The first terrors that Aeneas finds at the gates to the underworld are personified grief, care, disease and the other enemies of human happiness. Then comes a huge tree, to the underside of whose leaves false dreams cling; then a place where terrifying phantoms of the monsters of ancient myth writhe, hiss and threaten. Skirting these, Aeneas and the Sybil make for the Styx, the infernal river which the dead must cross to reach the underworld proper.
See the illustrated blog post here.
To follow the story of Aeneas in sequence, use this link to the full Pantheon Poets selection of extracts from the Aeneid. See the next episode here.
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