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In Roman mythology, Silvius was either the son of Aeneas and Lavinia or the son of Ascanius. He succeeded Ascanius as King of Alba Longa.[1]

According to the former tradition, upon the death of Aeneas, Lavinia is said to have hidden in a forest from the fear that Ascanius would harm the child. He was named after his place of birth, Silva being the Latin word for forest or wood.

According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, a dispute arose on who should succeed Ascanius, either Silvius (the brother of Ascanius) or Julus (the son of Ascanius).[2] The dispute was decided in favor of Silvius by the people who believed that it was his right as the nephew of Latinus. Julus was awarded the priesthood. All the kings of Alba following Silvius bore the name as their cognomen.

In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas (Greek: ???e?a?, Aineías, derived from Greek ???? meaning "to praise"; pronounced /?'ni??s/ in English) was a Trojan hero, the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite. His father was also the second cousin of King Priam of Troy. The journey of Aeneas from Troy (with help from Aphrodite), which led to the founding of the city Rome, is recounted in Virgil's Aeneid. He is considered an important figure in Greek and Roman legend and history. Aeneas is a character in Homer's Iliad, Quintus Smyrnaeus' Posthomerica, and Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida.

In Roman mythology, Lavinia (Latin: Lauinia) was the daughter of Latinus and Amata and the wife of Aeneas.

Lavinia, the only child of the king and "ripe for marriage", had been courted by many men in Ausonia who hoped to become the king of Latium. Turnus, ruler of the Rutuli, was the most likely of the suitors, having the favor of Queen Amata. King Latinus is later warned by the oracle Faunus that his daughter is not to marry a Latin.

"Seek not, my seed, in Latian bands to yoke
Our fair Lavinia, nor the gods provoke.
A foreign son upon thy shore descends,
Whose martial fame from pole to pole extends.
His race, in arms and arts of peace renown'd,
Not Latium shall contain, nor Europe bound:
'T is theirs whate'er the sun surveys around."[1]

In Book 7 of the Aeneid, in lines 69–83, Lavinia's presence is made more known to the readers in her most memorable role in the Aeneid; during the sacrifice at the altars of the gods, Lavinia's hair catches on fire, an omen promising glorious days to come for Lavinia and war for all Latins.

Aeneas and Lavinia had one son, Silvius. Aeneas named the city Lavinium for her.

Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, and sexuality. Her Roman equivalent is the goddess Venus. Historically, her cult in Greece was imported from, or influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia.

According to Hesiod's Theogony, she was born when Cronus cut off Uranus' genitals and threw them into the sea, and from the sea foam (aphros) arose Aphrodite.

Because of her beauty other gods feared that jealousy would interrupt the peace among them and lead to war, and so Zeus married her to Hephaestus, who was not viewed as a threat. Aphrodite had many lovers, both gods like Ares, and men like Anchises. Aphrodite also became instrumental in the Eros and Psyche legend, and later was both Adonis' lover and his surrogate mother. Many lesser beings were said to be children of Aphrodite.

Aphrodite is also known as Cytherea (Lady of Cythera) and Cypris (Lady of Cyprus) after the two cult-sites, Cythera and Cyprus, which claimed her birth. Myrtles, doves, sparrows, horses, and swans are sacred to her. The Greeks further identified the Ancient Egyptian goddess Hathor with Aphrodite.[4] Aphrodite also has many other local names, such as Acidalia, Cytherea and Cerigo, used in specific areas of Greece. Each goddess demanded a slightly different cult but Greeks recognized in their overall similarities the one Aphrodite. Attic philosophers of the fourth century separated a celestial Aphrodite (Aprodite Urania) of transcendent principles with the common Aphrodite of the people (Aphrodite Pandemos).

In later Roman mythology (notably Virgil's Aeneid), Latinus, or Lavinius, was a king of the Latins. He is sometimes described as the son of Faunus and Marica, and father of Lavinia with his wife, Amata. He hosted Aeneas's army of exiled Trojans and offered them the option of reorganizing their life in Latium. His daughter Lavinia had been promised to Turnus, king of the Rutuli, but Faunus and the gods insisted that he give her instead to Aeneas; Turnus consequently declared war on Aeneas and was killed two weeks into the conflict. Ascanius, the son of Aeneas, later founded Alba Longa and was the first in a long series of kings leading to Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome.

