Mezentius- Roman FigureMortal"Contemner of the Gods"
Also known as: Mesentius
Titles & Epithets
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Description
A godless Etruscan king exiled for binding the living to the dead, Mezentius fought alongside Turnus until Aeneas slew his devoted son Lausus — then rode back to die on the sword of the man who killed his boy.
Mythology & Lore
The Tyrant of Caere
Mezentius ruled the Etruscan city of Caere, and his cruelty became a byword. In the Aeneid, Evander describes his favored punishment: he bound living men to corpses, face to face and hand to hand, and left them to die in the embrace of the dead. His subjects rose against him and drove him from the city. He fled to Latium and found refuge with Turnus, king of the Rutulians.
Cato the Elder preserved a different grievance. Mezentius had demanded that the Latins pay him the first-fruits of their wine harvest, tribute previously offered to Jupiter. The title contemptor divum, contemner of the gods, followed him through every Roman source. His former subjects, the Etruscans of Caere, allied with Aeneas precisely to destroy him. An oracle had told them only a foreign leader could command their army against Mezentius, and Aeneas, a Trojan exile himself, answered the call.
The Battlefield
In the Aeneid's tenth book, Mezentius enters battle after Turnus withdraws. Virgil compares him to Orion striding through the sea, shoulders above the waves. He tears through the Trojan lines until Aeneas confronts him directly. They exchange spear-throws. Aeneas drives a javelin into Mezentius's groin. The Etruscan staggers but does not fall. As he retreats, bleeding, his son Lausus steps between him and Aeneas, shield raised, buying his father time to escape.
Father and Son
Lausus faced Aeneas knowing he could not win. He fought to save his father, nothing more. Aeneas warned him to withdraw. Lausus refused. A single sword thrust through the shield killed him. Even Aeneas was shaken. He praised the boy's devotion and refused to strip his armor.
When Mezentius learned what had happened, he washed his wound in the river, mounted his warhorse Rhaebus, and rode back to face Aeneas. He circled him three times, hurling javelins. Aeneas brought down Rhaebus with a spear, and the horse fell on its rider. Pinned beneath his mount, Mezentius asked only that Aeneas bury him and protect his body from the hatred of his former subjects. Then he bared his throat to the sword.