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Vol. 30 : Aeneas

Aeneas was a great Trojan warrior — second only to Hector. He was also half-immortal — the son of Anchises, cousin of King Priam, and his mother was the goddess Aphrodite herself.

Once, many years before, Aphrodite boasted that she was the only one on Mt. Olympus who had not fallen in love with a mortal. She, as the goddess of love, had made all the gods and goddesses sleep with human beings. Only she had stayed pure and untouched by mortals.

Zeus grew annoyed with her, and cast a spell on her. He made her fall in love with the first mortal she saw. Anchises was this mortal.

Aphrodite saw him playing the lyre on the slopes of Mt. Ida She flew back to Mt. Olympus and bathed herself in heavenly oils. She dressed in fine clothes of the most beautiful gold. Anchises was astonished when she appeared before him. He had never seen anyone so beautiful.

"Are you a goddess?" he asked.

"No, I am mortal, but I am not from these lands."

He said he did not believe it, that she was too beautiful to be mortal. She said it did not matter whether he believed her or not, and that she just wanted him to take her there and then. Anchises did not need much persuasion.

After they had made love, Aphrodite woke and was horrified at what she saw. She realized she had been tricked, and now she had slept with a mortal.

She woke Anchises, showing him her true form, and made him promise never to tell anyone about this. Anchises managed to keep it a secret — at least, until Aeneas was born.

Aphrodite brought him the baby. "You must say his mother was a nymph," she said. "I have told the nymphs here to help you take care of Aeneas."

But Anchises was so proud of his beautiful son that one night when he was drinking with his friends he told them about how he had slept with Aphrodite.

Aphrodite heard this, and she went running crying to her father Zeus. Zeus laughed, but he was the god of oaths and he knew he had to punish Anchises for breaking his promise. So he threw a thunderbolt at him and crippled him for the rest of his life.

Aeneas grew up in the care of the nymphs and secretly his mother Aphrodite. But when the Greeks attacked, he decided not to take part in the fighting. He had been disgusted withthe war, and had left Troy to go to Mt. Ida nearby. But soon Achilles and his raiding parties attacked him and his men, and he was forced to return to Troy and join the war.