In Greek mythology, Anchises was the Trojan prince and mortal father of the hero Aeneas.
Anchises belonged to the royal family of Troy and was descended from Tros, the legendary founder of the city’s ruling line. According to myth, the goddess Aphrodite fell in love with him and became the mother of Aeneas.
Aeneas fought on the Trojan side during the war and survived the city’s destruction. In Virgil’s Aeneid, he carries his elderly father Anchises from burning Troy, an image that became one of the most famous scenes in classical literature and art. Anchises later dies in Sicily during the family’s journey west.
Anchises is sometimes confused with Priam because both are connected to Troy’s royal house. Priam was king of Troy and Hector’s father; Anchises was Aeneas’s father and belonged to a related branch of the Trojan dynasty.