OUTLINE OF THE AENEID
(line numbers are those of the Mandelbaum translation)
Consult the glossary at the end of the Mandelbaum translation for identification of the important characters.

Book 1 The poet introduces the story of Aeneas. He explains Juno's anger with the Trojans, and looks ahead to the foundation of Rome and the growth of its empire. Aeneas is introduced on his journey from Troy.  He is shipwrecked at Carthage on the North African shore and received by Queen Dido.
1-18: Prologue
19-50: The poet describes JUNO's hostility towards the Trojans and her affection for CARTHAGE.
51-220: Juno bribes a minor god of the winds, Aeolus, to send a storm to wreck the Trojan fleet.  The storm is calmed by NEPTUNE.
221-311: The Trojan survivors land on the African shore and Aeneas consoles his men.
312-430: VENUS appeals to JUPITER on behalf of the Trojans.  Jupiter prophesies the future greatness of Rome, and sends MERCURY to ensure that DIDO and the Carthaginians receive Aeneas and the Trojans hospitably.
431-584: Aeneas sets out to explore, and meets his mother, Venus, disguised as a huntress. She tells him the story of how Dido, the queen and founder of Carthage, fled from the Phoenician city of Tyre after her brother, Pygmalion, murdered her husband, SYCHAEUS.  She urges Aeneas to go to the palace of Dido.
585-697: Aeneas, hidden by a mist, heads for Carthage and watches the building of the city.  He sees stories of the Trojan War represented in the TEMPLE OF JUNO.
698-815: Dido appears.  A group of Aeneas' companions - presumed to have been lost in the storm - present themselves to her and are received with hospitality.
816-917: Aeneas is revealed to Dido, and Dido welcomes him.  He sends to the ships for gifts and for his son, ASCANIUS.
918-970: Venus sends CUPID, disguised as Ascanius, to inflame Dido with love for Aeneas.
971-1053: At a feast in Dido's palace, Aeneas is asked to tell his story. Book 2 Aeneas tells the story of the Trojan horse, the death of Priam, the fall of Troy, and his own escape with his father, Anchises, and his son, Iulus.
1-345: Aeneas begins with the story of the TROJAN HORSE .  The treacherous Greek, SINON, lies to the Trojans about the horse and persuades them to bring it into their city.  First, he explains his presence by telling them a false story about the hostility of ULYSSES (the Greek, Odysseus) towards him.  Then, he lies about the purpose of the horse.  LAOCOON, the Trojan priest who had urged destruction of the horse, is killed with his sons by serpents from the sea.
346-70: The Greeks emerge from the horse, their fleet returns, and the attack begins.
371-407: HECTOR'S GHOST appears to Aeneas in a dream and tells him to flee Troy with "her holy things and household gods."
408-750: The Trojans futilely attempt to resist, and PYRRHUS, the son of Achilleus, brutally kills Priam's son, POLITES, and Priam himself in the palace.
751-92: Aeneas remembers his father, wife and son, and he heads for his home.  On his way, he sees Helen and is moved to kill her.
792-855: Venus prevents Aeneas from killing Helen, and shows him that the gods are destroying Troy.  She urges him to save his family.
857-1082: After his initial hesitation, Aeneas' father, ANCHISES, is persuaded by omens to leave Troy.  Anchises, Aeneas, his son, Iulus (Ascanius) and his wife, CREUSA, flee.  Creusa is lost, and, when Aeneas returns to Troy to find her, he meets only her ghost who prophesies his future. Book 3 Aeneas describes his journey from Troy and his unsuccessful efforts to found a new city, as he fails to understand the oracles, dreams and omens that foretell his new home in Italy. 
1-89: Aeneas and his followers leave Troy and land in Thrace where they learn that the Thracian king had treacherously murdered Priam's son, POLYDORUS, and seized his treasure.
90-253: Leaving Thrace, the Trojans stop at the island of DELOS, site of Apollo's temple. The god prophesies that they must "seek out their ancient mother". Anchises' interprets the prophecy to mean the island of CRETE, but their effort to found a city there - a new Pergamum - is thwarted by a plague. The household gods appear to Aeneas in a dream and explain that he must seek Italy, and Anchises remembers the ancient prophecies of CASSANDRA.
