Aeneas (inē'us) [key], in Greek mythology, a Trojan, son of Anchises and Aphrodite. After the fall of Troy he escaped, bearing his aged father on his back. He stayed at Carthage with Queen Dido, then went to Italy, where his descendants founded Rome. The deeds of Aeneas are the substance of the great Roman epic, the Aeneid of Vergil.
