Study Questions
1. Who tries to discourage Turnus from fighting?

2. What sign does Juturna make appear in the sky?

3. How do Aeneas’ and Turnus’ responses to the disintegration of the truce differ?

4. What simile is used to describe Turnus as he races around in his chariot?

5. What simile describes Aeneas as he leads his troops back on the field?

6. What sign tells Turnus that his plans in Laurentum are all to come to nothing?

7. What other character dies exactly as Turnus dies (“with a moan...fled to shades below”)?

8. What animal simile is used for both Turnus and Aeneas?

9. Why does Juturna curse her status as an immortal?

10. Who does Lavinia say she wants to win?

Answers
1. Both Latinus and Amata try to make Turnus change his mind.

2. She makes an eagle, who has just caught a swan, drop the swan after a flock of birds attacks it.

3. Aeneas tries to restrain his men, while Turnus sees the fighting as an opportunity for more fighting.

4. He is like Mars racing along the Hebrus, accompanied by Fear, Anger, and Stratagem.

5. He is like an approaching storm that makes the farmers fear for their crops.

6. Watching the city burning from the field, Turnus sees a tower he had built engulfed in flames.

7. Camilla’s death scene uses exactly the same language.

8. They are likened to two bulls fighting for control of a herd. The bull simile is also used earlier in the book to describe Turnus.

9. Juturna is unhappy at facing life without her brother and wishes she could accompany him into the underworld.

10. Lavinia says nothing and expresses no opinions throughout the book.