By Eliott Anderson Briar Moore Vito Sicurella Timothy Piatt

Aeneas sails away from Carthage, but he doesn’t guess what has happened there. Once Aeneas and his men reach open water once more, a storm occurs. Aeneas decides it is best to wait the storm out, and he decides to harbor in the port of Eryx in Sicily where his friend Acestes is. It is also the place where Aeneas’ father is buried, and it happens to be his father’s death one year anniversary. In honor of his father, there are to be eight days of sacrifices and on the ninth day, games are to be held in his honor. They offer animals for sacrifice to his father, and the men bring gifts to him.

On the ninth day the games are held, they begin with a rowing race. The men participating are Mnestheus, Sergestus, Cloanthus and Gyas, once the trumpet sounds they all take off. Cloanthus ends up winning the race, with Mnestheus following in second place; everyone ends up receiving a prize. The next event is the footrace, where Nisus, Euryalus, Salius, and Diores. Nisus was in the lead, but slipped on blood from a sacrificial animal, but while falling he tripped Salius. Euryalus won in first place, and Aeneas as he promised rewarded everyone else who participated. The boxing match was next, when Aeneas asked for volunteers Dares immediately volunteered. Nobody wanted to go up against Dares, eventually the old boxer Entellus is persuaded by Acestes to go against him. The match began but was called off because Entellus blows were too fierce and dangerous, Entellus shows his strength by punching through a bull’s skull in one blow, and kills it.

The next event of the day is the archery contest, where the contestants have to hit a dove tied to a mass with their arrows. Mnestheus fires his arrow, which misses the bird and hits the cord binding it. Eurytion then quickly fires his arrow at the dove while it is flying away, and kills it. Acestes shoots his arrow and it catches fire in midflight, Aeneas sees this as a positive omen, and gives Acestes the first prize. Next the men come out on their horses to display their techniques of riding and battle. While this is going on, Juno takes the opportunity to send Iris down as a Trojan woman and motivates them to burn the ships.

Ascanius is the first one to see the burning ships, and they rush over to them. The women scatter and Aeneas prays to Jupiter, asking him to save their ships from being burned down. Jupiter then sends rain down to save some of Aeneas’ ships, only four ships were destroyed. Aeneas isn’t sure of what to do at this point, and his friend Nautes advises him to leave the unwilling and weary Trojans in the care of Acestes. That night Aeneas’ father comes to him in his dream and tells him to follow Nautes’ advice, and tells him to see him in the Underworld once he reaches Italy. Aeneas and his men select the people to stay behind and Aeneas lays out a colony for them there. Before they set out to sea, Venus consults Neptune and asks him to provide protection from Juno and her tricks. Neptune agrees, but tells that one man must die as a sacrifice for the safety of the rest of Aeneas’ crew. That night, the lead captain, Palinurus, falls asleep and falls into the sea.

When Iris is sent by Juno to motivate the Trojan women to burn the ships. Sleep, in the form of Phorbas, persuades Palinurus to and Palinurus falls into the water.

We think that the most important event in Book V is when Juno sends Iris to give the women torches and persuade them to burn the Trojan ships. This event makes it necessary to decide whether to build Rome on the Eryx port of Sicily, or to continue on to Italy with less people and ships. Aeneas decides to continue to venture to Italy as he was told initially. Some his people are either exhausted or unable to continue on the journey as a resulted from the destroyed ships, so they settle on the Sicilian coast and establish a new Troy. This is very important because the location of the city of Rome would certainly affect it future. This is probably more important then all of the other events of this book because the other things that took place were simply sports that could not affect the future of Rome.

This book is an excellent in terms of learning about Aeneas. When Aeneas gives all of the participants of the sports prizes whether they win or not, this show how extremely generous and caring he is, as well as a good leader he is. His speeches in this book show how he knows what to say at the right time, which are traits of a great leader.

