ege that lasted ten years Troy was taken at last by means
of the wooden horse, which the Trojans foolishly dragged into the city
with their own hands. Inside it were hidden a number of Greeks, who
were thus carried into the heart of the enemy's city. The Trojans
celebrated the departure of the Greeks by feasting and drinking far
into the night; but when at last they retired to rest, the Greeks
stole out of their hiding-place, and opened the gates to their army,
which had only pretended to withdraw. Before the Trojans had recovered
their wits the town was full of enemies, who threw blazing torches on
the houses and killed every citizen who fell into their hands.

Among the many noble princes who fought against the Greeks none was
braver and handsomer than AEneas. His mother was the goddess Venus, and
his father a brave and powerful Prince named Anchises, while Creusa,
his wife, was one of King Priam's daughters. On that dreadful night,
when the Greeks were burning and killing in the very streets of Troy,
AEneas lay sleeping in his palace when there appeared to him a strange
vision. He thought that Hector stood before him carrying the images of
the Trojan gods and bade him arise and leave the doomed city. "To you
Troy entrusts her gods and her fortunes. Take these images, and go
forth beyond the seas, and with their auspices found a new Troy on
foreign shores."

Roused from his slumbers AEneas sprang up in haste, put on his armor
and rushed into the fray. He was joined by a few comrades, and
together they made their way through the enemy, killing all who
blocked their path. But when they reached the royal palace and found
that the Greeks had already forced their way in and killed the aged
man by his own hearth, AEneas remembered his father and his wife and
his little son Ascanius. Since he could not hope to save the city he
might at least take thought for his own kin. While he still hesitated
whether to retire or continue the fight, his goddess mother appeared
and bade him go and succor his household. "Your efforts to save the
city are vain," she said. "The gods themselves make war on Troy. Juno
stands by the gate urging on the Greeks, Jupiter supplies them with
hope and courage, and Neptune is breaking down with his trident the
walls he helped to raise. Fly, my son, fly. I will bring you safely to
your own threshold."

Guided by her protecting hand, AEneas came in safety to his palace,
and bade his family prepare in a