Aeneas is a man who represents piety and duty. This human emotion piety, pietas in Latin, is duty towards family, country, and gods. Aeneas always fulfills his duty to his family, his fated city, and his gods. This piousness sustains him through the grueling journeys and challenges, even when things are not going well for him. Pietas is the characteristic that makes Aeneas stronger through each trial as he makes personal sacrifices and never wavers from his duties to his family, his country, and most of all to the gods. .
The complete devotion to Aeneas" family is a admirable trait of piety. Aeneas" love for his kin is exemplified in his fleeing of falling Troy. He was recalling his story to Dido when he realizes that there was no use fighting any longer, and that he must leave .
Troy; he hurries off to find his family. Once he reaches his family, he has his father, Anchises, on his shoulder, Ascanius, his son's little hand in his own, and Creusa, his wife close behind as they head off for the ships. When he reaches his destination at the funeral mound, he realizes that his wife was missing. Aeneas "turned back alone into the city nothing for it but to run the risks again comb of all Troy, and put his life in danger as before"(Aen. 2:975-979). His devotion to his wife was worth risking his life in order to bring her to safety. As he frantically searches "in endless quest from door to door"(Aen. 2:1001) for Creusa, her ghost appeared to him and told to him that she cannot go with him because she was no longer living, but to go back to the family and that a special mission is ahead of him. Personal loss is a tragedy that Aeneas must face as he ventures on to reach is fate. .
His pious personality is the characteristic that saves his family and leads him on his journey to the future founding of Rome. Every battle that Aeneas fights, is a battle fought for his country. In book II, during his recollection of the end of Troy, he tells Dido that even though he was told to flee, he did stay back for a short while and fight.