There are a few minor characters introduced in this book: Mnestheus – a racing captain. He is the runner-up for the rowing race. Cloanthus – the winner of the rowing race. Sergestus – he obtained last place in the rowing race. He ran into rocks during the race, but triumphantly dislodged himself. Nisus – he had lead in most of the footrace, however, near the end, he slips on some spilled sacrificial blood and purposely trips Salius so that his friend Euryalus could win.

Euryalus – the winner of the footrace Dares – a famous Trojan boxer. When he volunteers to participate in the boxing match, nobody wants to fight him. Entellus – an old, retired boxer. After being persuaded by Acestes, he decides to box against Dares. After a few minutes, Aeneas cancels the match, fearing the damage Entellus could do. Eurytion – the archer that wins in the archery game. He shoots a dove out of the sky. Acestes is a semi-important character. He is the King of Sicily, a good friend of Aeneas, and the man who buried Aeneas’s father. He plays in the archery event, and shoots an arrow that magically catches on fire.

“Just as storm clouds that rattle thick hail on the roofs, so do the hero’s two thick hands pummel, pound on Dares, blow on blow, from every side.” “They leave the starting point; they stream out like a storm cloud.” “The first to go is Nisus, darting past all others, swifter than the wind or than winged lightning.” “The labyrinth in high Crete had a path built out of blind walls, an ambiguous maze of a thousand ways, a winding course that mocked all signs of finding a way out.” “Why should I confide Aeneas to the deceiving winds- I who have been cheated so often by the treachery of the tranquil skies?”

Serpent in Aeneas’ father’s tomb- Acts as the attendant and symbolizes of the spirit of Anchises. Bad Weather- The bad weather that occurs is symbolic of Aeneas’ father’s death. Flaming Arrow- It is a good omen. The Games- Symbolic of unity, peace, and celebration.

Aeneas speaks to his Crew “[…]the circling year completes its months since we entombed in earth the bones and remnants of my godlike father. Unless I err, that anniversary is here, the day that I shall always keeping grief and honor[...]” This shows that Aeneas respects and loves his father, and that this year marks the first anniversary of his death. Iris to the Trojan Women “In my sleep the image of the prophetess Cassandra appeared and offered blazing brands. "Look here for Troy; here is your home!" she cried. The time to act is now; such signs do not allow delay. Here are four altars raised to Neptune; the god himself gives us the will, the torches.” This is Iris motivating the Trojan women to burn down the ships so that Aeneas and his men couldn’t continue their journey, and instead build a city where they are.

Neptune to Venus “[…] He will safely reach the harbor of Avernus. And you will only have to mourn one Trojan, one lost within the eddies of the sea; one life shall be enough instead of many.” This shows that the gods are willing to help Aeneas and that they are on his side.

“Mnestheus, soon to be Italian, the chief from whom the line of Memmians will take their name.” It is foreshadowed that Mnestheus will conquer the Italians and start the tribe known as the Memmians. “Last, Cloanthus[…] it is he from whom you take your name, Roman Cluentius.” Shows that Cloanthus will start the Roman house of Cluentius. “[…]Your bright son, Polites, destined to swell the race of the Italians;[…]” That Polites will start a large family in Italy. “[…]And you will only have to mourn one Trojan, one lost within the eddies of the sea; one life shall be enough instead of many.” This foreshadows one crew member will die in order to get to Italy safely.

Epithets Pious Aeneas, Father Aeneas, Goddess-born - Aeneas Saturn’s Son- Neptune All-able Jupiter- Jupiter Epic Digression The games, that take up most of this book, do not further the plotline of the story, and only serve as a “break” for the audience.

Speeches (Lines 61-98, Mandelbaum ed.) Aeneas gives this speech concerning the anniversary of his father’s death and the start of the funeral games.

Would you settle where Aeneas and his men find themselves, in the port of Eryx, and go against fate? Would you try to sail to Italy? Why or why not?