Guide Mentor

Character Role Analysis

Anchises

We could pick Aeneas's mom, Venus, as his guide and mentor – or, for that matter, the Sibyl, who shows him the way down to the underworld. Really, though, these two figures (especially the Sibyl) only help Aeneas out here and there. The most consistent guide in Aeneas's endeavors is his dad, Anchises, who keeps appearing to his son in dreams or as images in the sky even after he's dead. Anchises's advice to Aeneas in the underworld in Book 6 is crucial in gearing him up for the challenges he has to face in the second half of the poem (Books 7-12).