the structure of the Aeneid

• the first half is an Odyssey and the second an Iliad
• book 7 - Virgil calls for a Muse again, at the beginning of what he says is the most important part of his epic
• 'for me this is the birth of a higher order of things. This is a greater work I now set in motion'
• the books in the first half mirror in subject matter to those in the second half
• book 1 and 7: the arrival in a strange land and a friendly reception
• book 2 and 8: set in a city (2 Troy, 8 Pallanteum)
• book 3 and 9: concerned with a father and son (3 Anchises, 9 Ascanius)
• book 4 and 10: begins with conflict with an individual, and ends in death
• book 5 and 11: funeral games (5 Anchises, 11 Pallas)
• book 6 and 12: Aeneas receives his mission (6) and achieves it (12)
• book 1: Juno and a storm / book 7: Juno and war
• book 2: Destruction of Troy / book 8: birth of Rome
• book 3: interlude of wandering / book 9: interlude at Trojan camp
• book 4: Tragedy of Dido / book 10: tragedy of war
• book 5: games : reduced tension / book 11: truce : reduced tension
• book 6: future revealed / book 12 : future assured
• parallel characters who contrast or echo each other e.g. Dido/Turnus and Pallas/Lausus