253- 378: After a storm, the Trojans land on the Strophades, islands in the Ionian sea, but they are driven away by the HARPIES who warn that they will suffer hunger in Italy. They sail past ITHACA, home of Ulysses, and hold games at ACTIUM, the later site of AUGUSTUS' naval victory over MARC ANTONY and CLEOPATRA.
378-659: They land at Buthrotum, a "new Troy" where HELENUS, a son of Priam, and Andromache, the widow of Hektor, now rule. Helenus received part of this kingdom after Achilleus' son, Pyrrhus, was killed by Agamemnon's son, ORESTES, in their rivalry over HERMIONE, the daughter of Helen. Helenus interprets the prophecies that Aeneas has received, and gives him instructions to follow on his remaining journey and when he arrives in Italy. He advises him to consult the SYBIL, Apollo's prophetess, at Cumae. 
660-893 : They skirt the shores of southern Italy and Sicily, and, in the land of the CYCLOPS, they meet one of Ulysses' men, ACHAEMENIDES, who was left behind. He tells the story of Ulysses and the Cyclops.
893-931: Aeneas ends his story with the death of his father, Anchises. Book 4 Wounded and infected by the poison of Cupid's arrow, Dido falls in love with Aeneas, but he abandons her, when he is called by the gods to follow his destiny.  Distraught, Dido commits suicide.
1-118: Dido tells her sister, ANNA, of her love for Aeneas.  Anna encourages her love.  Dido is shown as madly in love with Aeneas.
119-228: Juno plans Dido's marriage to Aeneas.  A hunt is arranged, a storm comes up, and Dido and Aeneas are driven to the same cave: "That day was her first day of death and ruin."
229-345: Rumor of their "wedding" reaches IARBAS, one of Dido's rejected suitors, who prays to Jupiter for help.  Jupiter sends MERCURY to remind Aeneas of his duty.
346-95: Mercury brings Jupiter's message to Aeneas and he prepares to leave.
396-545: Dido discovers his plans and rebukes him.  Aeneas defends his actions.
546-971: Dido decides upon suicide, and curses the Trojans.  Aeneas and the Trojans flee at Mercury's urging.  Dido kills herself. Book 5 The Trojans land in Sicily to avoid a storm, and, there, Aeneas holds funeral games in honor of the anniversary of his father's death.  Meanwhile, Juno sends IRIS to persuade the Trojan women to burn the fleet and end their wanderings.  Jupiter saves the fleet with a timely rainfall and Nautes suggests that Aeneas leave behind those who do not want to go on to Italy.  Anchises appears to Aeneas in a dream and convinces him of Nautes' plan.  A new Troy is founded in Sicily, and Aeneas sets sail for Italy.  Venus asks Neptune to give Aeneas' ships safe passage to Italy.  Only PALINURUS , the helmsman, is lost at sea Book 6 Aeneas and the Trojans arrive in Italy.  Accompanied by the Sibyl, Aeneas visits the underworld, meets with the shade of his father, and sees a pageant of his future descendants: the rulers, generals and statesmen of Rome.
1-59: The Trojans land on the Italian shore.  On his way to the grotto of the SIBYL, Aeneas visits the TEMPLE OF APOLLO AND DIANA .  As he admires the stories of Crete in the reliefs carved by DAEDALUS, he is interrupted by the arrival of the priestess.
60-216: He enters the Sibyl's cave, and she prophesies his wars in Italy.  Then, Aeneas appeals for permission to descend into the Underworld to see the shade of his father, Anchises.  The Sibyl tells him he must first bury a comrade, MISENUS, and then find the GOLDEN BOUGH.
217-315: The Trojans bury Misenus whose corpse they found on the beach, and Aeneas is led to the golden bough by doves sent by his mother, Venus.
316-355: Aeneas enters the underworld with the Sibyl, and Virgil invokes the gods of the underworld to permit him to recount their journey.
356-549: They journey to the Styx river, and, there, they meet Palinurus who cannot cross because he remains unburied.  The Sibyl shows the golden bough to CHARON, the ferryman, and he grants passage to Aeneas.
550-626: They pass CERBERUS, MINOS the judge, the land of the suicides, and the Fields of Mourning where Aeneas sees "those whom bitter love consumed with brutal waste." Here, he tries to speak with Dido, but she doesn't answer.
