The Aeneid Book 6 Summary

Arrival in Italy

• Aeneas and his fleet arrive in Italy at Cumi.
• Cumi is home to the Sibyl, a priestess of Apollo who can see the future.
• Aeneas makes sacrifices and promises to build a temple for the Sibyl when he establishes his city in Latium.

Prophecy of the Sibyl

• Apollo speaks through the Sibyl, predicting Aeneas will fulfill his fate after a terrible war.
• Aeneas must visit the underworld, requiring him to find and pluck a golden bough, a precious item to Proserpina, queen of the dead.

Discovery of the Golden Bough

• Aeneas appeals to his mother, Venus, for help.
• Venus sends doves to guide Aeneas, who successfully finds and plucks the golden bough.

Journey to the Underworld

• Aeneas and the Sibyl enter the cave leading to the underworld.
• They reach the river Acheron, where dead souls must cross.
• Aeneas sees deceased members of his fleet, unable to cross due to unburied bodies on Earth.
• Sibyl assures Aeneas that strangers will soon bury the pilot's body.

Crossing the River

• Charon, the ferryman, initially challenges them.
• The golden bough allows Aeneas and the Sibyl to pass.

Exploration of the Underworld

• Different areas exist for each type of dead soul.
• The marshes of the Styx hold souls of tragic dead: infants, suicides, and victims of cruel love.
• Aeneas encounters the spirit of Dido, who rejects him and leaves for her first husband.

Elysium and Roman Prophecy

• Aeneas and the Sibyl use the golden bough to enter Elysium.
• In the peaceful Elysian fields, the soul of Anchises shows Aeneas their descendants awaiting rebirth.
• Anchises points out Romulus, Julius Caesar, and Caesar Augustus to Aeneas.
• Aeneas learns of Roman history and is charged with ruling the earth mightily.

Return to the Living

• Aeneas and the Sibyl exit the underworld via the ivory gates of sleep.

Symbolism and Literary Technique

• The golden bough symbolizes the inevitability of Aeneas's extraordinary fate.
• The Elysian fields are presented as a place of future reincarnation.
• Virgil uses mixed verb tenses to create a timeless sense of destiny for Rome, blending past, present, and future.