Concerning Turnus's character, critical opinion has always been divided. However, it seems fairly obvious that since Turnus's role in the epic is to embody the forces that will be defeated by fate's decree, he is condemned to behave in a way that must necessarily portray him as the inferior of Aeneas, whom fate favors. We read of Turnus's rage in this book with the certain knowledge that he is fighting a lost cause, even though he believes that he has a chance of winning.
This ironic knowledge is likely to dispose us to feel rather sorry for him in spite of his faults, as Virgil, who was never content to give a one-dimensional picture of human nature, perhaps intended. Turnus's actions hinge on his rash personality.
Described from the book's outset as "the rash prince," this character flaw proves to be his undoing. For example, after gaining entrance into the Trojans's camp, he begins slaughtering his enemies with reckless abandon, consumed by his thirst for blood. However, his lack of control hinders rather than helps his cause. Book IX is the most graphically violent book in the Aeneid. However, the violence is not indiscriminate; rather, it emphasizes the depravity of Turnus's character.
Although Turnus is not personally responsible for Nisus's and Euryalus's deaths, his parading their severed heads, skewered on spears, shatters completely our sense of dignity to which the dead have a right.
The great injustice of Turnus's performance is reinforced by Euryalus's mother's heartfelt wailing over the loss of her son. Her reaction increases the beastliness of the Rutulian's actions. Although Turnus has the power to make the "quivering" earth resound, as he does when he slays Pandarus, his ghastly behavior is in marked contrast to the noble character of Aeneas, whose stature gains even in his absence. The two central characters of the intervening episode, Nisus and Euryalus, are familiar to us from Book V, in which Nisus, who fell as he was about to win a foot race, tripped another contestant to ensure that his inseparable companion, Euryalus, would win instead.
Now, Nisus, surrendering his own favorable situation, tries ineffectually on a far graver occasion to save his friend's life and dies. Nisus and Euryalus are in the ranks of a number of young people in the Aeneid — Pallas, the son of Evander; Lausus, the son of Mezentius; and the warrior maiden Camilla — who, as beautiful as they are brave, must die in battle.
The pathos surrounding their deaths heightens our sense of the cruelty of war, even a war that is fought, like the present one, for what is held to be a good purpose. Next Book X. Removing book from your Reading List will also remove any bookmarked pages associated with this title. Are you sure you want to remove bookConfirmation and any corresponding bookmarks?
My Preferences My Reading List. Aeneid Virgil. Dido left the land of Tyre when her husband was murdered by Pygmalion, her brother. Her love for Aeneas proves to be her downfall. Read an in-depth analysis of Dido. The ruler of the Rutulians in Italy. He is brash and fearless, a capable soldier who values his honor over his life. Read an in-depth analysis of Turnus. Though still a child, Ascanius has several opportunities over the course of the epic to display his bravery and leadership.
Creusa is lost and killed as her family attempts to flee the city, but tells Aeneas he will find a new wife at his new home. The Greek youth who pretends to have been left behind at the end of the Trojan War. The king of the Latins, the people of what is now central Italy, around the Tiber River. Latinus allows Aeneas into his kingdom and encourages him to become a suitor of Lavinia, his daughter, causing resentment and eventually war among his subjects. He respects the gods and fate, but does not hold strict command over his people.
Queen of Laurentum a region of Latium, in Italy and wife of Latinus. Amata kills herself once it is clear that Aeneas is destined to win. King of Pallanteum a region of Arcadia, in Italy and father of Pallas. Evander is a sworn enemy of the Latins, and Aeneas befriends him and secures his assistance in the battles against Turnus.
Pallas eventually dies in battle at the hands of Turnus, causing Aeneas and Evander great grief. A Latin leader who desires an end to the Trojan-Latin struggle. The leader of the Volscians, a race of warrior maidens. Camilla is perhaps the only strong mortal female character in the epic.
Juno provokes Juturna into inducing a full-scale battle between the Latins and the Trojans by disguising herself as an officer and goading the Latins after a treaty has already been reached. The queen of the gods, the wife and sister of Jupiter, and the daughter of Saturn.
She takes out her anger on Aeneas throughout the epic, and in her wrath acts as his primary divine antagonist. The goddess of love and the mother of Aeneas. Venus Aphrodite in Greek mythology is a benefactor of the Trojans.
She helps her son whenever Juno tries to hurt him, causing conflict among the gods. She is also referred to as Cytherea, after Cythera, the island where she was born and where her shrine is located. The king of the gods, and the son of Saturn. God of the sea, and generally an ally of Venus and Aeneas. Neptune Poseidon in Greek mythology calms the storm that opens the epic and conducts Aeneas safely on the last leg of his voyage. The messenger god. Anna's only wish is to see her widowed sister find happiness; ironically, she puts Dido in jeopardy and prepares her to become the victim of two overpowering goddesses, Juno and Venus.
Ascanius as- kay -nee-us Also known as Iulus; the son of Aeneas and his first wife, Creusa. Camilla kuh- mihl -uh A female warrior of the Volscians and Turnus's ally in his battle against Aeneas's forces.
In Book XI, she leads a courageous but doomed cavalry attack against the Trojans and their allies. Slain by the Etruscan Arruns, she is avenged by the goddess Diana, who sends the nymph Opis to slay Arruns in turn. Creusa kray- ooh -suh Aeneas's first wife, Creusa is a one-dimensional, colorless character, whose sole function is to appear as a sacrificial victim to the great cause of the future Roman Empire by exhorting Aeneas to escape Troy without her.
Dido dy -doh Unlike most female characters in the Aeneid , Dido is a strong woman who possesses heroic dimensions and a will of her own. Leading her people from Tyre after her brother murders her husband, she founds the new city of Carthage, whose construction she is directing when Aeneas arrives there.
Virgil portrays Dido as Aeneas's equal and his feminine counterpart. Her hopeless passion for him is not a flaw in her splendid character: She is forced by Juno and Venus to become his lover, a role that she cannot play for long because fate wills otherwise. Her decision to commit suicide gives her a tragic stature.
Diomedes dy -oh- mee -deez A Greek hero of the Trojan War. In Book XI, he refuses, via a messenger, Turnus's request to fight against the Trojans and their allies. Euryalus yu- ry -uh-lus A young Trojan warrior and the inseparable companion of Nisus, in Book IX, he is slain by the Rutulians while attempting to inform Aeneas of Turnus's attack on the Trojan camp. Evander ee- van -duhr Pallanteum's king and Pallas's father, he allies himself with Aeneas, who visits him in his city, built on the site of the future Rome.
Related to Aeneas through their common descent from Atlas, Evander is depicted as a benevolent ruler who favors the Trojans's mission. Hector's ghost appears to Aeneas in Book II on the night Troy is invaded by the Greeks and warns the Trojan prince to flee the stricken city. He and his two sons are slain by two giant sea serpents sent by the goddess Minerva.
Latinus luh- tee -nus Because the civilization of Rome was supposed to have arisen from the cooperation of the Latin natives with the Trojan newcomers, Virgil found it appropriate to depict the Latin king, Latinus, as a man of moderation and goodwill, ready from the very start to marry his daughter, Lavinia, to Aeneas. Although Latinus is an admirable character, he is rather ineffectual. He has little place in the action after Book VII, in which he makes his futile bid for peace after having experienced supernatural portents that dispose him in favor of the Trojans.
In Book XI, when it appears certain that the Trojans will win, he is again eager to make peace with them, and his terms are generous. Lavinia luh- vihn -ee-uh This sole surviving child of Latinus and Amata is probably the most passive and one-dimensional character in the Aeneid , even more so than Creusa, Aeneas's first wife. Destined to become Aeneas's second wife, Lavinia has no will of her own, no personal expression.
In Book XI, she is designated as the prize that will be awarded either to Aeneas or to Turnus, depending on who wins their personal battle. Mezentius muh- zihn -tee-us The former king of the Etruscans, he was deposed by his own subjects because of his cruelty toward them and becomes Turnus's ally.
Virgil portrays him as a complex character: Villain though he is, he is devoted to his son, Lausus, who is slain by Aeneas while defending his father. Mezentius's attempt to avenge his son's death by killing Aeneas endows him with a tragic nobility. Nisus ny -sus A Trojan warrior and Euryalus's inseparable companion. In Book IX, he is slain while trying to rescue his friend from Rutulian troops, who waylay the two young Trojans as they are crossing enemy territory with a message for Aeneas.
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