Anchises. Anchises 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 famous as the father of Aeneas and for his treatment in Virgil's Aeneid. Anchises' brother was Acoetes, father of the priest Laocoon. He was a mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite. She fell in love with Anchises seeing him herding sheep on Mount Ida after Zeus persuaded Eros to shoot her an arrow to cause it. One version is that Aphrodite pretended to be a Phrygian princess and seduced him, only to later reveal herself and inform him that they would have a son named Aeneas; Aphrodite had warned Anchises that if he told anyone about her being the mother of his child, Zeus would strike him down with his thunderbolt. He did not heed her warning and was struck with a thunderbolt, which in different versions either blinds him or kills him. The principal early narrative of Aphrodite's seduction of Anchises and the birth of Aeneas is the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite. According to the Bibliotheca, Anchises and Aphrodite had another son, Lyrus, who died childless. He later had a mortal wife named Eriopis, according to the scholiasts, and he is credited with other children beside Aeneas and Lyrus. Homer, in the Iliad, mentions a daughter named Hippodamia, their eldest, who married her cousin Alcathous. After the defeat of Troy in the Trojan War, the elderly Anchises was carried from the burning city by his son Aeneas, accompanied by Aeneas' wife Creusa, who died in the escape attempt, and small son Ascanius. The subject is depicted in several paintings, including a famous version by Federico Barocci in the Galleria Borghese in Rome. The rescue is also mentioned in a speech in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar when Cassius attempts to persuade Brutus to murder Caesar. Anchises himself died and was buried in Sicily many years later. Aeneas later visited Hades and saw his father again in the Elysian Fields. Homer's Iliad mentions another Anchises, a wealthy native of Sicyon in Greece and father of Echepolus. The Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite details how Aphrodite seduced Anchises. It begins by describing how only the three virgin goddesses are immune to Aphrodite's powers. She has made gods and goddesses fall in love with mortals. Not even Zeus was able to escape her powers and to put her in her place, he caused her to lust after the handsome mortal Anchises. Aphrodite first happens upon Anchises on the hills of Mount Ida, where he is grazing his cattle. Anchises is described as having the beauty of an immortal. Aphrodite goes to Cyprus and bathes. Then she returns to the Troad disguised as a mortal, and finds Anchises alone in a hut. When Anchises first sees Aphrodite, he is convinced that she is a goddess, a grace, or a nymph. She convinces him that she is a Phrygian princess and that Hermes brought her there to marry Anchises. Anchises is overcome with desire for her and declares that he must have her immediately, and the two of them make love. After they have sex, Aphrodite puts Anchises into a deep sleep and dresses herself. When she is finished dressing, she wakes him up and reveals herself to him. When Anchises realizes her identity he is terrified and full of regret, and says that no good comes from sleeping with a goddess. Aphrodite comforts him by telling him that she will bear him a son by the name of Aeneas, who will be respected among the Trojans and whose offspring will prosper. To further comfort Anchises she goes on to tell him about two relationships: the relationship between Zeus and Ganymede and the relationship between Eos and Tithonus. Both relationships are between an immortal and a mortal who survives the relationship. She then details how their son will be raised by nymphs until he is five years old, at which time she will bring Aeneas to him. Then she leaves, warning him not to reveal that she is the mother of his child or Zeus will smite him. The Aeneid by Virgil describes the journey of Aeneas after the fall of Troy. Anchises, the father of Aeneas, is a character in the epic. Even though Anchises is dead for most of the epic, he still makes multiple appearances in it, oftentimes to advise Aeneas. Anchises' first major appearance comes in Book 2. He is mentioned while Aeneas is telling Dido about the fall of Troy. During the fall of Troy, Aeneas makes his way home to save Anchises, his wife Creusa, and his son Ascanius. At first Anchises refuses to go with Aeneas and tells Aeneas to leave without him. Aeneas refuses to leave Anchises and declares that they will all die in Troy.