Does Virgil present Aeneas as a hero?

We can interpret Virgil's presentation of Aeneas in a variety of ways, as he can be seen as a hero through his excellent leadership skills and the way in which he adheres to his destiny, portraying an excellent example for Virgil's contemporary Roman audience as Aeneas is shown to be an exemplary Roman citizen, sacrificing his own wishes for the good of his people. Virgil's Aeneid has been interpreted to be in some ways praising the emperor Augustus' reign, as there are elements of parallelism within the narrative, for example the mention of Marcellus during the parade of souls in the Underworld, which links to Augustus' own son-in-law, who died before he could fulfil his full potential, and also in the way in which Augustus claims to be related to Aeneas through his adopted father, Julius Caesar. On the other hand, it has also been suggested that the Aeneid does not in fact show a positive view - Aeneas does some things which are not very admirable, such as leaving Dido and killing Turnus in a flash of furor and anger, which may call into question his status as a hero, and also our interpretation of the portrayal of Augustus. If Aeneas stands as a type of parallel to Augustus, then how are we to reconcile Aeneas' negative attributes with Virgil's apparent goal to praise Augustus? This is a complicated question which is very interesting to consider - what are the actual attributes of Roman heroism? And how far can we take our own, more modern, interpretation of honourable and dishonourable actions? This nuanced question allows us to think more about the epic as a whole, and calls to mind important themes such as the epic's link to Augustus and Virgil's portrayal of Aeneas and other characters.