS (bah‘-kus): son of Jupiter and Semele, the god of wine, the vine, and ecstasy, 1.877; also called Lyaeus (“the Liberator,” see 4.73).

  BACTRA (bak‘-tra): remote Eastern region bounded by the Oxus to the north and the Hindu Kush to the south, whose forces fought on the side of Antony and Cleopatra at the battle of Actium, 8.807.

  BAIAE (bah‘-yee): bayside town of Campania, just south of Cumae; one of the Romans’ favorite spas and resorts, known by the Augustan era for the luxury of its villas built on piers out into the water, 9.806.

  BARCE (bayr‘-see): Sychaeus’ old nurse, Dido’s attendant, 4.788.

  BARCAN (bar‘-kan): of a Libyan people inhabiting the city of Barce, and known for their marauding ways, 4.55.

  BATULUM (ba‘-tu-lum): town in Campania, allied to Turnus, 7.860.

  BEBRYCIAN (be-bri‘-shan): of Bebrycia, a region in Asia Minor, forming the southern border of the Black Sea, 5.416.

  BELLONA (be-loh‘-na): Roman goddess of battle, cult-partner of Mars, 7.373.

  BELUS (bee‘-lus): (1) Father of Dido, 1.742. (2) First founder of Dido’s Phoenician royal line of descent, 1.872. (3) Father of Palamedes and, according to Virgil, of Danaus and Aegyptus, 2.103.

  BENACUS (bee-nay‘-kus): “Father Benacus,” personification of northern Italian lake, now Lago di Garda, and source of the Mincius River, 10.249.

  BERECYNTHIAN (be-re-sin‘-thi-an): of Berecynthia, a mountainous area in Phrygia, sacred to the Great Mother, Cybebe (Cybele), 6.905.

  BEROË (be‘-roh-ee): aged wife of Doryclus, impersonated by Iris in her machinations to destroy Aeneas’ fleet, 5.684.

  BITIAS (bi‘-ti-as): (1) Tyrian nobleman in Dido’s retinue, 1.884. (2) Brother of Pandarus (2), both born of Alcanor (1) and Iaera, Trojan comrade of Aeneas, killed by Turnus, 9.765.

  BLACKSMITHS: i.e., Chalybes, people from Pontus, a region along the southern coast of the Black Sea, who were reputed to be master iron-workers and the originators of steel, 10.210.

  BOLA (boh‘-la): town in Latium, promised to the heirs of Aeneas, 6.895.

  BRIAREUS (bri-a‘-ryoos): name used by the gods for the hundred-handed giant called Aegaeon by mortals, 6.326. See Iliad 1.477-83.

  BRUTUS (broo‘-tus): Lucius Junius Brutus, the founder and first consul of the Roman Republic, known as Brutus the Avenger, because he avenged the allegiance of his sons to Tarquin, after he had been expelled, by executing them, 6.942. See Introduction, p. 30.

  BUTES (boo‘-teez): (1) braggart kin of Amycus (2), king of the Bebrycians, who was once overpowered by Dares in a boxing-match, 5.415. (2) Armor-bearer of Anchises, who, at Aeneas’ bidding, protects Ascanius, 9.737. (3) Trojan killed by Camilla, 11.814.

  BUTHROTUM (boo-throh‘-tum): coastal city in Epirus, inhabited after the fall of Troy by the Trojans Helenus and Andromache and their people, who founded a miniature version of Troy, 3.350. See Note 3.389-400.

  BYRSA (beer‘-sa): the citadel of Carthage, from the Greek word for bull’s-hide, 1.446. See Note ad loc.

  CACUS (ka‘-kus): son of Vulcan, fire-breathing monster who once lived on the Aventine hill in Pallanteum, savaging Evander’s people until Hercules destroyed him, the occasion for yearly rites of celebration among the town’s inhabitants, 8.227.

  CAECULUS (kee‘-ku-lus): Vulcan’s son, found on a burning hearth, who established Praeneste; comrade-in-arms of Turnus, 7.791.

  CAEDICUS (kee‘-di-kus): (1) Latin companion and guest of Remulus (1), to whom he presented many gifts, 9.418. (2) Etruscan, comrade of Mezentius, 10.882.

  CAENEUS (kee‘-nyoos): (1) Thessalian girl changed by Neptune into a young man and then turned back by Fate to her original form, 6.519. (2) Trojan, killer of Ortygius; killed by Turnus, 9.653.

