Waking, Aeneas, disillusioned by the disastrous events revealed in his dream, armed himself and went out into the city, desperately planning to die in combat. He was joined by other Trojans, and after many struggles, including disguising himself as a Greek soldier to more easily traverse the city's streets, he arrived at Priam's besieged palace, where he witnessed the havoc wrought by Pyrrhus, Achilles's ferocious son. Pyrrhus rashly murdered Priam's son, Politës, in front of the king, and then he killed Priam himself at the altar of Jupiter.
Aeneas, suddenly concerned about the fate of his father, Anchises, his wife, Creusa, and his son, Ascanius, all of whom were still at home, began to make his way to them through Troy's streets when he unexpectedly encountered Helen. Convinced that her elopement with Paris was the cause of the war and Troy's downfall, he was seized by a vengeful desire to kill her and would have done so if his mother, Venus, had not appeared and stayed his hand. Venus told him that neither Helen nor Paris was to blame for Troy's destruction; it was willed by the gods, whom she caused to appear to Aeneas in a series of visions that showed them all in a destructive mood.
