''Eneide'' is a seven-episode 1971–1972 Italian television drama, adapted by Franco Rossi from

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

's epic poem the ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan_War#Sack_of_Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to ...

''. It stars

Giulio Brogi Giulio Brogi (3 May 1935 – 19 February 2019)

Aeneas In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas (, ; from ) was a Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus (mythology), Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy (both ...

and

Olga Karlatos Olga Karlatos ( el, Όλγα Καρλάτου; born Olga Vlassopulos, April 20, 1945) is a retired Greek actress and Bermudian lawyer, known primarily for performing in Italian horror cinema. Career Between the end of the sixties and the e ...

Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in modern Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (t ...

, and also stars

Alessandro Haber Alessandro Haber (born 19 January 1947) is an Italian actor, film director and singer. Haber was born in Bologna in a Jewish family of mixed ancestry (his father was a Romanian Jew and his mother Italian) and spent his childhood in Israel. His m ...

Andrea Giordana Andrea Giordana (born 27 March 1946) is an Italian actor. He has appeared in more than 14 films, 29 television and 35 theater shows since the mostly late 1950s. Early life He was born in Rome, Italy to film director Claudio Gora and actress Ma ...

and

Marilù Tolo Marilù Tolo (born Maria Lucia Tolo; 16 January 1944) is an Italian film actress. She appeared in more than 60 films between 1960 and 1985. Life and career Born in Rome, Tolo, at a very young age, worked as an assistant of Mario Riva in the R ...

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many terr ...

originally broadcast the hour-long episodes from 19 December 1971 to 30 January 1972. A shorter theatrical version was released in 1974 as ''Le avventure di Enea''.

Plot

Episode 1: The city of

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Çan ...

is in ruins after the

Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ha ...

. One of the survivors is the

demigod A demigod or demigoddess is a part-human and part-divine offspring of a deity and a human, or a human or non-human creature that is accorded divine status after death, or someone who has attained the " divine spark" (spiritual enlightenment). ...

, who escaped with a Trojan fleet. He arrives at

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the clas ...

in North Africa, where the queen

asks him to tell his story. He begins by telling her about the

Trojan Horse The Trojan Horse was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending before the war is concluded, ...

. Episode 2: Aeneas tells Dido how he travelled on the Mediterranean Sea and visited

Delos The island of Delos (; el, Δήλος ; Attic: , Doric: ), near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island ar ...

, where an

oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The wor ...

told him to find the "ancient mother". He decided to travel west. Episode 3: After having heard Aeneas' story, Dido dismisses him. She is however fascinated by his search for the earth mother and cannot sleep. She tells him to go and find her in the land Hesperia, located in the north. Episode 4: Aeneas finds a community of Trojan survivors on an island.

Juno Juno commonly refers to: * Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods * ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Juno, in the ...

instigates the Trojan women to set fire to the fleet, but it is saved by rainfall. Episode 5: Aeneas' mother

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

guides him to the underworld to receive strength from his father's shadow. The Trojans arrive at the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; it, Tevere ; la, Tiberis) is the third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the Ri ...

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil ( Old Latium) on ...

, were a prophecy says that

Lavinia In Roman mythology, Lavinia ( ; ) is the daughter of Latinus and Amata, and the last wife of Aeneas. Creation It has been proposed that the character was in part intended to represent Servilia Isaurica, Emperor Augustus's first fiancée. Stor ...

, the daughter of the king

Latinus Latinus ( la, Latinus; Ancient Greek: Λατῖνος, ''Latînos'', or Λατεῖνος, ''Lateînos'') was a figure in both Greek and Roman mythology. He is often associated with the heroes of the Trojan War, namely Odysseus and Aeneas. Alt ...

, will marry a foreigner. Aeneas develops a bond with

Turnus Turnus ( grc, Τυρρηνός, Tyrrhênós) was the legendary King of the Rutuli in Roman history, and the chief antagonist of the hero Aeneas in Virgil's ''Aeneid''. According to the ''Aeneid'', Turnus is the son of Daunus and the nymph V ...

, king of the

Rutuli The Rutuli or Rutulians were an ancient people in Italy. The Rutuli were located in a territory whose capital was the ancient town of Ardea, located about 35 km southeast of Rome. Thought to have been descended from the Umbri and the Pelasg ...

. Episode 6: After advise from Latinus, Aeneas visits the inland, where an old Greek man tells him legends. Intrigues involving Lavinia and Turnus stir up conflict between the Trojans and the Latins. Episode 7: To solve the conflict, Aeneas challenges Turnus in a single combat to death. He wins and marries Lavinia. On his deathbed, Latinus bequeths his land to Aeneas.

Cast

Giulio Brogi Giulio Brogi (3 May 1935 – 19 February 2019)

as Aeneas *

as Dido *

as Turnus *

as Venus *

Vasa Pantelic Vasa may refer to: Places * Vaşa, Azerbaijan * Vasa County, a historic county in modern-day Finland * Vaasa or Vasa, Finland * Vasa, Rajasthan, a village in Sirohi District, Rajasthan, India * Vasa, Palghar, a village in Maharashtra, India * ...

Anchises Anchises (; grc-gre, Ἀγχίσης, Ankhísēs) was a member of the royal family of Troy in Greek and Roman legend. He was said to have been the son of King Capys of Dardania and Themiste, daughter of Ilus, who was son of Tros. He is most ...

* Arsen Costa as

Ascanius Ascanius (; Ancient Greek: Ἀσκάνιος) (said to have reigned 1176-1138 BC) was a legendary king of Alba Longa and is the son of the Trojan hero Aeneas and Creusa, daughter of Priam. He is a character in Roman mythology, and has a divine ...

