Anchises (an-ky-seez) As the father of Aeneas by the goddess Venus, Anchises is a venerable figure of wise counsel and instruction, above all in Book VI, when he reveals Rome's future to Aeneas. Aeneas's respect for Anchises exemplifies an important aspect of the Roman virtue pietas, the appropriate deference one shows to parents, gods, and country. Virgil strongly implies that the respect paid by Aeneas to Anchises, especially in Book V in the form of funeral games, foreshadows the pietas shown by Augustus to his father by adoption, Julius Caesar.
Andromachë (an-drah-muh-kee) The widow of the Trojan prince Hector, and later the wife of his brother, the prophet Helenus. She and her husband are visited by Aeneas in Buthrotum in Book III.
Anna (ahn-nuh) The warmhearted and impulsive sister of Carthage's Queen Dido, Anna has little importance as a character in her own right, but with her unwise counsel she initiates a series of actions and events that have overwhelmingly important consequences. Good-intentioned, she disastrously encourages Dido to give in to her love for Aeneas and forget her vow to remain chaste and faithful to the memory of her dead husband. Anna's only wish is to see her widowed sister find happiness; ironically, she puts Dido in jeopardy and prepares her to become the victim of two overpowering goddesses, Juno and Venus.
Ascanius (as-kay-nee-us) Also known as Iulus; the son of Aeneas and his first wife, Creusa.
Camilla (kuh-mihl-uh) A female warrior of the Volscians and Turnus's ally in his battle against Aeneas's forces. In Book XI, she leads a courageous but doomed cavalry attack against the Trojans and their allies. Slain by the Etruscan Arruns, she is avenged by the goddess Diana, who sends the nymph Opis to slay Arruns in turn.
Creusa (kray-ooh-suh) Aeneas's first wife, Creusa is a one-dimensional, colorless character, whose sole function is to appear as a sacrificial victim to the great cause of the future Roman Empire by exhorting Aeneas to escape Troy without her.
