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What does pietas mean in Virgil’s portrayal of Aeneas?

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Ancient Roman mosaic showing the poet Virgil seated and writing, flanked by the muses Clio and Melpomene, displayed in a decorative border. — Virgil Virgil (centre) holding a scroll with a quotation from the *Aeneid* and flanked by the muses Clio and Melpomene, mosaic, early 3rd century ce; in the Bardo National Museum, Tunis, Tunisia.

In Virgil’s Aeneid, pietas represents a profound sense of duty, responsibility, and devotion that defines the character of Aeneas as the prototype of the Roman way of life.12

While pietas in Roman religion generally signifies a respectful and faithful attachment to the gods, one's country, and relatives, Virgil elevates this concept within his epic. For Aeneas, pietas is characterized by:3

Obedience to Divine Command: Aeneas consistently guides his life by the will of the gods, often sacrificing his own natural inclinations and personal desires to fulfill his destiny.2
Self-Denial: This devotion requires Aeneas to suppress his own feelings, most notably when he abandons Dido in Carthage to pursue his goal of founding a new home in Italy.12
Persistence: Despite the suffering and the heavy cost of his mission, Aeneas endures and continues toward his goal, embodying the Roman ideal that the foundation of the nation is a task of immense, divinely appointed significance.1

Ultimately, the epithet pius, frequently applied to Aeneas, underscores his role as a leader who prioritizes his public mission and ancestral responsibilities over his private life.12