his father, but has no success as his father's shade is like thin air, or empty dreams. In spite of this, they have a happy encounter and Anchises tells his son about the nearby river Lethe, the river of forgetfulness, on the other side of which were a multitude of spirits waiting to be born on Earth. Over there were those who would be the descendants of Aeneas, and those who would live in the future Roman Empire, such as Romulus, Camillus, Marcellus, and the Caesars. Anchises gives advice to Aeneas, and then leads him to the ivory gate, one of the gates of "Sleep", by which they return to Earth. See also Dido Orpheus in the Underworld The Golden Bough (book) Footnotes References Characters in Book VI of the Aeneid Roman mythology Ancient Greek priestesses Sibyls