When the Greeks entered Troy to devastate it the ghost of Hector told Aeneas to leave. Aided by his mother Venus, Aeneas fought the Greeks and made his way out of the doomed city with his father Anchises and his son Iulus. He joined a group of Trojan comrades and together they built some ships with which they sailed to Thrace, where Aeneas hoped to set up a colony. Warned off by a Trojan ghost who had been murdered by the Thracians, they made for Delos, where an oracle of Apollo told the Trojans to return to the land of their ancestors. Thinking that Apollo meant Crete, they moved to this island, which was uninhabited, only to be dogged by pestilence. At length Aeneas dreamed that his future home lay far to the west in Italy, from which the Trojan Dardanus had come long before. Aeneas now knew where his destiny was taking him.
Having left Crete, the Trojans were caught in a storm that drove them up the western coast of Greece. Driven off by those birdlike monsters, the Harpies, they sailed to Epirus and found Prince Helenus of Troy married to Hector's wife, Andromache. When Troy fell Andromache had been taken captive by Achilles' son Pyrrhus (Neoptolemus in Greek), and when he was killed she married Helenus. The pair entertained Aeneas and his comrades. Helenus foretold that they would have a perilous time getting to Italy, and he warned them against the Strait of Messina, where Scylla and Charybdis waited. Further, they were to sail to Cumae sometime in the future, where Aeneas would consult the Sibyl, a prophetess.
Next the Trojans stopped briefly on the eastern coast of Italy to worship in their new homeland, but the place was inhabited by Greeks and dangerous. Sailing south, Aeneas and his men narrowly escaped Scylla and the whirlpool of Charybdis. They landed on Sicily near Mount Aetna to find a ragged sailor who had been abandoned by Ulysses (Odysseus). The fellow told them of Cyclopes nearby, and no sooner had they put out to sea than Polyphemus charged into the water after them. At Drepanum on Sicily's western coast they were well received by King Acestes, a man of Trojan origin, and there Aeneas' father Anchises died.
The goddess Juno hated all Trojans because of Paris, but she especially disliked Aeneas and his men, knowing that in the ages to come their descendants would destroy her favorite city of Carthage, which was now being built. She bribed Aeolus to unleash a dire storm on Aeneas and his ships. The typhoon scattered the fleet and sank one ship. Finally Neptune calmed the sea, and Aeneas put into harbor with seven ships on the African coast. The Trojans warmed themselves over fires while Aeneas killed deer for food.
Meanwhile Venus complained to Jupiter of her son Aeneas' many misfortunes, but Jupiter reassured her that Aeneas, after many trials, would found a great nation. This was his destiny, and even Juno would become reconciled to it.
As Aeneas and his comrade Achates scouted this new land they came upon Venus disguised as a huntress, and she told them they were in Libya near Carthage, a city ruled by the beautiful queen Dido. Dido had fled from Tyre with some loyal followers, and here in Libya they were building a new city called Carthage.
Venus departed but left Aeneas and Achates concealed in a mist so that they might enter the city unseen. The pair came to a temple of Juno, which was adorned with murals of the Trojan War. Inside they found Dido performing her queenly duties. They also discovered their own companions who had been lost at sea asking Dido's permission to remain and repair their battered ships, which she granted. They were even welcome to stay in Carthage.
Then Aeneas stepped forward, greeted his lost comrades and requested Dido's hospitality and aid. Dido was full of admiration and pity for the handsome commander, but Venus sent Cupid to turn her admiration into love, thereby insuring Aeneas' safety. As Aeneas recounted the fall of Troy and his own adventures Dido grew enamored of him. The lovesick queen yearned for him, and Juno decided to marry the two with the consent of Venus. As Aeneas and Dido were hunting a storm came upon them, and seeking shelter in a cave they made love. Rumor spread quickly of the affair, and Dido's former suitor Iarbus, king of Libya, was enraged. Then Jupiter sent Mercury to remind Aeneas of his promised homeland in Italy, and the hero reluctantly made plans to depart in secret. But Dido learned of it and pleaded with him to stay. Her words were useless; the will of the gods must be obeyed. As Aeneas and his ships were ready to sail, Dido called upon her descendants to avenge his treachery. She committed suicide upon her own funeral pyre. Out at sea Aeneas saw the flames of her pyre and was filled with remorse.
The Trojans reached Drepanum again, where they celebrated funeral games for Anchises. There Juno caused the Trojan women to burn four of their boats. Leaving the sick and weary to settle at Drepanum, Aeneas took his hardiest Trojans to Italy. To make sure of their safety Venus and Neptune ordained that one man must die—the pilot Palinurus, who slept at the helm, fell into the sea, and was drowned.
