concepts, values and behaviour of a Greek and Roman hero

• is intent on performing actions that will gain him a place in the repertoire of the bards, and so earn him fame and immortality (kleos)
• must be mortal, but high born
• is helped (or hindered) by the gods
• fights because it is an obligation to his family, ancestors and community
• pursues gifts as a mark of honour (time)
• looks impressive
• is ferocious when he fights
• shows emotion
• is skilled with words
• is often showed putting on his armour before going to battle
• Turnus displays many characteristics of the Homeric hero
• he is presented as the second Achilles that the Sibyl predicted (bk 6)
• T: has obligations as a leader
• T: burns with fury against his enemy
• T: is bold and brave in his fighting
• T: has divine protection
• T: is impressive in his armour
• T: has horses with 'super-equine' powers
• T: is proud and has a fear of shame
• T: is likened in similes to fierce animals
• T: is young
• he is also a Hector figure
• Hector: defends his homeland against invaders
• Hector: fights for Lavinia and Amata, as Hector fights to protect his wife and mother
• Hector: takes on the role of protector for a king who is too old to fight
• Nisus and Euryalus relate to Achilles and Patroclus in their close bond of friendship and thirst for glory
• Nisus' motivation for setting out on the night expedition is not so much to get a message to Aeneas, as to prove himself
• his friend is 'overcome, pierced to the heart with a great love of glory' and declares 'I have here a heart that despises the light, that would gladly spend life to buy the honour you are striving for'
• Ascanius offers rewards of silver cups, tripods and a gold mixing bowl
• Ascanius promises, in his father's name, 'twelve chosen matrons and twelve prisoners of war', satisfying the Homeric hero's need for time
• when the 2 set out through the enemy camp, thoughts of Aeneas fade
• Nisus is like a lion with 'jaws dripping with blood'
• Euryalus is 'in a blazing fury' and 'hot for blood'
• Virgil describes the soldiers they slaughter
• one is propped up on a pile of rugs, his chest heaving
• another is in a drunken stupor, another hides in panic
• when Euryalus is captured, Nisus throws himself at his captor in a vain attempt to save his friend
• this is a brave gesture, and a heroic one, which will gain him the glory and fame craved for by the HH
• it is a selfish act as well
• Nisus has chosen glory over the mission of summoning help from Aeneas