Aeneid, Book 10
Vergil, Aeneid X
The council of the gods, Aeneas' return with Etruscan allies, Pallas killed by Turnus, and Aeneas' revenge on Lausus and Mezentius. 36 sections, 385 sentences, each with an English translation.
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Book 10 of the Aeneid, Vergil's epic of Rome's Trojan origins (29–19 BC), is the bloodiest book of the poem and the turning point of the war in Italy. It opens with a council on Olympus and brings Aeneas back to the battlefield he left in Book 8.
Jupiter calls the gods together; Venus and Juno argue their cases, and Jupiter declares that he will favour neither side and that the fates will find their way. Aeneas sails back with the Etruscan leader Tarchon, and the poet lists the Etruscan captains and their ships. The nymphs who were once the Trojan fleet meet Aeneas at sea and warn him of the siege. On the shore the fighting is locked until young Pallas rallies his Arcadians; then Turnus seeks him out, kills him, and strips off his sword-belt, a spoil the poet warns he will regret. Aeneas, raging, cuts his way through the enemy, taking prisoners for sacrifice and refusing mercy. Juno is allowed to save Turnus for a time by luring him on board a ship after a phantom Aeneas. The Etruscan exile Mezentius takes his place in the battle; when Aeneas wounds him, his son Lausus steps in to defend him and is killed, and Aeneas, moved, pities the boy. Mezentius returns on horseback to face Aeneas and dies.
The book is long and violent, but it raises the questions that dominate the end of the poem: the cost of war, and what anger does to Aeneas. The deaths of Pallas and Lausus are its most celebrated passages.
Contents
- Aen. 10.1–15Jupiter summons the godsMeanwhile the house of all-powerful Olympus is thrown open, and the father of gods and king of men calls a…
- Aen. 10.16–61Venus pleads for the TrojansJupiter said this in few words;
- Aen. 10.62–95Juno's angry replyof Ilium, father, grant to the Teucrians.'
- Aen. 10.96–117Jupiter's impartial decreeWith such words Juno pleaded, and all the heaven-dwellers murmured in varied assent, as when the first gusts,…
- Aen. 10.118–145The Trojan camp under siegeMeanwhile the Rutulians press on round all the gates, to lay men low in slaughter and ring the walls with…
- Aen. 10.146–162Aeneas sails with TarchonThey had joined the contests of harsh war among themselves: Aeneas was cutting through the waves at midnight.
- Aen. 10.163–165Invocation to the MusesNow throw open Helicon, goddesses, and raise your songs: what band meanwhile accompanies Aeneas from the…
- Aen. 10.166–184The Etruscan captainsMassicus leads, cutting the waters in the bronze-clad Tiger: under him are a thousand young men, who left the…
- Aen. 10.185–197Cinyras, Cupavo and CycnusI would not pass you by, Cinyras, bravest leader of the Ligurians in war, nor you, Cupavo, attended by few,…
- Aen. 10.198–214Ocnus, Aulestes and the fleetOcnus too stirs up a column from his ancestral shores, son of prophetic Manto and the Tuscan river, who gave…
- Aen. 10.215–259The ship-nymphs meet AeneasAnd now day had withdrawn from the sky, and kindly Phoebe was striking mid-Olympus with her night-wandering…
- Aen. 10.260–275Aeneas raises his shieldAnd now he has the Teucrians and his own camp in sight, standing on the high stern;
- Aen. 10.276–286Turnus rallies his menYet bold Turnus' confidence did not fail him, to seize the shore first and drive the newcomers from the land.
- Aen. 10.287–307The landing on the beachMeanwhile Aeneas lands his comrades from the high sterns by gangways.
- Aen. 10.308–344Aeneas begins the slaughterNor does sluggish delay hold Turnus back, but he fiercely sweeps his whole line against the Teucrians and…
- Aen. 10.345–361Deadlock on the shoreHere Clausus from Cures comes, trusting in his youthful body, and strikes Dryops from a distance with his…
- Aen. 10.362–379Pallas rallies the ArcadiansBut in another part, where a torrent had driven rolling rocks far and wide and bushes torn from its banks,…
- Aen. 10.380–398Pallas' first killsFirst to meet him, drawn by unkind fates, is Lagus.
- Aen. 10.399–425Pallas and HalaesusThen Pallas pierces Rhoeteus as he flees past in his two-horse chariot.
- Aen. 10.426–438Lausus checks the ArcadiansBut Lausus, a great part of the war, does not let the ranks be terrified by such slaughter of a hero: first…
- Aen. 10.439–478Turnus confronts PallasMeanwhile his kindly sister warns Turnus to take Lausus' place, and he cuts through the middle of the column…
- Aen. 10.479–509Turnus and the sword-beltThen Turnus, long poising the oak shaft tipped with sharp iron, hurls it at Pallas and speaks thus: 'See…
- Aen. 10.510–542Aeneas rages for revengeAnd now not rumour of so great a disaster but a surer messenger flies to Aeneas: that his men are within a…
- Aen. 10.543–574Aeneas sweeps the fieldCaeculus, born of Vulcan's stock, and Umbro, coming from the Marsian mountains, renew the battle lines: the…
- Aen. 10.575–605Lucagus and LigerMeanwhile Lucagus drives into the midst with his pair of white horses, and his brother Liger;
- Aen. 10.606–632Juno begs for TurnusMeanwhile Jupiter, unprompted, addresses Juno: 'O my sister and at the same time my dearest wife, it is…
- Aen. 10.633–652Juno's phantom of AeneasWhen she had uttered these words, she straightway launched herself from high heaven, driving a storm through…
- Aen. 10.653–688Turnus carried out to seaBy chance a ship stood moored to a ledge of high rock, with ladders let down and gangway ready, in which King…
- Aen. 10.689–718Mezentius enters the battleBut meanwhile, at Jupiter's prompting, fiery Mezentius takes up the fight and attacks the exulting Teucrians.
- Aen. 10.719–746Mezentius, Acron and OrodesAcron had come from the ancient territory of Corythus, a Greek, leaving his marriage unfulfilled as an exile.
- Aen. 10.747–754Slaughter on both sidesCaedicus cuts down Alcathous, Sacrator Hydaspes, Rapo Parthenius and Orses, very hard of strength, Messapus…
- Aen. 10.755–768Mezentius strides like OrionNow heavy Mars was evening out the grief and the deaths on both sides: victors and vanquished alike were…
- Aen. 10.769–790Aeneas faces MezentiusAeneas, having spotted him in the long column, prepares to go and meet him.
- Aen. 10.791–832Lausus defends his fatherHere the fate of your harsh death and your noble deeds, if antiquity will lend any belief to so great an act,…
- Aen. 10.833–872Mezentius by the TiberMeanwhile the father, by the water of the river Tiber, was staunching his wounds with water and resting his…
- Aen. 10.873–908The final duel with MezentiusAnd here he called on Aeneas three times with a loud voice.