Aeneas

Aeneas is the hero of the epic poem by the Roman poet Virgil called the Aeneid. In the Iliad, Aeneas is one of the major defenders of Troy but a comparatively minor character of whom it is predicted that he would escape the destruction of Troy to found a new city (unspecified). Virgil, writing centuries later, expanded this mention into a poem which purports to describe the origins of Rome. His escape from the destruction of Troy is narrated by him to queen Dido of Carthage. They fall in love with each other but he is recalled to his destiny by the messenger god Mercury, at the urging of Jupiter. Dido commits suicide. Later Aeneas visits the Underworld with the help of the guide Cumaean Sibyl, and sees his newly deceased father Anchises. Aeneas and his Trojan followers, mostly men, battle new enemies in Italy, and Aeneas defeats his rival Turnus enabling him to marry the princess Lavinia. Throughout, he has the support of his mother, Venus, but is sometimes thwarted by the goddess Juno. A descendant, Romulus, is the founder of the city of Rome.