The Aeneid: Book 3 Summary & Analysis

Aeneas's continues to tell his story to Dido, as before in first person from his point of view. The Trojans build a fleet, unsure where the fates will lead them. In early summer they set off, bringing the household gods. Aeneas directs the fleet to Thrace, a land friendly to Troy. Aeneas lands and prepares to sacrifice a steer. But when he uproots a plant to shade the altar, the stem bleeds. Frightened, he pulls up another plant, which also bleeds. He prays and pulls up a third plant, which groans and speaks, introducing itself as Polydorus.

Polydorus explains that Priam sent him to Thrace so that he would be safe if Troy lost the war. Polydorus also brought gold to secure his protection, but, as Troy fell, the Thracian king killed him and took his gold. The spears that struck Polydorus became the plants Aeneas uprooted. Aeneas gives Polydorus a proper funeral before setting sail again.

The Trojans sail to an island, Ortygia, blessed by Apollo, to a city ruled by Anius, a friend of Anchises. Aeneas goes to pray for guidance from Apollo. Apollo speaks to him, telling him to find the land of his forefathers and return to his "ancient mother," where Aeneas's descendents would rule the world.

The men attempt to interpret Apollo's instructions. Anchises believes this ancient homeland to be the nearby island of Crete. After sacrificing animals to Apollo, Neptune, and the winds, the Trojans head off for Crete. But, strangely, they find Crete in the grip of an intense drought, rife with death and disease. Anchises wants to return to Ortygia to consult Apollo again. But that evening, the household gods appear to Aeneas in a dream, and tell him that their homeland is actually the distant Italy. Aeneas recounts this to Anchises, who recalls that Cassandra once said the same thing.

The Trojans set sail again, but a storm forces them off course, and they wander for three days before landing at the Strophades islands, which is the home of the Harpies, monsters with women's faces and filthy bird bodies. The men make a feast with the goats and oxen they find on the island, when the Harpies come screaming down from the hills and destroy their food. The Trojans try to fight back, but fail. Caelano, head Harpy, scolds the men for stealing the Harpies' animals and trying to fight them off their own territory. Then she reveals their future misfortune: they won't manage to establish their city in Italy before they undergo a famine so great they will try to eat their tables. Anchises begs the gods not to bring such trouble to the pious Trojans.

The Trojans sail on to Actium, where they enjoy themselves with games and wrestling, happy to have sailed unnoticed past Greek territory. Aeneas leaves a shield he took from a Greek he fought as a symbol that he hasn't been defeated. Winter is coming as they continue to Buthrotum, where Pyrrhus's former kingdom is now under the rule of the Trojan siblings Helenus and Andromache.

Andromache, Hector's widow, is so shocked to see Aeneas that at first she thinks he might be a ghost. Andromache explains that she was the slave of Pyrrhus (the evil Greek who killed Priam), until another Greek killed him, after which Helenus inherited some of his territory. She asks after Ascanius, and Helenus leads everyone to the city, which resembles a smaller Troy.

Before leaving, Aeneas asks Helenus what the future holds, and how he can avoid Caelano the Harpy's prediction of famine. Helenus describes how to reach Italy, and mentions that Aeneas must first descend to the underworld. When Aeneas finds a white sow and piglets under an oak tree, he will have reached his final destination. The famine will not be a problem, Helenus says, but he counsels Aeneas to avoid certain unfriendly cities, and to make sure to avoid the hazardous waters near Charybdis, a whirlpool off the coast of Sicily, and Scylla, a monster that lurks near Charybdis and has the head of a woman and the body of a dolphin or whale. Helenus recommends praying to Juno and visiting the Sibyl of Cumae.

Helenus and Andromache give presents to the men, and Aeneas, sorry to depart, thanks them and says that he hopes that his future city will be united with theirs. The Trojans head north and camp briefly, but set off again at night when Palinurus the navigator can see the constellations by which he guides their route. Soon the Trojans come within sight of Italy, where they see four peaceful white horses near the shore, and the men rejoice. They see Mount Aetna in the distance, then row furiously to escape the pull of Charybdis. They drift to the island of the Cyclops.

When they arrive, a Greek man, Achemenides, dirty and ragged, begs the Trojans to take him away from the island. He describes the bloodthirsty Cyclops, and how Ulysses blinded him. Achemenides was left behind when the Greeks departed and survived by hiding. The Trojans take him aboard. As they sail away, the Cyclops hears the splashing and chases them, though they manage to reach deep waters and escape. The winds blow the Trojans towards Scylla and Charybdis, but a fortunate north wind blows them away from danger. They pass many lands.

At Drapenum, Sicily, Anchises dies. Aeneas mourns that his father survived such great risks only to die. Aeneas then sadly remarks that neither Helenus nor Caelano warned him of his father's coming death. Finally, Aeneas has finished telling his story, and the Aeneid returns to Dido's court at Carthage.