e as their war standards on the next
day. It is thus that Euryalus' mother becomes aware of the death of
her son, whom she mourns in touching terms.
"Was it this, ah me,
I followed over land and sea?
O slay me, Rutules! if ye know
A mother's love, on me bestow
The tempest of your spears!
Or thou, great Thunderer, pity take,
And whelm me 'neath the Stygian lake,
Since otherwise I may not break
This life of bitter tears!"
To recount all the deeds of valor performed on this day would require
much space, but, although Mars inspires the party of Aeneas with great
courage, it is evidently on the verge of defeat when Jupiter orders
Turnus to withdraw.
_Book X._ Having convoked his Olympian council, Jupiter forbids the
gods to interfere on either side, and decrees that the present quarrel
shall be settled without divine aid. Hearing this, Venus vehemently
protests that, having promised her son should found a new realm in
Italy, he is bound to protect him, while Juno argues with equal force
that the Trojans should be further punished for kidnapping Helen.
Silencing both goddesses, Jupiter reiterates his orders and dissolves
the assembly.
The scene now changes back to earth, where the Trojans, closely hemmed
in by foes, long for Aeneas' return. He, on his way back, encounters
the sea-nymphs, who explain they were once his ships and bid him
hasten and rescue his son. Thus admonished, Aeneas hurries back, to
take part in a battle where many heroic deeds are performed, and where
Turnus, Mezentius, and Lausus prove bravest on the enemy's side,
although they find their match in Aeneas, Pallas, and Iulus. Among the
brilliant duels fought, mention must be made of one between Pallas and
Turnus, where notwithstanding his courage the Trojan prince succumbs.
After stripping his companion of his armor, Turnus abandons his corpse
to his friends, who mourn to think that he lost his life while helping
them. Vowing to avenge him, Aeneas next attacks his foe with such fury
that it seems as if Turnus' last day has come, but Juno pleads so
eloquently in his behalf, that, although Fate has decreed he shall
perish, she grants him brief respite.
To preserve Turnus from the deadly blows of the real Aeneas, Juno
causes him to pursue a phantom foe on board a ship, whose moorings she
loosens, thus setting him adrift upon the Tiber. Perceiving only then
how he has been tricked, Turnus threatens to slay himself, bu
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