Editing Turnus (section)

==Virgil's ''Aeneid''==

Prior to Aeneas' arrival in Italy, Turnus was the primary potential suitor of [[Lavinia]], the only daughter of [[Latinus]], King of the Latin people. Upon Aeneas' arrival, however, Lavinia is promised to Trojan prince. [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]], determined to prolong the suffering of the Trojans, prompts Turnus to demand a war with the new arrivals. King Latinus is greatly displeased with Turnus, but steps down and allows the war to commence.

During the War between the Latins and the Trojans (along with several other Trojan allies, including King [[Evander of Pallene|Evander]]'s [[Arcadia (ancient region)|Arcadians]]), Turnus proves himself to be brave but hot-headed. In Book IX, he nearly takes the fortress of the Trojans after defeating many opponents, but soon gets into trouble and is only saved from death by Juno.

In Book X, Turnus slays the young prince [[Pallas (son of Evander)|Pallas]], the son of Evander. As he gloats over the killing, he takes as a spoil of war Pallas' sword belt and puts it on. Enraged, Aeneas seeks out Turnus with full intent of killing him. Virgil marks the death of Pallas by mentioning the inevitable downfall of Turnus. To prevent his death at the hands of Aeneas, Juno conjures a ghost apparition of Aeneas, luring Turnus onto a ship and to safety he did not choose himself. Turnus, in despair, questions his worth and even contemplating suicide.

In Book XII, Aeneas and Turnus duel to the death. Turnus strikes Aeneas with his sword, but it breaks: in his haste to get to battle, Turnus had grabbed his charioteer's sword, which proved too brittle for Aeneas's new Vulcan-made armor.<ref name=west>{{cite journal |title=The Deaths of Hector and Turnus |first=David |last=West |journal=Greece & Rome |year=1974 |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=21-31 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/642548}}</ref> Aeneas throws his spear, but misses, and it gets stuck in a sacred olive tree.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Tree Violation and Ambivalence in Virgil|first=Richard F. |last=Thomas |journal=[[Transactions of the American Philological Association]] |year=1988 |volume=118 |pages=261-273 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/284171}}</ref> Aeneas, in an [[Iliad]]-esque chase sequence (Aeneas pursues Turnus as Achilles chased Hector<ref name=west/>), runs after Turnus until with divine help Turnus gets his sword back (by way of his sister [[Juturna]], who helped by Juno had taken the guise of his charioteer) and Aeneas his spear (helped by Venus). Turnus tries to lift a rock to throw at Aeneas but finds his strength failing. Aenes then throws his spear, wounding Turnus in the thigh. Turnus begs Aeneas either to spare him or give his body back to his people. Aeneas considers but upon seeing the belt of Pallas on Turnus, he is consumed by rage and kills Turnus.<ref name=west/> The last line of the poem describes Turnus' unhappy passage into the Underworld.

Turnus' supporters include: his sister and minor river/fountain deity, Juturna; Latinus's wife, [[Amata]]; the deposed king of the [[Etruscans]], [[Mezentius]]; and Queen [[Camilla (mythology)|Camilla]] of the [[Volsci]], allies in Turnus' fight against Aeneas, the Trojans, and their allies.