Book 9

‘Saturnia Iuno ‘ sends Iris to Turnus who is seated in a valley; the goddess incites him to attack the Trojan camp. A valley is a depression of the earth situated between hills or mountains [Cavity]. The place is forested [Tree] and is sacred to ‘Pilumnus ‘, whose name evokes ‘pilum ‘ ( ‘spear ‘). Iris ‘ speech to Turnus, inciting him to attack the camp, is followed by her ‘arrowlike ‘ flight ( ‘secuit ... arcum ‘) back to heaven, which causes the sky to part asunder and reveal the courses of the stars in the firmament. The miraculous event is encapsulated in the antonomastic reference to Iris as ‘Thaumantias ‘ (< 0avμa,w) and provokes Turnus ‘ ‘marvelling ‘. The true aim of this ‘miraculous ‘ event is to deceive Turnus [ooAos] into believing that he can capture the Trojan camp (compare 2. 3 I ff.). Turnus ‘ ‘loading ‘ ( ‘onerauit ‘) of the sky with vows is a metaphor from ‘piling up offerings ‘ [owpov]; ‘onero ‘ in this sense is normally accompanied by ‘dona ‘.1

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