Fond fool! amidst the noise and din
He saw not Turnus rushing in,
But closed him in the embattled hold,
A tiger in a helpless fold.
CONINGTON, AEneid, BOOK IX.
As soon as Pandarus saw what had happened, he hurled a spear with mighty force at the Rutulian king, eager to avenge his brother's death, but Juno turning the weapon aside, it struck into the gate, where it remained fixed. Then Turnus slew Pandarus with a swift stroke of his sword, exclaiming, "Not so shall you escape." The Trojans who witnessed the deed, fled terrified from the spot, and if Turnus at this moment had opened the gate and admitted his Rutulian warriors, that day would have been the last of the war and of the Trojan race.
The Trojans fly in wild dismay,
O, then had Turnus thought
To force the fastenings of the gates
And call within his valiant mates,
The nation and the war that day
Alike to end had brought!
CONINGTON, AEneid, BOOK IX.
But Turnus thought only of slaying his foes who were at hand and so he speedily put many of them to the sword. The Trojan chiefs Mnestheus and Sergestus, as soon as they heard that their people were fleeing before the Rutulian king, hastened up and reproved them in severe words. "Whither do you flee?" cried Mnestheus. "What other fortifications have you but this? Shall one man be permitted to work such destruction in our camp? Are you not ashamed? Have you no regard for your unhappy country, your ancient gods, or your great leaders?"
Touched by these words, and inspired with fresh courage, the Trojans formed themselves into a solid body. Then turning round they made a firm stand against the Rutulian chief, who now began to retreat towards that part of the camp which was bounded by the river. The Trojans advanced upon him with loud shouts, yet the brave king would fain have resisted. As when a troop of hunters press upon a fierce lion, the savage animal, too courageous to fly, yet dares not face the numbers and weapons of his assailants, so Turnus with reluctant steps drew backwards; yet twice again he attacked the Trojans and twice drove them along the walls. At length gathering from all parts of the camp, the Trojans made a united advance and Turnus, no longer able to withstand the assaults of his foes, fled to the river, and plunging in, was soon in the midst of his friends who received him with joyous acclamation.
O'er all his limbs dark sweat-drops break;
No time to breathe; thick pantings shake
His vast and laboring frame.
At length, accoutred as he stood,
Headlong he plunged into the flood.
The yellow flood the charge received,
With buoyant tide his weight upheaved,
And cleansing off the encrusted gore,
Returned him to his friends once more.
CONINGTON, AEneid, BOOK IX.
IX. THE COUNCIL OF THE GODS—RETURN OF AENEAS—BATTLE ON THE SHORE— DEATH OF PALLAS.
Meanwhile the king of heaven who had been watching the conflict on the banks of the Tiber, called a council of the gods to consider whether it would not be well to put an end to the quarrel between Juno and Venus over the fortunes of the Trojans. The divinities assembled in their golden council chamber on Mount Olympus and Jupiter addressed them. "Ye gods," said he, "why do you seek to alter the decrees of heaven? It was my desire that the Italians should not make war upon the men of Troy. Why then have you incited them to arms? The time for conflict between the two races favored by Juno and Venus has not yet come. That time will be hereafter when the Carthaginians shall put forth their efforts to ruin Rome. Then indeed you shall be free to take either side in the contest. For the present cease your quarrels, and let the league agreed upon between AEneas and Latinus be ratified."
Thus spoke the king of heaven. Then Venus addressed the gods in behalf of her son, whose sufferings, she said, were due to the hatred of Juno. She recounted the various attempts of the unforgiving queen to destroy the Trojans—how AEolus at her bidding had sent his storms to scatter the fleet of AEneas, how Iris, her messenger, had induced the Trojan women to set fire to the ships at Drepanum, and how at her request the Fury Alecto had incited Queen Amata and King Turnus to war against the men of Troy.
Juno next addressed the council, and spoke many bitter words against AEneas and the Trojans, who, she declared, were themselves to blame for all the evils that had come upon them. The Greek war against Troy had not been caused by her, but by the Trojan Paris, and for his conduct in carrying off Helen, Venus was responsible. As to the troubles in Italy, it was true that AEneas had sailed to that country by the will of the fates, but why, she asked, did he stir up war among Italian nations that had before been at peace.