Aeolus (ee-oh-lus) The god of the winds, who, at Juno’s request, unleashes the storm that drives the Trojans off course after they leave Sicily in Book I.
Allecto (al-lehk-toh) One of the three furies, female deities who drive their victims mad with rage. In Book VII, Juno uses Allecto’s evil influence to incite war between the Trojans and the Latins.
Apollo (ah-pahl-loh) The god of prophecy and civilization, he favors the Trojans’s mission. Although he appears in person only once in the Aeneid, his guiding influence is manifested indirectly through his priests, as in Book III, and through the sibyl of Cumae in Book VI. The emperor Augustus regarded Apollo as his patron and protector.
Celaeno (seh-ly-noh) The leader of the Harpies, a band of vicious bird-women, who attack the Trojans in Book III.
Charon (kay-run) The old ferryman who rows the spirits of the dead across the Acheron, one of the underworld’s rivers. In Book VI, although Aeneas is a living being, Charon rows him across.
Cupid (kyoo-pihd) The god of love. His mother, Venus, has him inspire Dido with passion for Aeneas in Book I.
Cymodocea (ky-mah-doh-kee-uh) The leader of the sea nymphs, formerly the ships of Aeneas’s fleet.
Deiphobë (day-ee-foh-bee) The sibyl of Cumae. A prophetess and priestess of the god Apollo, she predicts the future for Aeneas and accompanies him on his visit to the underworld in Book VI.
Diana (dy-an-uh) The goddess of hunting and protectress of women, especially of virgins like herself. She favors the warrior maiden Camilla, whose death she avenges in Book XI.
Janus (jay-nus) A god associated with beginnings, gates, and doorways. In Book VII, Juno throws open the mighty gates of Mars’s temple, of which Janus is the guardian, to signify the official beginning of the war between the Trojans and the Latins.
Juno (jyoo-noh) The queen of the gods and Jupiter’s wife. As the Trojans’s most powerful opponent, Juno strives to frustrate and delay the fulfillment of their destined mission to create a new home in Italy. Her hatred, which originates chiefly in events connected with the Trojan War, is aggravated by her knowledge that Rome will surpass her favorite city, Carthage, in world dominance. Only at the very end of the epic, when she is instructed by Jupiter, does she end her opposition to the Trojans.
Jupiter (jyoo-pih-tuhr) Also known as Jove, he is the king of the gods and Juno’s husband. Although he cannot alter destiny, otherwise he is all-powerful and regulates the actions of all gods. In the Aeneid, his role is that of a wise, prophetic father who favors the Trojans.
Juturna (juh-tour-nuh) A river nymph of Italian origin, she is the supernatural sister of Turnus, whom she vainly tries to help in Book XII.
Mercury (muhr-kyoo-ree) The messenger of the gods. In Book IV, Jupiter sends Mercury to Aeneas in Carthage, to command the Trojan prince to abandon Dido and continue his voyage.
Minerva (min-nuhr-vuh) A daughter of Jupiter and the goddess of wisdom, during the Trojan War, she generally favors the Greek cause. In Book II, she lures the Trojans into bringing the wooden horse, which they are told is a Greek offering to her, within Troy’s protective walls.
Neptune (nehp-tyoon) The god of the sea, who, in Book I, quiets the storm raised by Aeolus. In Book V, he exacts the sacrifice of Aeneas’s pilot, Palinurus, as the price of a calm sea during the final stage of the Trojans’s voyage to Italy.
Polyphemus (pah-lih-fee-mus) A Cyclops—a one-eyed giant—who lives as a shepherd on the island of Sicily. In Book III, he and his fellow Cyclopes attack the Trojans when they land near Mount Aetna.
Venus (vee-nus) The mother of Aeneas by her mortal lover Anchises, she acts on Aeneas’s behalf in opposition to Juno, although she allies herself with the rival goddess in Book IV in an attempt to get her son to settle safely in Carthage as Dido’s husband. Eventually, like Juno, Venus resigns herself to the dictates of fate.
Vulcan (vuhl-kun) The god of fire and metalworking, whom Venus persuades to forge the arms and protective armor that she presents to Aeneas in Book VIII.
