Aeneas’ visit to the underworld

Aeneas wants to visit his father’s ghost by going down to the underworld. Thus, he asks sibyl for help in getting there. The Sibyl informs Aeneas that to gain entry into Dis with a hope of returning, he must collect a golden bough from a special tree. This bough will grant him access to the underworld.

He feels disappointed looking at the size of the forest, but after he says a prayer, a pair of doves descends and guides him to the desired trees. Aeneas realizes that it is his mother, Venus, who has sent these doves to help him find the golden bough.

After collecting the golden bough, he returns to the sibyl. Deiphobë guides Aeneas to the entrance of the underworld. Aeneas makes a sacrifice to the gods of darkness at the threshold of a deep cavern. Once the sacrifice is made, a vast chasm opens up and Aeneas follows the Sibyl.

Aeneas makes his way into the route to Hades accompanied by the Sibyl. They descend through a gloomy region haunted by bodiless and dreadful spirits and monsters and eventually arrives at Acheron, one of the rivers of the underworld.

After arriving at the bank of the river, Acheron, Aeneas sees Charon, the ancient boatman who ferries spirits of the dead across the river. At first, Charon is reluctant to ferry Aeneas, a living man, across the river Acheron, but when the Sibyl shows him the golden bough, he changes his mind and grants Aeneas safe passage.

On the other side of the river lives Cerberus, the snaky, three-headed watchdog. Sibyl feeds Cerberus tranquilizer-soaked meet, which allows her to slip past the gate.

As Aeneas and the sibyl disembark on the other side of the shore, they find themselves surrounded by the wailing souls of dead infants. As they moved forward, they encountered the souls of those who were executed for crimes they did not commit, and then they come across the spirits of those who took their own lives. Eventually, they arrive at the Fields of Mourning, a place for those who died of love. Here, Aeneas meets the ghost of Dido. Knowing that Dido killed herself because of his abandonment, he tries to justify himself to her, saying that he left her unwillingly. Unforgiving, Dido’s ghost turns away from him and turns to the spirit of her husband, Sychaeus, with whom she has now been reunited for comfort.

Both Aeneas and Deiphobe come to the fields where the spirits of men who have won battles reside. There they meet the Trojans and Greek warriors.

As Aeneas travels along the road to Tartarus, he sees the punishments for disobeying the gods and committing sins against men. After that, he and Deiphobe enter the Elysium field, where Aeneas is received by his father, Anchises.

Anchises talks about the idea of rebirth or reincarnation, and, then, shows Aeneas his Roman descendants. The scene ends up with a tragic vision of the funeral of Marcellus, who was Augustus’ nephew and son-in-law. He died prematurely. Aeneas returns to the earth through the Gate of Ivory, which symbolizes false dreams.