Turnus/Aeneas essay question
Turnus
- Focus on Turnus – builds him into a worthy opponent for Aeneas, in fighting prowess
as well as character
- Not presented as a villain
- Book 12 begins w attention on Turnus – everything down to him, only one left to
defend the city – his name is the first word of book 12
- Emphasis on Turnus rejecting pleas of his family in beginning scene
- Turnus compared to a lion 12.9, similarly to Achilles
- Virgil wants to give time to Turnus’ point of view – persuasive
- Looks like Hector, his city looks like Troy
- Strong allusions to Homeric texts
- Turnus as a good leader, recognises his responsibilities, also a Roman (shown by his
sister Juturna, had a shrine to her in Rome)
- Romans had to view him as one of their own
- Devotio – suicide the general undertakes for victory, hints that Turnus is willing to do
this, most honourable act of a soldier
- Recognition of his destiny, Dirae – see him change over course of the book, ignorant
to aware?
- He opens and closes book 12 – ends on his death
Aeneas
- Aeneas more prominent in book 12
- Fury at the end of the poem, sort of madness after the death of Pallas in Book 2 –
contrasts previous rationality
- More jaundiced view of him while Turnus is central
- Jibes Turnus makes at Aeneas have some force for the audience, eg 12.14-15 –
desertorem Asiae, deserter of Asia, or 12.52
- Stories that Aeneas escaped Troy because he betrayed his city to the Greeks
- Turnus uses stereotypes of narcissism regarding Eastern people, draws a comparison
to Paris in the Iliad
- Prepared to see the Trojans as in Italy for unjust reasons, as Turnus does
Turnus/Aeneas
- Allusions to Greek tragedy – darkness of the tragedy
- Lot of Aristotle’s principles of anagnorisis, realisation – key moment in tragic plot
- Aeneas resembling Ajax, especially in speaking to his son
- Both characters as heroes – both possess virtuous qualities, respect for the gods, etc
- 697-724, two heroes finally meet – critical moment, both portrayed as massive,
nothing else described but these characters
- Epic = exaggeration
- Whole history of Rome relies on these two men fighting for a bride
- Reference to Ennius, describing Romulus and Remus – comparison between two
pairs of men
Turnus
- Focus on Turnus – builds him into a worthy opponent for Aeneas, in fighting prowess
as well as character
- Not presented as a villain
- Book 12 begins w attention on Turnus – everything down to him, only one left to
defend the city – his name is the first word of book 12
- Emphasis on Turnus rejecting pleas of his family in beginning scene
- Turnus compared to a lion 12.9, similarly to Achilles
- Virgil wants to give time to Turnus’ point of view – persuasive
- Looks like Hector, his city looks like Troy
- Strong allusions to Homeric texts
- Turnus as a good leader, recognises his responsibilities, also a Roman (shown by his
sister Juturna, had a shrine to her in Rome)
- Romans had to view him as one of their own
- Devotio – suicide the general undertakes for victory, hints that Turnus is willing to do
this, most honourable act of a soldier
- Recognition of his destiny, Dirae – see him change over course of the book, ignorant
to aware?
- He opens and closes book 12 – ends on his death
Aeneas
- Aeneas more prominent in book 12
- Fury at the end of the poem, sort of madness after the death of Pallas in Book 2 –
contrasts previous rationality
- More jaundiced view of him while Turnus is central
- Jibes Turnus makes at Aeneas have some force for the audience, eg 12.14-15 –
desertorem Asiae, deserter of Asia, or 12.52
- Stories that Aeneas escaped Troy because he betrayed his city to the Greeks
- Turnus uses stereotypes of narcissism regarding Eastern people, draws a comparison
to Paris in the Iliad
- Prepared to see the Trojans as in Italy for unjust reasons, as Turnus does
Turnus/Aeneas
- Allusions to Greek tragedy – darkness of the tragedy
- Lot of Aristotle’s principles of anagnorisis, realisation – key moment in tragic plot
- Aeneas resembling Ajax, especially in speaking to his son
- Both characters as heroes – both possess virtuous qualities, respect for the gods, etc
- 697-724, two heroes finally meet – critical moment, both portrayed as massive,
nothing else described but these characters
- Epic = exaggeration
- Whole history of Rome relies on these two men fighting for a bride
- Reference to Ennius, describing Romulus and Remus – comparison between two
pairs of men
