Trivia / The Aeneid

• Beam Me Up, Scotty!: "Beware of Greeks bearing gifts." The original line, "Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes," actually means, "I fear the Greeks, even when they bear gifts." ^note The error comes from thinking that "et" means "and", as it usually does. Here, however, it's short for "etiam", which means "even". It's also noteworthy that the line is spoken by the Trojan priest Laocoön, but in pop culture, it's usually attributed to Cassandra instead.
• Died During Production: Virgil died in Augustus' arms with the poem not yet completed to his satisfaction. He asked Augustus to burn it. Luckily, Augustus ignored his wishes and published it instead. The poem still contains half-lines that Virgil included as placeholders while he figured out what the full line should say.

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