This version is not properly compatible with the Greek one: the Trojan War had ended only eight years earlier, and Odysseus only met Circe a couple of months later, so any son of the pair could only be seven years old, whereas the Roman Latinus had an adult daughter by this time.

Amata (also called Palanto), in Roman mythology, was the wife of King Latinus of the Latins. She and Latinus had a daughter, Lavinia, and no sons. When the hero Aeneas sued for Lavinia's hand in marriage, Amata opposed him because she had already promised Lavinia to Aeneas' nemesis Turnus. At the same time she was instigated by Alecto, who acted according to the request of Juno. Hiding her daughter in the woods and arousing the womenfolk of the Latins, she managed to stir up the war between the Latins (now allied with Turnus) and Aeneas' Trojans (allied with the Etruscans and King Evander's people). This story fills the greater part of the seventh book of Virgil's Aeneid. When Amata was informed that Turnus had fallen in battle, she hanged herself.[1][2][3].

In ancient Roman religion and myth, Faunus was the horned god of the forest, plains and fields; when he made cattle fertile he was called Inuus. He came to be equated in literature with the Greek god Pan.

Faunus was one of the oldest Roman deities, known as the di indigetes. According to the epic poet Virgil, he was a legendary king of the Latins who came with his people from Arcadia. His shade was consulted as a god of prophecy under the name of Fatuus, with oracles[1] in the sacred grove of Tibur, around the well Albunea, and on the Aventine Hill in ancient Rome itself [2]

Marcus Terentius Varro asserted that the oracular responses were given in Saturnian verse.[3] Faunus revealed the future in dreams and voices that were communicated to those who came to sleep in his precincts, lying on the fleeces of sacrificed lambs. W. Warde Fowler suggested that Faunus is identical with Favonius,[4] one of the Roman wind gods (compare the Anemoi).

In Roman mythology, Picus was the first king of Latium. He was known for his skill at augury and horsemanship. The witch Circe turned him into a woodpecker for scorning her love. Picus' wife was Canens, a nymph who killed herself after his transformation. They had one son, Faunus.

According to grammarian Servius, Picus's love for Pomona was itself scorned. He is featured in one of the Metamorphoses of Ovid. Virgil says that he was the son of Saturnus and the grandfather of Latinus, the king of the Laurentines whom Aeneas and his Trojans fought upon reaching Italy.
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In Roman mythology, Picus was the first king of Latium. He was known for his skill at augury and horsemanship. The witch Circe turned him into a woodpecker for scorning her love. Picus' wife was Canens, a nymph who killed herself after his transformation. They had one son, Faunus.

According to grammarian Servius, Picus's love for Pomona was itself scorned. He is featured in one of the Metamorphoses of Ovid. Virgil says that he was the son of Saturnus and the grandfather of Latinus, the king of the Laurentines whom Aeneas and his Trojans fought upon reaching Italy.

Italic people believed Picus was the son of the god of war Mars. After being turned into a woodpecker Italic tribes attributed to the bird divine qualities, connected with Picus's original skills at augury.

One of the function he performed was to lead the deduction of colonies (made up of younger generation folk) with his flight, which traditionally took place in spring and was performed according to a religiuos ritual known as Ver sacrum. The people of the Piceni derived their name from the memory of this ritual.
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Italic people believed Picus was the son of the god of war Mars. After being turned into a woodpecker Italic tribes attributed to the bird divine qualities, connected with Picus's original skills at augury.

One of the function he performed was to lead the deduction of colonies (made up of younger generation folk) with his flight, which traditionally took place in spring and was performed according to a religiuos ritual known as Ver sacrum. The people of the Piceni derived their name from the memory of this ritual.

In Roman mythology, Canens was the personification of song. She was a nymph from Latium.

The witch Circe turned her husband Picus into a woodpecker because he scorned her love. Canens searched for her husband for six days and then threw herself into the Tiber river. She sang one final song and then died. They had one son, Faunus.