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Summarizing Virgil's Aeneid- Book 11

 

Book 11 takes us one step closer to the final battle between Turnus and Aeneas. Full of speeches and action sequences, it makes a great addition to the work as a whole.

Book 11 begins with scenes of mourning. Many men were lost on both sides during the battle detailed in Book 10. Aeneas gives a moving speech over the body of Pallas and prepares him to be transported back to his father, Evander. Following this emotional send-off, envoys from Latium arrive. They are there to request a truce in order to properly bury their fallen men. Aeneas agrees to the truce, and tells them he would like the truce to last forever if only Turnus would allow it. Some of the groups from Latium agree and we get a glimpse into their dissatisfaction with Turnus, particularly from a man named Drances.

After the truce is negotiated, the narrative cuts to Evander, who, upon receiving Pallas’ body, laments terribly and gives a great speech about his misery at outliving his own son. Following this very moving scene, there is an account of the funeral pyres constructed by Aeneas, as well as those built by their opposition.

We are then brought to Latinus, who, as you’ll recall from Book 7, is a great king, and the father of Lavinia, who Turnus was supposed to marry before the arrival of Aeneas changed that. He is upset by the results of the battle and has a great meeting with the military leaders who are now present in the city. They had sent an envoy to Diomedes, a Greek who was now in Italy building his own city, to ask for help. When Diomedes learned the Latins were facing Aeneas, he refused, saying Troy would have won if there had been more fighters like Aeneas.

Now that they won’t have more allies coming, some of the Latins, led by Drances, plead with Turnus to cease fighting and to make peace with Aeneas. Turnus is not impressed. He proceeds to mock Drances and declares that he will not back down from the battle ahead. 

While the Latins are busy arguing, Aeneas has gathered his men and begins marching to the city. This time around, he is bringing the fight to the Latins. The Latins receive news of Aeneas’ approach and the city is thrown into a panic. Turnus gets to work organizing everyone and making preparations to reinforce the walls. Latinus is overwhelmed with regret for not welcoming Aeneas into his city from the beginning. The women, Lavinia included, go to the Temple of Pallas (in this case Pallas refers to Minerva, not the son of Evander) to pray for divine aid.

Turnus, meanswhile, dons his armor and weapons and rides out of the gate, his mind focused on facing the enemy. He is approached by Camilla, the warrior queen, who is joined by her army of Volscians. She asks Turnus to let her face Aeneas’ army while Turnus stays behind to defend the city. Turnus agrees and gives her command of the Latin army. Turnus then goes to a spot in the woods and hides in a place where he can view the battlefield. 

While this is happening, the goddess Diana calls one of her attendants to her. Diana loves Camilla, who has been devoted to her since infancy. Diana then recounts the story of Camilla’s father, who was fleeing and had to cross a river. Not wanting to accidentally drown his precious daughter while swimming across the river, he bound her to the spear, and, after praying to Diana, hurled it across the river before swimming across himself. Diana protected Camilla in her flight across the river and she and her father lived among shepherds. While she grew, Camilla learned to fight and became a great leader, and was devoted to Diana. Because of this, Diana is saddened to see Camilla going into a battle against Aeneas, so she commands her attendant Opis to watch Camilla, and if she falls in battle, to inflict the same fate on whoever kills her. She further declares that anyone who harms Camilla will in turn be harmed in a like manner. 

The Trojans arrive on the field and are met by Camilla and the Latin army. The battle begins. The account of this battle focuses on Camilla and all the great feats she accomplishes over the course of the fighting. Eventually, she is tracked down by a man called Arruns. Arruns watches Camilla and sees an opening. He prays to Apollo to guide his weapon and allow him to return to his fatherland, and hurls his spear. Apollo partially answers his prayer. The spear will kill Camilla, but Arruns will not return to his fatherland. Camilla falls. She uses her last words to send those close to her to ask Turnus to take her place in defense of the city. 

Opis watches this all unfold and keeps her promise to Diana. She finds a good position from which to aim and uses a bow and arrow of Diana to pierce Arruns. He succumbs to his wounds and is forgotten by his comrades. Opis then returns to Olympus.

Camilla’s troops soon retreat, followed by the other Latins. None of them are able to hold back the Trojans. They all return to the city, but the Trojans follow them closely and continue slaughtering them. Some manage to get inside the walls, but many Trojans make it inside as well. The city is then in chaos with fighting happening both inside and out. Turnus receives the news of Camilla’s demise and abandons his position where he had been hoping to ambush any Trojans who made it through. He reaches the plain almost at the same time as Aeneas himself. They both move toward the city, but don’t begin fighting. The sun is setting so Aeneas makes camp for the night and Turnus works to strengthen the walls. 

Book 11 ends with Aeneas gaining the upper hand. It is not a happy victory, however. Virgil uses his skill in writing to build out Camilla as a great character who has been drawn into this pointless fight. Her death near the end of the book sets such a somber mood, even though the Trojans are starting to achieve victory, it isn’t a moment of celebration for the reader, just another instance of feeling the impact of this meaningless battle orchestrated by goddesses interfering too much in the lives of mortals. Even though Camilla is fighting with Turnus, her loss does not feel like a great victory, just another life needlessly thrown away over the course of a battle that didn’t need to happen. 



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