The Aeneid
By Virgil (translated by John Dryden)
Cover: Dido and Aeneas: Aeneas Tells Dido the Misfortunes of Troy (1815), oil on canvas by Pierre-Narcisse Gu�rin (1774-1833) · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain (artist died 1833)
Aeneas flees burning Troy, loses Dido's love at Carthage, descends to the underworld, and fights his way to Italy to found the line that will build Rome. Dryden's 1697 version in heroic couplets was the standard English Aeneid for two centuries.
Summary written with Claude Sonnet 5.5.