Marisa Bartoli Marisa may refer to: * Marisa (town), an Indonesian town * Marisa, Hellenised name of Maresha, town in Idumea (today in Israel) * Marisa (given name), a feminine personal name * ''Marisa'' (gastropod), a genus of apple snails * MV ''Marisa'' (193 ...

Andromache In Greek mythology, Andromache (; grc, Ἀνδρομάχη, ) was the wife of Hector, daughter of Eetion, and sister to Podes. She was born and raised in the city of Cilician Thebe, over which her father ruled. The name means 'man battler ...

Angelica Zielke ''Angelica'' is a genus of about 60 species of tall biennial and perennial herbs in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate and subarctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, reaching as far north as Iceland, Lapland, and Greenland. They grow ...

Creusa In Greek mythology, Creusa (; grc, Κρέουσα ''Kreousa'' "princess") may refer to the following figures: * Creusa, a naiad daughter of Gaia. * Creusa, daughter of Erechtheus, King of Athens and his wife, Praxithea. * Creusa, also known b ...

* Ilaria Guerrini as Juno *

Misenus In Greek and Roman mythology, Misenus (Μισηνός) was a name attributed to two individuals. * Misenus was a friend of Odysseus. * Misenus was a character in Virgil's epic poem the ''Aeneid''. He was a brother-in-arms of Hector and, after Hec ...

* Christian Ledoux as

Palinurus Palinurus (''Palinūrus''), in Roman mythology and especially Virgil's ''Aeneid'', is the coxswain of Aeneas' ship. Later authors used him as a general type of navigator or guide. Palinurus is an example of human sacrifice; his life is the price ...

Jaspar Von Oertzen Jaspar von Oertzen (1912–2008) was a German stage, film and television actor.Giesen p.207 Selected filmography * ''Trouble with Jolanthe'' (1934) * ''Comrades at Sea'' (1938) * ''The Merciful Lie'' (1939) * '' Police Report'' (1939) * '' Bisma ...

Evander Evander is a masculine given name. It is an anglicization of the Greek name Εὔανδρος (lit. "good man", Latinized ''Evandrus''). It has also been adopted as an anglicization of the Gaelic name Iomhar (the Gaelic variant of the name Ivor) ...

Jagoda Ristic Jagoda is a gender-neutral surname and feminine given name. Especially common in Poland and Croatia, it means "berry" or "strawberry" in Slavic languages. Other forms include Jahoda (Czech and Slovak), Yahoda (Ukrainian), and Yagoda (Russian). ...

as Lavinia *

Anna Maria Gherardi Anna Maria Gherardi (15 October 1939 – 5 October 2014) was an Italian actress and voice actress.Betts, To"RIP Anna Maria Gherardi" westernboothill.blogspot.com, 6 October 2014; retrieved 6 October 2014. Born in Bologna, Gherardi formed at t ...

Amata According to Roman mythology, Amata (also called Palanto) was the wife of Latinus, king of the Latins, and the mother of their only child, Lavinia. In the Aeneid of Virgil, she commits suicide during the conflict between Aeneas and Turnus over ...

Janez Vrhovec Janez Vrhovec (19 January 1921 – 7 October 1997) was a Yugoslav actor of Slovenian-German origin. Vrhovec appeared in a number of Yugoslav and Serbian films, as well as many international productions, in a career spanning almost five decade ...

as Latinus

Production

Franco Rossi's 1968 television adaptation of

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the '' Iliad'' and the '' Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of ...

's ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major Ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek Epic poetry, epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by moder ...

'' had been a success in Italy and elsewhere in Europe, and was followed by an adaptation of the ancient Roman author

's epic poem the ''

''. Like in Rossi's ''Odyssey'',

Roberto Rossellini Roberto Gastone Zeffiro Rossellini (8 May 1906 – 3 June 1977) was an Italian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He was one of the most prominent directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing to the movement with films such ...

's television works and

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, filmmaker, writer and intellectual who also distinguished himself as a journalist, novelist, translator, playwright, visual artist and actor. He is considered one of ...

's films such as ''

Oedipus Rex ''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' ( grc, Οἰδίπους Τύραννος, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed around 429 BC. Originally, to the ancient Gr ...

'' (1967) and ''

Medea In Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the ...

'' (1969) provided inspiration for the use of natural locations and sometimes intentionally anachronistic set and costume designs. The exterior scenes set in

were filmed in the

Bamyan Bamyan or Bamyan Valley (); ( prs, بامیان) also spelled Bamiyan or Bamian is the capital of Bamyan Province in central Afghanistan. Its population of approximately 70,000 people makes it the largest city in Hazarajat. Bamyan is at an alti ...

valley in Afghanistan, where one of the giant Buddha statues was used to represent an unnamed pre-Tyrian god.

Reception

''Eneide'' premiered on the Italian public television network

's channel

Programma Nazionale Rai 1 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's flagship television channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream and general ...

, where it aired from 19 December 1971 to 30 January 1972. Like Rossi's ''Odyssey'' before and his ''

Quo Vadis? ''Quō vādis?'' (, ) is a Latin phrase meaning "Where are you marching?". It is also commonly translated as "Where are you going?" or, poetically, "Whither goest thou?" The phrase originates from the Christian tradition regarding Saint Pet ...

'' in 1985, it was well received and distributed internationally. In 1974, a theatrical version edited down to 100 minutes was released in Italian cinemas as ''Le avventure di Enea'' ().

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1971 Italian television series debuts 1972 Italian television series endings 1970s television miniseries Italian television miniseries Works based on the Aeneid Television shows based on poems Television series based on classical mythology Cultural depictions of Dido Films directed by Franco Rossi Films scored by Mario Nascimbene Italian adventure television series Italian drama television series Italian-language television shows