After Misenus had been cremated, the Sibyl arranged for the sacrifice near a cave shielded by the forest and Lake Avernus. The animals - all black - were duly slaughtered, and as dawn broke, the Sibyl told all except Aeneas to leave the wood. She hurried down into the cave and a nervous Aeneas, with drawn sword, followed.
Various monsters and horrors crowded the ante-chamber to Hell: Aeneas was told to ignore them, and soon they reached the river Cocytus or Styx. The filthy ferryman CHARON takes the souls across the Styx in his rickety boat - but only those whose bodies have been properly buried. Among the crowds of unburied Aeneas recognised PALINURUS, his helmsman, who'd disappeared overboard just before they reached Italy. Aeneas was sympathetic to his sad tale - he had been murdered by tribesmen as he struggled ashore, and his body had been left on the beach. But the Sibyl told Aeneas impatiently that no exceptions could be made. They continued on towards the river bank...