Throughout the Aeneid, Virgil details the fateful trajectory of Aeneas, who follows his predetermined path from the ashen ruins of destroyed Troy to the high ramparts of nascent Rome . Within the convoluted framework of the epic poem, these two cities appear as among the rare absolute certainties, marking the starting and ending points of the Trojans' journey as well as the essential limits within which Virgil geographically and historically contextualizes the entire plot. Between these two designated places, however, are places of uncertainty: the seas, the mountains, and the forests, the latter soon emerging as Virgil's main regions of ambiguity. Different peoples are defined by their contrasting relationships with forests; the Latins are described in terms of affinity and integration with nature, while the Trojans, through their desire for conquest and construction, place themselves intrinsically in opposition to forests and their associations with the primitive, the virginal and the supernatural. The forests function in The Aeneid not only as a backdrop but also as dynamic players, as Aeneas and the rest of the Trojans have encounters that take place both in the forests and with the forests. These human interactions with nature reveal the nuanced and complex nature of this highly symbolic landscape that is the Virgilian forest. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get the original essay Where the Trojans seem to be at odds with the forests, the “rustic” Italians live in harmony with them, having integrated their natural environment in their culture and their way of life. The house of King Latinus illustrates this intimate relationship; his palace is described as "a place impressive both for its forests and for the sanctity of ancient worship" with "images of their ancestors [...] carved from ancient cedar" (166). The use of wood and other natural (as opposed to man-made) materials to express power and history reveals the centrality of the forest as a component of Latino identity as well as the extent in which the Latin concepts of nature, ancestry, rusticism, and religion are closely linked. This connection is further developed when the Arcadian king Evander traces the origins of the land and its inhabitants to the times when "these groves were once the abode of fauns and nymphs and of a race of men born from the trunks of study trees and oaks.” (198). Although this "golden age" has passed, the Latin people still retain elements of this past, maintaining a primitive worldview and peaceful coexistence with the forests, soon disrupted by the Trojans in their quest to found Rome. The initial conflict that begins the war between the Latins and the Trojans is not between two men; rather, it is an antagonistic act towards the Latin Forest itself. Aeneas' son, Ascanius, is moved by divine forces to slaughter a deer, tended by a Latin woman, Silvia (whose name aptly derives from the Latin word for "forest"). Virgil explains that “this hunting was the first cause of the troubles, and for this the rustic spirits of Latium were driven to war” (176). Indeed, by hunting and killing the animal (which lived so peacefully with the woods and men), Ascanius fundamentally violates the harmony that had been established between humanity and nature. His action constitutes a harbinger, foreshadowing the future intrusions of the Trojans on the territory, and highlights the tension between the two opposing concepts at stake in the campaign of Trojan conquest: the forests which the Latins kept practically intact and the city..