قصة الكتاب :
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem written between 29 and 19 BC by the Roman poet Virgil. It incorporates the various legends of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy and became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed in hexameters and was Virgil’s final work. The work is organized into 12 books and is about the legendary founding of the city of Lavinium, the parent town of Rome. Aeneas is credited with the founding of the city. As Aeneas left the burning ruins of Troy, he was informed that it was his destiny to found a new city in the West with a glorious future. The Aeneid is Virgil’s best-known work and was considered a literary masterpiece by the Romans in his day.

\r\nThe Aeneid is also considered a classical foundation narrative. Aeneas, the hero is the son of Venus and the Trojan aristocrat Anchises. He leads the Trojan survivors across the Mediterranean to the site of Rome and remains strong even in the face of divine hostility, as is the case with all heroes in the ancient epics. Juno, the queen of heaven and the goddess of marriage is furious with the Trojans after losing a beauty contest known as the Judgement of Paris. Venus wins this contest by offering the best bribe to one of the judges who happens to be the Trojan prince Paris. The bribe that is offered is Helen of Sparta, the most beautiful woman in the world. The offer pleases Paris who judges in favour of Venus. Helen however is married to the Spartan king Menelaus, and the Trojan war follows. Juno remains angry about her loss and hates everything Trojan. It is Juno’s hatred that drives the entire narrative in The Aeneid and her vindictiveness finds relief only towards the end of the story. In many ways, The Aeneid can be viewed as an emulation of Homer’s works as several passages in the story appear to have Homeric references. Given Virgil’s in-depth knowledge of Greek and Roman literature and philosophy, it would be unreasonable to assume plagiarism on his behalf. His method of composition in poetry was slow and deliberate, which was very unlike Homer. Although the primary theme in the book is that of the Trojans struggle to find a new home following the loss of their original one, it also talks of a return. Troy was founded by a Dardanus and Aeneas’s leading of the people back to Italy makes him a new kind of Dardanus. \r\n

\r\nThe Aeneid is replete with several themes ranging from duty, divine intervention, fate, propaganda and violence. Although it is primarily a fictional work whose narrative fabric was weaved from both myth and legend, as the events in the poem have been recounted from generation to generation, they have been considered as truth. The structure of the book’s poetry and the manner in which it has vividly portrayed human emotions have earned it the reputation as one of the greatest Latin poems ever written.\r\n