Turnus. Turnus was the legendary King of the Rutuli in Roman history, and the chief antagonist of the hero Aeneas in Virgil's Aeneid.
According to the Aeneid, Turnus is the son of Daunus and the nymph Venilia and is brother of the nymph Juturna. While there is a limited amount of information in historical sources about Turnus, some key details about Turnus and the Rutuli differ significantly from the account in the Aeneid.
The only source predating the Aeneid is Marcus Portius Cato's Origines. Turnus is also mentioned by Livy in his Ab Urbe Condita and by Dionysius of Halicarnassus in his, both of which come later than the Aeneid.
In all of these historical sources, Turnus' heritage is unclear. Dionysius calls him Tyrrhenus, which means Etruscan, while other sources suggest a Greek ancestry.
In all of these sources, Turnus and his Rutulians are settled in Italy prior to the arrival of the Trojans and are involved in the clash between the Latins and the Trojans, but there is a great deal of discrepancy in details. It appears that Virgil drew on a variety of historical sources for the background of Turnus in the Aeneid. Prior to Aeneas' arrival in Italy, Turnus was the primary potential suitor of Lavinia, the only daughter of Latinus, King of the Latin people. Upon Aeneas' arrival, however, Lavinia is promised to the Trojan prince. Juno, determined to prolong the suffering of the Trojans
According to the Aeneid, Turnus is the son of Daunus and the nymph Venilia and is brother of the nymph Juturna. While there is a limited amount of information in historical sources about Turnus, some key details about Turnus and the Rutuli differ significantly from the account in the Aeneid.
The only source predating the Aeneid is Marcus Portius Cato's Origines. Turnus is also mentioned by Livy in his Ab Urbe Condita and by Dionysius of Halicarnassus in his, both of which come later than the Aeneid.
In all of these historical sources, Turnus' heritage is unclear. Dionysius calls him Tyrrhenus, which means Etruscan, while other sources suggest a Greek ancestry.
In all of these sources, Turnus and his Rutulians are settled in Italy prior to the arrival of the Trojans and are involved in the clash between the Latins and the Trojans, but there is a great deal of discrepancy in details. It appears that Virgil drew on a variety of historical sources for the background of Turnus in the Aeneid. Prior to Aeneas' arrival in Italy, Turnus was the primary potential suitor of Lavinia, the only daughter of Latinus, King of the Latin people. Upon Aeneas' arrival, however, Lavinia is promised to the Trojan prince. Juno, determined to prolong the suffering of the Trojans
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