When the victory of the Trojans is certain, Juno is reconciled with Jupiter and obtains his agreement that there will remain no trace of the Trojan name in the Latin people. The nymph Juturna, again as a result of Juno's meddling, causes the brief truce to fail, and the battle begins once again. In a huge cavalry engagement another Latin hero perishes - the virgin warrior Camilla.īook XII Wearied by so many failures to gain a decisive victory, Turnus decides to face Aeneas in single combat.
Aeneas' peace offerings to Turnus yield no result, and the Rutulian prince once again joins in battle against the Trojans. In exchange Aeneas kills Mezentius, Turnus' strongest ally.īook XI After his first victory, Aeneas mourns the death of Pallas. However Turnus kills the young Pallas, Aeneas' ally and protege, in single combat and strips him of his sword belt, which he wears as a reminder of his victory. The courageous nocturnal attack on the Latin camp, which causes the deaths of Nisus and Euryalus, yields no results.īook X Aeneas returns with his allies at the eleventh hour, bursts in on the fighting and tips the balance of the war. The divine aid for Aeneas culminates in the gift of a set of armor made by Vulcan, the shield of which is decorated with scenes from future Roman history.īook IX During Aeneas' absence the Trojan camp finds itself in a critical situation in the war against Turnus, who obtains a partial victory. Along with Evander's son, Pallas, Aeneas proceeds to secure a far more powerful ally : the Etruscan coalition that has risen up against Mezentius, the cruel tyrant of Caere, now expelled, who was an ally of Turnus. Here, in the place where the foundations of Rome will stand, he finds the support of Evander, the king of a small nation of Arcadians. A powerful coalition of Latin peoples marches on the Trojan camp, whilst Lavinia is cast as a new Helen, caught at the centre of the conflict.īook VIII : Aeneas finds himself in difficulties, and upon divine advice sails up the Tiber with a small band of men. With the first incident the pact is broken, and the dynastic marriage that has been arranged between Aeneas and Lavinia, Latinus' daughter, is called off. However Juno sends Allecto, the demon of discord, against the pact assailed by Allecto, Latinus' wife Amata and the Rutulian prince Turnus, who was betrothed to Latinus' daughter, stir up a war between the two peoples. He proceeds to make a pact with king Latinus, to guarantee the safe and peaceful future of both peoples. The world of the dead also contains the heroes of the future, and Virgil describes the leaders who will make Roman history.īook VII : Uplifted by this vision and the advice of his father, Aeneas disembarks at the mouth of the Tiber, and, on the basis of the signs that have been foretold, recognises this as the promised land. There he meets various people from his past : Deiphobus, who died at Troy, Dido, who committed suicide because of her love for him, the ill-starred pilot Palinurus, and his father Anchises, who reveals to him the distant future. Most of the book is taken up describing the funeral games held in honour of Anchises.īook VI : The Trojans arrive at Cumae, in Campania, where Aeneas is obliged to consult the Sibyl who instructs him to gain access to the Underworld, the realm of the dead. The Carthaginian queen, abandoned by Aeneas who must follow the course intended by fate, kills herself, cursing Aeneas and prophesying eternal hatred between Carthage and the descendants of the Trojans.(Below : Dido and Aeneas ride out to hunt, 4th century A.D.)īook V : The Trojans make a stop in Sicily. After describing several miraculous happenings, Aeneas finishes his account with the death of his aged father Anchises.īook IV : The tragic story of Dido's love for Aeneas.
Having left the Troad the Trojans realise, after various uncertainties and problems, that a new country awaits them in the west. However he has lost his wife, Creusa.Īeneas' account continues in Book III. (Right : Scene from Vat.Lat.3867 : The Tempest)īook II contains Aeneas' account : during the destruction of Troy, aided by divine protection, he had succeeded in fleeing alone with his aged father, Anchises, his little son, and the penates (his household gods and the symbol of a race's continuity). Dido is also an exile, and responds sympathetically to Aeneas' plight, asking him to tell his story. Aided by Venus, his mother, Aeneas receives a warm welcome from the queen of the city, Dido. Book I : Juno is unable to forget her hatred towards the remnant of the Trojan people, and a storm, arranged by the goddess, shatters Aeneas' ship as he escapes from the fallen city, and compels him to put ashore in Africa, near Carthage.
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