is the Goddess Venus and his father's brother was the King of Troy. His mother is more concerned with his destiny than with his happiness. She makes Dido fall in love with Aeneas and then he falls in love with the Carthaginian queen in return. Despite the fact that he is happy, his mother is one of the gods working to make him fulfill his destiny. This "destiny" is truly revealed to Aeneas in the underworld when he encounters a few fellow Trojan comrades. One such comrade Aeneas encounters in the underworld is Palinurus who was also duty bound, a helmsman on Aeneas' ship and a faithful servant who falls overboard and drowns, failing to finish his duties. He now suffers and begs Aeneas for a "quiet haven", a proper burial in his death. He says to Aeneas, "deliver me from captivity, Unconquered friend! Throw earth on me-you can-Put in to Velia port! Or if there be Some way to do it, if your goddess mother Shows a way-.."Book VI Lines 493-500. This conversation is not only significant in helping Aeneas to realize the costs of authority when your duties to your people and country are not carried out thoroughly ( as seen by Palinurus being held captive in the underworld without a proper burial), but in helping Aeneas realize even more that the gods, including Aeneas' mother, are powerful in determining the fate of an individual during life of duty as well as after life in the underworld. The need of a proper burial in the underworld is essential in attaining some feelings of gratification for carrying out duty to his people and country. Aeneas can now realize what it means to be "Roman" and carry out his duties as destiny prescribed to avoid the chance of an overlooked and proper burial. Virgil uses Aeneas to personify the spirit of the Roman Empire by encompassing the scope of both Iliad and Odyssey. By allowing the underworld to open many aspects of Greek history, Aeneas is able to understand the importance of his family values, striving ...
