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Anchises

Mythology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A Trojan prince beloved by Aphrodite, father of Aeneas, and a key figure in Virgil’s Aeneid as a symbol of mortal-divine union.

Detailed Definition
Anchises was a mortal prince of Troy seduced by Aphrodite, resulting in the birth of Aeneas. Struck lame by Zeus for boasting of the affair, he was later carried from Troy by his son during its fall. In poetry, especially in Virgil’s Aeneid, Anchises represents paternal wisdom, divine lineage, and the burden of destiny passed from one generation to the next.
Example
Example in poetry:
Anchises, father of Aeneas, is carried from burning Troy in Virgil’s Aeneid, symbolizing filial piety; In the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, Anchises is seduced by the goddess and warned not to boast of their union; Ovid references Anchises’s mortal pride in Fasti as a cautionary tale; Renaissance poets depict Anchises as a symbol of ancestral wisdom; In Dryden’s translation of the Aeneid, Anchises embodies Roman virtue and destiny; Modern adaptations use Anchises to explore themes of legacy and divine-human relationships.
Additional Notes
Anchises, a Trojan prince and mortal lover of Aphrodite, is best known as the father of Aeneas; his role in Virgil’s Aeneid underscores themes of piety, lineage, and divine-mortal unions—poets may reference him to explore paternal legacy, humility before the gods, or the burden of destiny; his lameness (from Zeus’s thunderbolt) adds a layer of human frailty.
Also Known As
Father of Aeneas Mortal Beloved of Aphrodite Anchises of Dardania
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