In the
build up to and the actual death of Turnus, Virgil uses three strategies to
convey and enhance this series of events. These strategies include nature
similes, heavy allusions to the Homeric epics, and an alternation between
scenes of fighting and battle to scenes of the duel and a spectator audience.
Some Allusions to Homeric Epics:
·
King Latinus and Queen Amata try to convince
Turnus not to fight Aeneas just like King Priam and Hecuba attempt to convince
Hector not to fight Achilles in the Iliad.
·
The proposed fight between Aeneas and Turnus to
decide who will have Lavinia and thus end the war also mirrors the proposed
duel between Menelaus and Paris for the hand of Helen in the Iliad.
·
The prophet Tolumnius breaks of the treaty and
the duel by throwing a spear at the Trojans and setting off another battle.
This is similar to the scene in the Iliad where Pandarus initiated more
fighting after the duel between Menelaus and Paris by shooting an arrow at the
Greeks, specifically Menelaus. In both situations, the men were driven by the
gods either indirectly or directly to do this.
Structure:
·
It begins with battle as Turnus rushes to the
burning city where he gives his proposal for the the war and Lavinia’s hand to
be decided by a duel.
·
The scene switches to a spectator event as armed
men drop their battle gear and the people within the city go to rooftops, city
gates, and other areas they can find a seat with a view.
·
After
Juturna riles up the Latin men and Tolumnius casts the first spear, battle erupts
again and evolve into a full on battle where both Turnus and Aeneas have
moments of Aristae.
·
After seeing the destruction occurring within
the city, Turnus decides to honor the treaty and agrees to fight. Once again
all the men drop their weapons, and everyone tries to find a seat to watch the
event.
The Final Duel:
·
The plain is cleared and prepared for the duel
as Aeneas and Turnus charge at each other.
Two
bulls rush at each other and tangle in hostile encounter,
Head
against head, and their herdsmen, scared at the sight run for cover… (12.721-22)
·
Jupiter holds a scale with the fates of Turnus
and Aeneas to determine the winner of the duel.
·
Turnus has a chance at Aeneas but his sword
breaks upon impact of Aeneas’ godlike armour. Turnus realizes he has taken the
sword of his charioteer Metiscus instead of his ancestral one.
·
Turnus flees which leads to a chasing seen that
mirrored the one between Achilles and Hector in the Iliad.
·
Virgil compares Aeneas to “a hunting dog with a stag
he’s got trapped at a river or fenced in by the huntsman’s scarecrows feathered
in Punic crimson.” (12.749-51)
·
The two pass around the city five times, just as
Hector and Achilles circled Troy several times.
·
They eventually pass by an olive branch where
garments were hung as gifts for the gods. This is similar to the sacred streams
where the women of Troy did laundry that Achilles and Hector pass by in the
Iliad.
·
Juturna retrieves Turnus’ sword and Venus
retrieves Aeneas’ spear which leads to conversation between Jupiter and Juno
about Juno’s interference in these matters.
·
After Juno concedes to not intervene anymore,
Jupiter sends one of the monster Dirae as a message to Juturna for her to stop interfering
as well.
·
Aeneas continues to taunt Turnus who is now
alone, which leads him to lift a massive stone and hurl it at Aeneas despite it
missing completely. This is similar to the Cyclops hurling massive stones at a
taunting Odysseus in the Odyssey.
·
Eventually Aeneas is able to send his spear
through Turnus’s leg and wound him.
·
Turnus begs for his body to be returned to his
family just as Hector pleaded to Achilles.
·
Just as Aeneas is about to show some mercy, he
sees Pallas’ belt on Turnus. Anger and revenge take back over and he kills
Turnus.
·
The book ends without revealing what becomes of
the body of Turnus.
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