Book 11

• What does Aeneas do at the start of Book 11?

  Buries Pallas + his fallen comrades
• What does Aeneas put on the funeral pyre at the start of Book 11?

  • Mezentius' armour
  • 2 gold + purple robes that Dido made
  • 'Spoils' from Laurentine fields of battle
  • Enemies' weapons + horses
  • Captives (human sacrifices)
• What is Aeneas doing while speaking to his men about Pallas at the start of Book 11?

  Weeping
• Who else is at the funeral procession?

  Trojan women with unbound hair mourning + beating their breasts while crying
• Why does Aeneas feel guilty in Book 11? Whom towards?

  • He feels responsible for Pallas' death -> promised to keep him safe
  • Pallas + Evander
• What simile is used to describe Pallas' murder by Turnus?

  • Pallas = "like a flower cut by the thumbnail of a young girl, a soft violet or drooping lily, still with its sheen and its shape, though Mother Earth no longer feeds it and gives it strength"
  • Turnus = the young girl -> makes Pallas' death seem insignificant/inconvenient to Turnus since he is so experienced as a fighter
• Why is the fact that there are human sacrifices on Pallas' funeral pyre significant?

  Romans didn't sacrifice humans for religious reasons -> appears as an act of furor rather than pietas (human sacrifice = Greek concept)
• What does Aeneas command the army leaders to do at the funeral procession in Book 11?

  Carry tree trunks draped with enemy weapons inscribed with their 'hated names'
• What is a significant parallel between the Iliad and the Aeneid at the start of Book 11?

  • Pallas' horse (Aethon) strips of its equipment + cries
  • Parallel with Xanthus + Balius (Achilles' immortal horses) who cry + cover themselves in dirt when Patroclus dies
  • Similarly, "a great phalanx of mourners followed" in Aeneid vs compulsory funeral games held by Achilles that no one wanted to attend
• Who comes to the Trojan camp at the start of Book 11 and why? What are they holding and why?

  • Latin envoys
  • They hold olive branches wreathed in wool
  • Asking for a truce
• How does Aeneas respond to the Latin envoys' truce proposition?

  • He grants the truce
  • He tells them: "I do not wage war with your people" -> blames the king + Turnus for not facing him in war so it could end
• Which Latin envoy respects Aeneas greatly?

  Drances -> "O Trojan great in fame, and greater in arms"
• How can Drances' words to Aeneas be seen as propaganda?

  "We shall delight to raise the massive walls Fate has decreed for you and lift up the massive stones of Troy on our shoulders!"

  • More on the foundation of Rome being 'decreed' + fated to Aeneas = therefore Augustus is rightfully the emperor of Rome since he is a 'descendant' of Aeneas
• What does Aeneas say about Pallas that parallels other characters in the Aeneid? Who are they?

  • "A father should not outlive his son"
  • Aeneas + Iulus
  • Mezentius + Lausus