Aeneid: Minor Characters

• Dido in Book 1

  Dido is a strong and successful leader for the new city of Carthage in Book 1. Virgil uses the bee simile to describe the efficiency of the Carthaginians building their citadel. Dido has come from Tyre after losing her husband Sychaeus to her brother Pygmalion. She has great sympathy for the Trojans, depiction of war on temple and saying “Trojan and Tyrian shall be one in my eyes’.
• Dido in Book 4

  Venus and Juno plot to marry her with Aeneas in a cave. Her love becomes madness and obsession, driving her to neglect her city in favour of spending time with Aeneas, and later becoming suicidal when she finds out Aeneas tries to leave. She deceives her sister Anna into building her a pyre, which she throws herself on and dies.
• Lavinia is the daughter of the King of the Latins, who first appears in Book 7 and appears for the last time in Book 12. She is basically the Helen parallel, but with less lines and important actions.

  She appears with her father to receive the peace offering of Aeneas. She is the subject of a prophecy whereby she will marry a foreign man and unite their peoples. At this point, she receives an omen, her hair and her ‘crown with all its lovely jewels’ set ablaze, to represent that her own ‘fame and fate’ were secured but there would be war. Lavinia is best known for weeping and blushing.
• Amata is the wife of Latinus and mother of Lavinia. She first appears in Book 7 to contest Lavinia’s marriage to Aeneas. And last appears to commit suicide.

  Amata is a victim of the gods from the beginning, being targeted by Alecto, who throws a snake at her breast to drive her mad with grief - she is compared to a Bacchant. She views Turnus as a son, and he sees her as a pseudo-mother, and she wants him to be the one to marry her daughter. When she realises that Turnus is doomed to die, she cries that if he dies, she will suffer also, and chooses to hang herself.
• Camilla is a maiden warrior of the Volsci against Aeneas in the war. She is mentioned in Book 7, and last appears in Book 11 . 

  She was raised by her father, who protected her by offering her to Diana before throwing her into a river. She was raised wild and her father taught her how to fight from the moment she learned to walk. People tried to marry her but she remained dedicated to Diana, who considers Camilla as a dear companion. She has her aristeia when Turnus calls for her help, and is killed by Arruns with aid from Apollo. Opis kills Arruns to avenge her death.
• Creusa was the first wife of Aeneas who appears only in Book 2. She dies in the sack of Troy and appears to her husband as a ghost.

  Creusa appears first to beg Aeneas to take her with him if he is ‘going to his death’. She is with Aeneas as they try to make their escape from the city, following behind the men. Aeneas loses her in the burning city and runs back into the flames to find her, calling her name. She appears as a ghost, telling him that at least she will not be enslaved by the Greeks, and makes him promise to look after their son and found the new city
• Ascanius is the son of Aeneas and Creusa who has travelled with his father from Troy and fights in the war.

  Ascanius is fated to rule Alba Lona for thirty years after his father’s death, and his other name Iulus is carried on with the Julian line. Aeneas feels guilty about denying him his destiny, which motivates him to leave Carthage. Venus begs Jupiter to allow her to save Ascanius even if Aeneas dies, and take him to one of her cities. He last appears in Book 12 before the duel, where Aeneas tells him ‘from me, my son, you can learn courage and hard toil’.
• Latinus is the king of Latium and the father of Lavinia. He first appears in Book 7, and last appears to form the truce in Book 12.

  Latinus received a prophecy about ‘a stranger from a foreign land will come to be your son-in-law’. He doesn’t want war with Aeneas but is overruled by his own people, led by Turnus. He tries to stick to his principles and to his anti-war ideals but he is shown to have given up power to the military commanders. In Book 12, he blames himself for the war even though he is another victim of Juno.