Aeneas

In Homer a valued Trojan captain whom the gods keep rescuing — Poseidon himself prophesies that his line will rule the Trojans hereafter. Virgil took the hint and built the Aeneid: the burning city left with father on shoulder and son by hand, Dido loved and abandoned at heaven’s command, the golden bough and the underworld, the war in Italy — pietas tested at every step until Troy’s remnant becomes Rome’s root.