Aeneas's defeat of Turnus (book 12), painting by Luca Giordano

At our October meeting, we will discuss the Aeneid by Virgil. This Latin epic poem tells the story of Aeneas, the legendary founder of Rome. Aeneas was a Trojan warrior and a character in the Iliad, who escaped from the destruction of Troy at the end of the Trojan War, and journeyed, with his companions, to Italy, where he was victorious in battle against the Latins. Virgil took up the thread of disconnected stories about Aeneas and his wanderings and crafted a founding myth of Roman, tying his city to the heroes of the past. This work is modeled after the Iliad and Odyssey and has become a cornerstone of the Western canon.

Virgil lived and wrote during the Augustan period of ancient Rome and is ranked as one of its greatest poets.

For an overview of the proposed long-term schedule for our study of Odysseus, please see Odysseus in Literature.

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