FUROR

• mad or irrational behaviour
• the opposite of the civilised and controlled way the ideal Roman should conduct himself
• book 1 - V. uses a simile which features a clash between furor and pietas
• Neptune calming the storm is likened to the way a good man can calm an angry crowd
• the simile shows a force of nature being likened to human behaviour
• suggests that pietas can overcome furor
• furor is used in Jupiter's speech to Venus to describe the ciivl wars that Rome will suffer
• book 4 - furor frequently used to describe Dido
• it is used for her passionate love, and for her anguish and the madness that drives her to suicide
• used for Amata after the visitation from Allection
• of Pygmalion and his killing of Sychaeus for the treasure
• of the madness that makes the Trojans let the horse in and the frenzy of the Sibyl
• rage which drives Homeric heroes to kill
• drives Achilles to avenge Patroclus, to show no remorse for Hector to pay no attention to the civilised practice of allowing then enemy a decent burial
• it drives Turnus and Aeneas too
• Turnus rushes into battle for personal glory
• he is a victim
• Turnus' furor comes through the action of Allecto, who 'threw a burning torch at the warrior' so that 'in a frenzy of rage he called for his armour'
• images of him are of a wild animal, raging torrent or uncontrollable fire
• Mezentius shows similar furor in battle
• similar of hungry wolves reflects the inhuman desperation which inhabits them in their fighting
• a moment of furor overcomes him when he catches sight of Helen
• he wants to kill her, not for the sake of justice but from anger and revenge
• it is only Venus questioning his 'raging passion' that stops him killing her
• he then rushes back into battle, with Creusa throwing herself in front of him, reminding him that it's his duty to protect his household
• he gives way to furor in the death of Pallas
• he 'harvests with the sword' everything before him, bursting with rage and 'flushed with slaughter'
• his cruelty defies all the decent behaviour we could expect of the ancestor of the Romans
• he saves 2 sets of 4 brothers for a human sacrifice to Pallas' shade, kills Magus who is begging for mercy, slaughters a priest of Apollo, and mocks Tarquitus, the son of Faunus
• his furor takes beyond normal cruelty of war into behaviour which transgresses civilised behaviour and is an insult to the gods themselves
• book 12 - shows his furor when Turnus begs as a suppliant for his life, asking him to take pity on his ageing father
• there is every opportunity for Aeneas to show humanity and save Turnus
• there is nothing in fate to prevent it since Turnus has renounced Lavinia
• he sees the sword-belt of Pallas and plunges his sword into Turnus' breast
• could be seen as an act of inhumanity, in killing Turnus, he is doing what Evander begged
• as a leader, he is in an impossible situation
• R. D. Williams suggests that Turnus represents a barbaric and antique way of life which can have no part in the new civilisation
• Rome's mission, according to Anchises, was to 'cast down the proud'
• Augustus states in his res gestae: ' ...as a victor I spared the lives of all citizens who asked for mercy. when foreign peoples could safely be pardoned I preferred to preserve rather than exterminate them'
• Suetonius - after his victory he sent Brutus' head to Rome to be flung at the feet of Caesar's statue - shows more furor in his behaviour