627-724: Aeneas meets the Greek and Trojan warriors, and he converses with DEIPHOBUS, the last Trojan husband of Helen, who was brutally mutilated in the sack of Troy.
725-897: Aeneas passes the road to Tartarus where he sees the punishments of the wicked, and he enters the ELYSIAN FIELDS.
898-1203: Aeneas finds his father, Anchises.  Anchises describes the cycle of rebirth, and, then, shows Aeneas his Roman descendants, ending with the tragic vision of the funeral of MARCELLUS, Augustus' nephew and son-in-law who died prematurely.  Aeneas returns to the earth through the GATE OF IVORY, the gate of false dreams. Books 7-8 The last six books of the Aeneid describe Aeneas' arrival in Latium and his wars with the Italians whose forces are led by the RUTULIAN warrior, TURNUS.  In book 7, the aged king LATINUS welcomes Aeneas' men and proposes that his daughter, LAVINIA, marry Aeneas to unite the two peoples and fulfill a prophecy.  Juno sends a fury, ALLECTO , to inflame Latinus' wife, Queen AMATA, with anger over the proposed wedding, for she had favored her daughter's marriage to Turnus.  Meanwhile, Aeneas' son, Ascanius, kills a stag kept with the royal herd, and this triggers a battle with the Latins.  Both sides marshall their forces, and king Latinus withdraws into his palace.  In book 8, the two sides prepare for war.  Aeneas, seeking allies, visits king EVANDER and his son, PALLAS, at the future site of Rome where he sees future Roman landmarks and memorials to HERCULES.  Evander entrusts his son to him, and Venus brings Aeneas a set of armor forged by her divine husband, VULCAN. The shield bears scenes of Roman history around a monumental image of Augustus' naval victory at Actium.
Book 9 Turnus attacks the Trojan camp, while Aeneas is visiting Evander.  Two Trojan warriors, NISUS and EURYALUS, undertake a daring mission by night to cross the Latin lines and get a message to Aeneas, but they are caught and brutally slain.
Book 10 Jupiter holds a council of the gods at which Venus and Juno plead the causes of the Trojans and Latins respectively.  Jupiter decides to leave the battle's outcome to fortune.  As Aeneas sails down the Tiber with his new Tuscan allies, he is met by nymphs - the transformed Trojan fleet - who warn him of the Latin attack on the Trojan camp.  Aeneas' forces land and join the battle.  Evander's son, Pallas, fights bravely, but he is outmatched by Turnus and killed, as Jupiter and Hercules look on from the heavens.  Aeneas rages on the battlefield seeking revenge.  Juno rescues Turnus, but Aeneas wounds the Tuscan tyrant, MEZENTIUS, and kills his son, LAUSUS.  Mezentius, enraged, confronts Aeneas and is killed. Book 11 Aeneas mourns for Pallas and sends his body back to his father, Evander.  The Latins send envoys to the Trojan camp, and Aeneas offers them peace.  King Latinus calls a council of the Latins.  They learn that the veteran Greek warrior, Diomedes, has rejected their plea for help against Aeneas.  Latinus proposes that they grant the Trojans land to settle, and DRANCES urges him to marry his daughter to Aeneas.  This enrages Turnus, and he offers to fight a duel with Aeneas.  Meanwhile, the Trojans have begun to march on the city.  Latinus abandons the council in despair, and Turnus rallies the troops to face the Trojans.  CAMILLA, the virgin leader of the Volscians, leads the fight against the Trojans and is slain. Book 12 Despite the protests of king Latinus and queen Amata, Turnus challenges Aeneas.  Juno incites JUTURNA, Turnus' divine sister, to intervene to break the truce by persuading the Latins to attack the Trojans.  The battle breaks out and Aeneas is wounded.  After his wound is healed by his mother, Venus, he returns to battle and leads the Trojans in an attack upon the Latins' city.  Turnus confronts Aeneas, but, when his sword is shattered, he flees.  Meanwhile, Jupiter wins Juno's acceptance of the Trojan victory, and he promises that they will merge with the Latins and lose the name of Trojans.  Juturna is forced to abandon her brother, and Turnus is left to face Aeneas.  Aeneas wounds him, and kills him in a rage when he sees that he is wearing the belt he stripped from Pallas. SCHEDULE OF READINGS (Monday/Wednesday)
SCHEDULE OF READINGS (Tuesday night)
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