AEneas

AEneas, a, legendary Trojan prince, son of Venus and Anchises. He appears in the Iliad as a comrade of Hector, and Virgil made him the hero of the AEneid, In that poem he is described as escaping from burning Troy with his father on his shoulders, carrying his household gods, and leading his son, Ascanius, by the hand. His wife Creusa was lost in the tumult. After many adventures, the principal of which was his love affair with Dido, the queen of Carthage, AEneas landed in Latium, allied himself with Latinus, the king of the country, married his daughter Lavinia, and founded Lavinium. His rival Turnus, king of the Rutulians, was killed in battle, and the AEneid carries the story no farther. Livy, taking up the narrative, says that he reigned for three years in Latium; was slain in a war with the Rutulians, aided by Mezentius of Etruria, and was carried up to heaven. Ascanius, his son, who changed his name to Iulus, was claimed as the forefather of the Julian Gens.