Tense used in the epic is usually past, sometimes switching to present to increase the immediacy of a scene. Virgil also uses the future tense, for prophecy and prediction. Setting time is in the aftermath of the Trojan War; about 1000 B.C. Setting place is the Mediterranean, including the north coast of Asia Minor, Carthage, and Italy. Protagonist of the poem is Aeneas. Major conflict of the poem is that Aeneas is fated to travel from the ruins of Troy to Italy, where he will establish a race that will lead to the founding of Rome. Juno, harboring feelings of vengeance against the Trojans, impedes Aeneas's mission by inciting a romance between Aeneas and Dido and then a war between the Trojans and the Latins, causing suffering for the hero, his fleet, and many whom they encounter on the way.
The epic has two parts: Aeneas's wanderings in Books I–VI, and his struggle to establish himself in Latium in Books VII–XII. In the first half of the epic, Aeneas tells the story of the siege of Troy and his escape, causing Dido to love him. In the second half of the epic, King Latinus offers the hand of his daughter, Lavinia, to Aeneas in marriage, and Juno responds by inciting rage in the hearts of Queen Amata and Turnus and then opening the Gates of War. In the first half of the epic the climax is when, Venus and Juno contrive to isolate Dido and Aeneas in a cave during a hunting trip, and there the two lovers consummate their affair. In the second half of the epic the climax is when Turnus kills Pallas, inciting the lethal vengeance of Aeneas. In the first half of the epic, the falling action is when Aeneas leaves Carthage for Italy at Mercury's prodding, causing the heartbroken Dido to kill herself. In the second half, the war between the Trojans and the Latins comes down to a duel between Aeneas and Turnus. Aeneas wins, and, after considering sparing his enemy's life, he decides to kill Turnus to avenge Pallas's death.
