The Aeneid Book IX Analysis

Book IX Summary Juno sends Iris down to Turnus to tell him that Aeneas is away Turnus and his men attack the Trojan camp Turnus sets fire to the Trojan ships The ships sink themselves and escape from fire because they were forged of sacred wood Turnus attacks again until nightfall

Book IX Summary Continued Nisus and Euryalus volunteer to go out and find Aeneas and leave with Ascanius’s blessing The two friends ransack the Rutilian camp but are discovered and killed Turnus attacks and gets through to the Trojan camp and fights off many Trojans inside before jumping into the river and making an escape

The Relationship between Nisus and Euryalus Some scholars speculate that their relationship was more than just friendship but some don’t care to delve too deep into the subject Vergil does not go into this much detail with tragedy between friends in any other characters in the books, because both end up dying, and Nisus while trying to take fall for Euryalus

Nisus and Euryalus

Turnus as fire His helmet was gold with a red triple plume which exhaled Aetnean fire His temperament is described as a cauldron boiling over with a fire beneath it

Metaphors for Turnus A wolf on the prowl A preying bird with talons, or a wolf Lightning A tiger A savage lion

Parallels between this war and the war in Troy Turnus compares himself to Achilles The Trojans are defending their camp with a wall Turnus is able to infiltrate the camp like the Greeks did Turnus makes several references to how they will breach the walls faster than the Greeks