  CAERE (kee‘-ree): Etrurian city, called Agylla once, and now Cervetri, its banks a center of worship of Silvanus, god of forests, and the source of a contingent led by Lausus, 8.704.

  CAESAR, JULIUS (see‘-zar, jool’-yus): Caius Julius Caesar, known to history as Caesar. His family, the Julian gens, is “a name passed down from Iulus, his great forebear,” 1.342-44. See ATYS, AUGUSTUS, ILUS (1), and Introduction, pp. 1-2.

  CAICUS (ka-ee‘-kus): Trojan, companion of Aeneas, his ship temporarily lost in the storm off Libya, 1.217.

  CAIETA (kay-ee‘-ta): (1) port and promontory on the western coast of Latium, now Gaeta, 6.1038, that derives its name from the name of Gaeta (2), Aeneas’ nurse, since she is buried there, 7.1.

  CALCHAS (kal‘-kas): son of Thestor, prophet of the Achaeans in the service of Apollo and the armies of the Greeks, 2.126.

  CALES (kay‘-leez): town in central Campania, now Calvi, north of Capua, that sent a contingent to fight on Turnus’ side, 7.846.

  CALLIOPE (ka-leye‘-o-pee): leader of the nine Muses; her province is epic poetry, and she is invoked by Virgil to help unfold the wars in Italy, 9.601.

  CALYBE (ka‘-li-bee): Rutulian priestess of Juno, impersonated by Allecto when she incites Turnus to battle, 7.490.

  CALYDON (ka‘-li-don): city in Aetolia, where Diomedes was born, the site of a legendary struggle between Aetolians and Curetes, 7.357; see Note 7.358-59.

  CAMERINA (ka-me-ree‘-na): town on the southern coast of Sicily; the settlement and its surrounding marshland are held in place by the Fates, 3.809.

  CAMERS (ka‘-meers): Rutulian, Volcens’ son and an ally of Turnus, killed by Aeneas, 10.668.

  CAMILLA (ka-mil‘-a): Volscian commander, comrade of Turnus, comparable to an Amazon like Penthesilea, “a warrior queen who dares to battle men” (1.595), 7.933.

  CAMILLUS (ka-meel‘-us): Marcus Furius Camillus liberated Rome from the Gauls, 6.950. See Introduction, p. 30.

  CAMPANIAN (kam-pan‘-yan): of Campania, a region of western central Italy, the name of whose major city, Capua, Virgil derives from the Trojan Capys (1), 10.176-77.

  CAPENA (ka-peen‘-a): town in Etruria on the west bank of the Tiber, due north of Rome, its contingent allied with Turnus’ forces, 7.812.

  CAPHEREUS (ka-fee‘-ryoos): eastern headland of Euboea, where Greeks on the homeward run from Troy were stormed and sunk as part of Minerva’s vengeance against Oilean Ajax for violating Cassandra, 11.314.

  CAPITOL: the Capitoline hill in Rome, its southern height crowned by the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, where Roman triumphal processions came to a conclusion, 6.963. See Introduction, pp. 20, 34.

  CAPREAE (ka‘-pre-eye): modern Capri, an island off the peninsula that forms the southern edge of the Bay of Naples, and the source of a contingent allied to Turnus, 7.855.

  CAPYS (ka‘-pis): (1) Trojan companion of Aeneas, restored to him after the storm off Libya; supposed founder of Capua, whose name the city bears; killer of Privernus, 1.217. (2) A king of Alba Longa, 6.888.

  CARIANS (kay‘-ri-anz): Trojan allies, inhabitants of Caria, a region in southern Asia Minor facing the Aegean, 8.849.<
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  CARINAE (ka-reen‘-ee): “the Keels,” elegant district of future Rome, just north of the Roman Forum, at the base of the Esquiline, home to the fashionable and the powerful, 8.424.

  CARMENTAL GATE (kar-men‘-tal): ancient entrance to the city of Rome, located at the western base of the Capitoline hill and named after Carmentis, 8.396.

  CARMENTIS (kar-men‘-tis): nymph, prophetess, and mother of Evander, 8.394.

  CARPATHIAN (kar-pay‘-thi-an): of Carpathus, an island in the Aegean, lying between Crete and Rhodes, 5.654.

  CARTHAGE (kar‘-thage): 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, 1.15. See Introduction, passim.