As the battle between Trojans and Latins rages on, Mezentius, the Etruscan King who has been expelled for his cruelty and taken refuge with Turnus, comes face to face with Aeneas and is wounded by him. Mezentius’s son, Lausus, intervenes. Mezentius is saved, but Lausus, fighting on in spite of Aeneas’s warnings, is killed. On learning this, Mezentius returns to the battle, determined to join his son in death. As Book 10 of the Aeneid closes, he achieves his aim: as this extract begins, he exchanges final words with Aeneas and gives battle. The English is from John Dryden’s translation.
See the illustrated blog post here.
To follow the story of Aeneas in sequence, use this link to the full Pantheon Poets selection of extracts from the Aeneid; see the next episode here.
To listen, press play: