Anchises
Trojan prince beloved by Aphrodite and father of Aeneas, the legendary founder of Rome
The Legend of Anchises
Anchises was a prince of the Dardanian royal line, son of Capys and a descendant of Tros. He was so handsome that Aphrodite herself fell in love with him, and the goddess came to him on Mount Ida disguised as a mortal princess. They lay together, and she later revealed her true identity, warning Anchises never to boast of their union. She bore him a son, Aeneas, who would become one of the greatest Trojan heroes. When Anchises drunkenly bragged about his divine lover, Zeus struck him with a thunderbolt that left him lame. During the fall of Troy, the aged and crippled Anchises was carried out of the burning city on the shoulders of Aeneas in one of the most enduring images of filial piety in Western art. He died during the subsequent wanderings and was buried in Sicily. In Virgil's Aeneid, Aeneas visits his father's shade in the underworld.
Parents
Capys
Children
Aeneas
Symbols
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🗡 heroNone recorded
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