As the first literati epic in the history of western literature, Aeneas is known as the "Roman Encyclopedia", which contains rich myths, legends, geography, history, religious and national customs, cultural relics system and other specific and accurate descriptions from ancient Greece to ancient Rome. It is regarded as the highest embodiment of Roman culture and the highest achievement of ancient Roman literature.
Hero Aeneas, his uncle is Priam, king of Troy; Two cousins are famous heroes, hector and Paris; His mother is Venus, the famous god of love, and his father is the king of Troy. Aeneas was pious, kind, brave, restrained and fair, and possessed the qualities needed by an ideal political leader. He shoulders a great mission and is the executor of God's will.
The theme of this epic is the fate of the empire, which tells the story of Aeneas going to Italy to establish a new dynasty. Through the hard description of the hero Aeneas, it shows the hardships of establishing an empire and the preciousness of peace, shows the patriotic spirit of slave owners and praises Roman ancestors, which is in line with the political background at that time.
As the first literati epic in the history of European literature, its style is lively and lively compared with Homer's epic, and Aeneas is more inclined to be serious and sad. Virgil's epic is divorced from the characteristics of people's oral literature in the past, and has further developed in characters, structure, plot and poetic rhythm. The "literati epic" began to form, which laid the foundation for its subsequent development.
Generally speaking, the Roman civilization embodied in Aeneas not only contains people's obedience to fate, but also reveals people's struggle against fate, which shows his unhappiness with life. The repression of responsibility and personal desire in the epic is well displayed, which is a model of defeating emotion with reason; In literature and art, it also shows the characteristics of neatness and harmony.