The Trojan hero who was the son of Anchises and Aphrodite and became the legendary ancestor of Rome was Aeneas. In Greek tradition Aphrodite is his mother; Roman writers call her Venus and make Aeneas the central link between fallen Troy and Roman origins.
Aeneas escapes the destruction of Troy carrying his father Anchises and leading his young son Ascanius. After wandering through the Mediterranean, he reaches Italy, where he allies with King Latinus and marries Latinus’s daughter, Lavinia. He establishes Lavinium, while Ascanius later founds Alba Longa.
Aeneas does not directly build the historical city of Rome. Rather, Roman legend traces Romulus and Remus—and therefore Rome’s foundation—through the dynasty descended from Aeneas. Virgil’s Aeneid gave this tradition its most influential literary form, presenting Aeneas as a dutiful hero guided by destiny. A common mix-up is naming Romulus, the traditional founder of Rome, instead of Aeneas, its legendary Trojan forebear.