Lavinia

Amata weaves Lavinia a wedding gown of white fabric. Lavinia tells her father that because of the day’s omen, she wants to go to Albunea with him to ask whom she should marry. Latinus agrees, and the two travel to the sacred grove with sacrificial lambs and a calf. At the grove, Latinus prays and Lavinia falls asleep. Waking in the night, she hears an owl and sees the poet again. The poet tells her that he’s dying now. He tells her that she won’t marry Turnus but that war is coming, even though Aeneas comes in peace. The war will begin with the killing of a deer in the woods. Almo will be the first to die, followed by many other men, including all of Lavinia’s suitors. The war will end when the hero kills Turnus. Lavinia asks how Aeneas can be a hero when he kills so many people. The poet tells her, “Because that is how empires are founded” (67). He assures Lavinia that her story doesn’t end with the war. She asks whether he has finished his poem and thinks that he nods, but he has faded so much that she can hardly see him. She begs him not to go but can’t prevent his death.

Lavinia wakes and goes to her father. He tells her that Grandfather Faunus told him to marry Lavinia to “the stranger that comes” (68); he’ll obey. They return to Laurentum, and Amata rushes to meet them, telling them she dreamed that Lavinia would marry Turnus. She’s distraught to learn otherwise. Lavinia goes to collect salt at the river mouth for religious rites. The next morning, she sees the Trojan ships sailing up the river. Lavinia and Silvia spy on the Trojans in the woods. Lavinia sees Aeneas, who is around 40 years old. He has a 15-year-old son, Ascanius. The Trojans are eating flatbread without plates; Ascanius remarks that they’re eating their tables. This is an omen that Aeneas has been awaiting. It means that the Trojans’ journey is over, and they have found their new home. Lavinia and Silvia part ways later that day, never to see each other again.

A day later, the Trojans come to the city. Aeneas isn’t among them. One of the Trojans, Ilioneus, explains the Trojans’ journey for the last seven years and gives Latinus a gift. Latinus confesses that his people’s oracles foretold the Trojans’ arrival. He tells the Trojans to bid Aeneas to come and pledge his friendship, revealing that an oracle foretold Lavinia’s marriage to Aeneas. Lavinia isn’t afraid at the idea of marrying a stranger; she knows that it’s her destiny.

Amata feels enraged that Latinus promised Lavinia to a stranger without consulting her. That night, she wakes Lavinia and takes her on a long walk to the hills for the Goat Feast, a religious rite from her home in Ardea. When they reach the hills, Amata instructs a guard to keep all men out of the area. The women drink, sing, and dance. They’re angry that Lavinia has been promised to a stranger; she can’t explain that she wants to marry Aeneas. Amata expects Turnus to arrive soon to marry Lavinia in secret, after which Amata, Turnus, and Lavinia will travel to Ardea. Lavinia is horrified and tries to plan an escape. However, her mother doesn’t leave her side all day, and she’s unable to slip past the guards at night. Amata keeps the festivities going, but Turnus doesn’t arrive. Women start to leave the hill, angering Amata.

The following night, Maruna imitates the call of an owl to help Lavinia escape. They leave the camp together and reach familiar territory just before dawn. Lavinia tells her father that Amata kidnapped her and tried to force her to marry Turnus, but he doesn’t believe her. Violence has broken out because Ascanius shot Silvia’s stag, Cervulus. Almo vowed revenge for her and was killed, along with a man who tried to calm the fighting. The news shocks Lavinia. The war that the poet spoke of has begun.

In the future, during their marriage, Lavinia asks Aeneas why he didn’t immediately come to Laurentum upon his arrival. Aeneas confesses that he was trying to collect some gifts for Lavinia before they were introduced. They discuss the eventualities of the war; Lavinia has never told him about the poet and knows that Aeneas would be troubled to know that his actions weren’t dictated by his conscience. When Ascanius shot the stag and Almo and the other farmer were killed, Aeneas knew that he couldn’t go to Laurentum without it being taken as a provocation. He thus allied himself with King Evander, leaving Ascanius in charge of the Trojans while he traveled upriver. He was surprised by Turnus’s battle prowess, admiring his talent. Lavinia insists that Turnus was greedy, displaying “courage, but not character” (88). Aeneas feels guilty for killing Turnus; he thinks he acted badly and committed murder. Lavinia tries to tell him that Aeneas defeated Turnus in a fair fight, but Aeneas won’t forgive himself.

Back in the past, Turnus amasses an army of Latins at the gates of Laurentum. He tells them that Latins won’t be ruled by foreigners. Latinus addresses the crowd, trying to dissuade them from violence, but fails. He retreats inside. Amata returns from the hills, and the crowd calls for her to open the symbolic War Gate. Lavinia is angry with her father for saying that he can’t stop the war. She moves out of the women’s area and into the royal apartments to avoid her mother. This makes Latinus uncomfortable, since he wants to trust Amata, but he agrees to post a guard outside Lavinia’s door.

The days pass strangely; Lavinia doesn’t go to the women’s quarters and hardly ever sees her parents. Amata prepares lavish banquets for Turnus, but he never comes, knowing that it’s improper to eat at the king’s table without his invitation. Lavinia watches the men’s encampment grow and reflects that a poet invented them all invented. She questions what good a war will do, remembering the poet’s words that without war there would be no heroes. Lavinia and the women of the Regia tend to the wounded. Turnus sets fire to the Trojan ships so that they can’t leave. Lavinia hates that the war is being fought over her. She’s horrified that Turnus seems set on exterminating the Trojans, not just sending them away. As the fighting continues, Amata urges Latinus to have Lavinia and Turnus marry to stop the fighting. Latinus, however, vows that even if the Trojans are defeated, he’ll never let Turnus be king of Latium.