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{{Short description|Wife of Aeneas in Roman mythology}}
{{Other uses|Lavinia (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Lavinia.jpg|thumb|Lavinia from ''[[Promptuarium Iconum Insigniorum|Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum]]'']]
[[File:Mirabello Cavalori 001.jpg|thumb|250px|''Lavinia at the Altar'' ({{circa|1565}}) by [[Mirabello Cavalori]], depicting the moment at which Lavinia's hair blazes as an omen of war but ultimate reconciliation]]
In [[Roman mythology]], '''Lavinia''' ({{IPAc-en|l|ə|ˈ|v|ɪ|n|i|ə}} {{respell|lə|VIN|ee|ə}}; {{IPA|la|ɫaːˈu̯iːnia|lang}}) is the daughter of [[Latinus]] and [[Amata]], and the last wife of [[Aeneas]].

==Creation==
It has been proposed that the character was in part intended to represent [[Servilia Isaurica]], Emperor [[Augustus]]'s first [[fiancée]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Proceedings of the Virgil Society|year=1970|location=Indiana University|pages=42|volume=10}}</ref>

==Story==
Lavinia, the only child of the king and "ripe for marriage", had been courted by many men who hoped to become the king of [[Latium]].<ref>Virgil, ''Aeneid'' 7.70–74, trans. Robert Fitzgerald.</ref> [[Turnus]], ruler of the [[Rutuli]], was the most likely of the suitors, having the favor of Queen Amata.<ref>Virgil, ''Aeneid'' 7.75, trans. Robert Fitzgerald.</ref> In [[Virgil]]'s account, King Latinus is warned by his father [[Faunus]] in a [[dream oracle]] that his daughter is not to marry a [[Latini|Latin]]:

{{poem quote|"Propose no Latin alliance for your daughter
Son of mine; distrust the bridal chamber
Now prepared. Men from abroad will come
And be your sons by marriage. Blood so mingled
Lifts our name starward. Children of that stock
Will see all earth turned Latin at their feet,
Governed by them, as far as on his rounds
The Sun looks down on Ocean, East or West."<ref>''Aeneid'' 7.125–132, as translated by [[Robert Fitzgerald]].</ref>}}

Lavinia has what is perhaps her most, or only, memorable moment in Book 7 of the ''[[Aeneid]]'', lines 94–104: during a sacrifice at the altars of the gods, Lavinia's hair catches fire, an omen promising glorious days to come for Lavinia and war for all Latins:
{{poem quote|"While the old king lit fires at the altars
With a pure torch, the girl Lavinia with him, 
It seemed her long hair caught, her head-dress caught 
In crackling flame, her queenly tresses blazed,
Her jeweled crown blazed. Mantled then in smoke
And russet light, she scattered divine fire
Throughout all the house. No one could hold that sight
Anything but hair-raising, marvelous,
And it was read by seers to mean the girl
Would have renown and glorious days to come,
But that she brought a great war on her people."<ref>Virgil, ''Aeneid'' 7.94–104, trans. Robert Fitzgerald.</ref>}}
Not long after the dream oracle and the prophetic moment, Aeneas sends emissaries bearing several gifts for King Latinus. King Latinus recognizes Aeneas as the destined one:
{{poem quote|"I have a daughter, whom the oracles
Of Father's shrine and warning signs from heaven
Keep me from pledging to a native here. 
Sons from abroad will come, the prophets say—
For this is Latium's destiny—new blood
To immortalize our name. Your king's the man
Called for by fate, so I conclude, and so
I wish, if there is truth in what I presage."<ref>Virgil, ''Aeneid'' 7.363–370, trans. Robert Fitzgerald.</ref>}}
Aeneas is said to have named the ancient city of [[Lavinium]] for her.<ref>Appian, ''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0230:text=Reg.:chapter=1&highlight=lavinium Kings]'' 1. Livy, ''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0151:book=1:chapter=1&highlight=lavinium Ab Urbe Condita]'' 1.11ff, Dionysius of Halicarnassus [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Dionysius_of_Halicarnassus/1C*.html Roman Antiquities], 1. 59.1ff</ref> 

By some accounts, Aeneas and Lavinia had a son, [[Silvius (mythology)|Silvius]], a legendary king of [[Alba Longa]].<ref>Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Roman Antiquities'' 1.70, Virgil, ''Aeneid'' 6.1024–1027.</ref> According to [[Livy]], [[Ascanius]] was the son of Aeneas and Lavinia; she led the [[Latins (Italic tribe)|Latins]] as a [[power behind the throne]] since [[Ascanius]] was too young to rule.<ref>Livy, ''Ab Urbe Condita'', 1.1.11–1.3.1 ("His son Ascanius was not old enough to assume the government but his throne remained secure throughout his minority. During that interval—such was Lavinia's force of character—though a woman was regent, the Latin State, and the kingdom of his father and grandfather, were preserved unimpaired for her son." [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0026%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D3 Trans. Canon Roberts]).</ref> In Livy's account, Silvius is the son of Ascanius.<ref>Livy, ''[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0026%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D3 Ab Urbe Condita]'' 1.3.7.</ref>

== In other works ==
In [[Ursula K. Le Guin]]'s 2008 novel ''[[Lavinia (novel)|Lavinia]]'', Lavinia's character and her relationship with Aeneas is expanded, giving insight into the life of a king's daughter in ancient Italy. Le Guin employs a self-conscious narrative device in having Lavinia as the first-person narrator knowing that she would not have a life without Virgil, who, being the writer of the ''Aeneid'' several centuries after her time, is thus her creator.<ref name="Higgins 2009">{{cite web | last=Higgins | first=Charlotte | title=Review: Lavinia by Ursula Le Guin | website=[[The Guardian]] | date=22 May 2009 | url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/may/23/lavinia-ursula-le-guin-review | access-date=19 August 2022}}</ref>

Lavinia also appears with her father, King Latinus, in [[Dante]]'s ''[[Divine Comedy]]'', ''Inferno'', Canto IV, lines 125–126. She is documented in ''[[De Mulieribus Claris]]'', a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the [[Florence|Florentine]] author [[Giovanni Boccaccio]], composed in 1361{{endash}}62.<ref name="Brown_xi">{{cite book |last=Boccaccio |first=Giovanni |author-link=Giovanni Boccaccio |year=2003 |translator=Virginia Brown |title=Famous Women |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge, MA |series=I Tatti Renaissance Library |volume=1 |isbn=0-674-01130-9 |page=xi}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
* [[Virgil]]. ''[[Aeneid]]''. VII.
* [[Livy]], ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy)|Ab urbe condita]]'' Book 1.

{{Aeneid}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Characters in the Aeneid]]
[[Category:Characters in Roman mythology]]