INTRODUCTION TO THE ÆNEID.

THE Eneid is a heroic, or epic poem. It takes its name from Æneas, the son of Anchises and Venus. By his father, he was allied to the royal family of Troy. He was also the son-in-law of Priam; whose daughter, Creüsa, he had married. Æneas is the hero of the poem. Its subject is his removal into Italy with a colony of Trojans, and their settlement in that country.

Virgil was forty years of age when he commenced the Eneid. He had just finished the Georgics: and Augustus, now thirty-three years old, had undisturbed possession of the Roman empire. And nothing appeared to interrupt the universal repose, so desirable after the long civil wars that had desolated the fairest portions of it. It was at this moment, when the minds of the Roman people were turned from the desolating scenes of war to the milder arts of peace, that the poet conceived the plan of writing the Æneid, a poem second only to the Iliad, for the entertainment and instruction of his countrymen. There are some, who think the principal object of the poet was to flatter the pride and vanity of the Roman people, and especially Augustus, who was now raised to the highest temporal power

This part of his works is by far the noblest, though not the most perfect and finished. It was his intention to have revised it before he published it to the world; but he died leaving it incomplete, as appears by several imperfect lines found in different parts of it. He bequeathed the whole to Augustus, who put the manuscript into the hands of Tucca and Varus for publication, with an injunction not to alter, in any way, the manuscript, nor to fill up the imperfect lines.

In the first six books, Virgil imitates the Odyssey of Homer; in the last six, he follows the Iliad; and it is probable that we should not have had the Eneid, if we had not, at the same time, the Odyssey and the Iliad also. Homer may be considered the master, Virgil the pupil; but it must, at the same time, be acknowledged, that the Roman excelled the Grecian in many instances, particularly in propriety and judgment.

Paris, the son of Priam, an accomplished prince, visited the court of Menelaus, by whom he was received with the greatest cordiality. Here he became enraptured with the beautiful Helen, the wife of his host, and conceived the base purpose of taking her with him to Troy. Taking advantage of the absence of her husband, he put his plan into execution. This atrocious deed excited a general indignation through the states of Greece; and, after sending an embassy to Troy upon the subject, to no purpose, it was determined, as the last resort, to declare war against Priam, and with the united forces of the Grecian princes, to avenge the perfidious act.

After a siege of ten years, the city was taken by stratagem, and rased to the ground. Æneas, in the fatal night, after performing prodigies of valor, retirea

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some distance from the city, bearing his aged father upon his shoulders, and leading his little son by the hand. He was followed by great numbers of his countrymen, who had escaped the flames and the sword. At Antandros, a small town in the neighborhood of Troy, he built him a fleet of twenty ships, and having furnished himself with all things necessary for his enterprise, set sail in search of a new settlement. He visited Thrace. Here he founded a city which he called Enos. He abandoned his undertaking at the direction of the ghost of his friend. Thence he sailed to Crete, the land of Teucer, one of the founders of the Trojan race. Here he attempted a settlement, but through the unhealthiness of the climate, was compelled to relinquish it, after losing a great number of his companions. In the midst of his distress, he is informed in a vision, that Italy, the birth place of Dardanus, was the land destined to him by the gods. Upon this information he left Crete; and, after various fortunes by sea and land, he arrived in Italy in about seven years after his departure from his native land. He was kindly received by Latinus, king of Latium, who proposed to bestow upon him his daughter Lavinia, the heiress of his kingdom. Turnus, king of the Rutuli, a brave and valiant prince, had long sought her in marriage. He opposed her connexion with Eneas. This occasioned a bloody war, in which most of the Italian princes were engaged, on one side or the other. It ended in the death of Turnus, which closes the Æneid.

Æneas afterwards married Lavinia, and succeeded Latinus in his kingdom. He built a city, which he called Lavinium, in honor of his wife. This he made the seat of his government. He was succeeded by Ascanius, or Iülus, who reigned thirty years, when he built Alba longa, to which he removed with his court. Here the government was administered by a line of Trojan princes for three hundred years, till Romulus arose, who founded the city of Rome. After Romulus, the royal line was broken, and the government transferred to Numa Pompilius, a Sabine.

The three first books are not arranged in the order of time. The second book, which relates the downfall of Troy, and is the basis of the poem, is the first in time. The third, which relates the voyage of Æneas, till after his departure from Sicily for Italy, follows. The first, which relates the disper sion of his fleet, and his arrival in Africa, with his kind reception by Dido, succeeds the third. The rest are all in the order of time. But this change, so far from being a defect in the poem, is an advantage, and shows the judgment of the poet. He was enabled thereby to make his hero relate the downfall of his country, and the various fortunes of his long and eventful

voyage.

The poet hath contrived to introduce into his poem the outlines of the Roman history, and a number of interesting episodes, which add to the whole beauty and entertainment.

For further particulars, see the introduction to the several books.