One might call Aeneas a "behind the scenes man" in the book, The Iliad. Though he was second in command for the Trojans, Homer rarely talked about the unsung hero. His childhood was different than most children his age. Without a dominant mother figure in his life, Aeneas learned his values and beliefs from his warrior father, Anchises, a Trojan prince. One also might believe that since Aeneas had a fighting machine for a father, that he would grow to be one also. Though, as it is shown through his participation in the Trojan War, Aeneas is not exactly like Anchises. After the fall of the Trojans in the war his destiny awaits.
             Born in Troy, to Anchises and Aphrodite, the goddess of love, Aeneas was born into a very wealthy family. Aeneas, being the son of a Trojan prince, never had to worry about a home or food. Aeneas lived in a Trojan palace until later in his childhood when a stable home could not be relied on. When he wasn't at home in the palace he traveled with his father and most likely stayed in wealthy houses along the way or simply in the barracks if he went with his father to an army site. Soon after he was born, his father and inevitably a nurse or nanny raised Aeneas; as it was proper for a wealthy man not to simply raise Aeneas on his own. Also, since it was Zeus forbade that anyone know that Aphrodite was Aeneas' real mother, from the minute he was born, Aeneas was denied a dominant mother figure most children had when they are young.
             Aeneas began childhood unlike most children his age. He probably traveled with his father a great deal as he grew older, learning about war and fighting tactics. Along the way and on visits home, a tutor educated him, since most wealthy boys were educated at a young age. Being an only child and an eventually heir to the thrown, Aeneas may have been spoiled slightly. Though, he rarely got to really relish in his family's good fortune because he was always work...