[[http://classics.mit.edu/Virgil/aeneid.html|Poem Link]]
[[https://people.duke.edu/~wj25/UC_Web_Site/epic/aeneidsum.html|Summary Link]]
[[https://www.litcharts.com/lit/the-aeneid/book-12|Summary Link]]

Aeneas is the main hero in this Roman epic. After the fall of Troy, Aeneas escapes and leads a fleet to found Rome. Juno (Hera from Greek), convinces Aeolus, god of winds, to stop them. Neptune saves them and they eventually wind up on the shores of Northern Africa, specifically Carthage. 

Dido is the Queen of Carthage and her and Aeneas fall madly in love. They live together for several years when the gods remind Aeneas of his duty to found Rome. He leaves and Dido kills herself by building a pyre out of the stuff he left. She stabs herself with a sword he left behind and burns.

Aeneas' son, Anchises, dies. Bad weather once again blows the fleet to Sicily. They stop to mourn Anchises and hold funeral games. Aeneas is visited in a dream by his dead father, which spurs him back into action. 

The women of the voyage try to burn the ships out of weariness, but rains stops them from being destroyed.

Aeneas enters the underworld to consult with his father. He is shown all the Roman heroes that are to come in the future, which reinvigorates him on his quest to found Rome. 

They sail to Latium where everything is fine for awhile. King Latinus believes his daughter is prohecized to marry Aeneas. Amata, the Queen, wants her to marry Turnus. So, she and Turnus begin to sow enmity towards the Trojans. When one of the Torjans kills a local herdsmen's pet stag, Turnus sues it as an opportunity to wage war against Aeneas and the Trojans. 

Aeneas consults Tiberinus and sails up the Tiber river to try to rally troops from the locals. His mother, the god Venus, has Vulcan forge weapons for Aeneas. This is an intervention of the gods at this point. 


Aeneas returns to find the Trojans under attack by Turnus. Pallas, one of the river locals who joined Aeneas, is killed by Turnus. Aeneas flies into a blind rage and kills a bunch of people. Both sides agree to a temporary truce to bury their dead. 

Juno has been helping Turnus and, like Aeneas, has been given a sword forged by Vulcan. Juno whispers in his sister, Juturna, a nymph. Juturna agrees to whip up a fury against the Trojans again. 

Aeneas and Turnus agree to a battle between the two of them, rather than continuing the war. However, Juturna has managed to whip everyone into a fury and war breaks out again. Aeneas tries to regain control of the situation, but gets shot with an arrow that won't come out. 

A healer named Iapyx attempst to heal Aeneas but cannot. Finally, Venus intervenes and slips some dittany into the healer's herbs. Iapyx knows he could not have healed Aeneas without divine intervention. 

Aeneas returns to battle and the Latins get scared and demoralized. Juturna disguises herself as Turnus' chariot driver to help protect him from Aeneas by steering the chariot far away from him. Messapus, the son of Neptune, strikes Aeneas and knocks his helmet off with a spear. 

Frustrated, Aeneas gives up chasing Turnus and starts killing so many people that Virgil cannot even relate it to the gods. Then he turns his attention on the city of Lavinium, where Queen Amata lives. Seeing this, she believes Turnus must be dead and she hangs herself. Latinus is beside himself with sorrow. 

Turnus eventually sees through Juturna's nymph powers and convinces her to take him back to the battle. Aeneas halts the war so the two of them can finally duel. 

They fight with spears, then swords. Turnus' sword breaks and he realizes he does not have his magic Vulcan-made sword. He runs to try and find it while Aeneas gives chase. Aeneas throws a spear at him and it gets stuck in an olive tree blessed by the goddess Fauna. Turnus prays to Fuana to hold the spear giving him time to escape and retrieve his sword. Juturna returns Turnus' spear, and Venus intervenes and releases Aeneas' spear from the olive tree. The battle goes on and on. 

Finally Jove, god of war, asks Juno when it will all end. Knowing that Aeneas is fated to win and found Rome, Juno finally acquiesces,on the condition that the Latins get to keep their ways and customs. Jove sends down a Fury to stop Juturna's meddling once and for all by taking the form of a bird, symbolizing Turnus' fate. 

Aeneas taunts Turnus for taking too long and Turnus responds by trying to throw a giant boulder at Aeneas. Turnus fails to hit him. Aeneas strikes him with the spear and Turnus falls to his knees. Accepting defeat  he concedes Lavinia. Aeneas is about to spare him when he sees the fallen Pallas' belt around Turnus's waist. Furious, he kills Turnus and the story ends there.