-Virgil's Aeneid

An epic poem like The Iliad and The Odyssey before it, Virgil’s Aeneid recounts the travels of Aeneas, a royal Trojan hero, before settling in the region of Italy that eventually became Rome. The Aeneid, written during the rule of Caesar Augustus, helped to reinforce the legitimacy of the Roman Empire by tying it into the preexisting Hellenistic literary tradition. While the areas visited by Aeneas during his journey are primarily real locations that would have been recognizable to Roman people, Virgil does include many areas from The Odyssey, including Cyclopes Island as well as Scylla and Charybdis. Additionally, Aeneas visits the Underworld, including the infernal Tartarus and the paradisiacal Elysium.