Assess which passage you consider to be the most engaging.

You should refer to Passage A

and Passage B. (10 Marks)

Both passages focus on supplication: Turnus supplicating Aeneas and Hector supplicating
Achilles. I think Turnus’ supplication is the more engaging of the two. While supplicating,
Turnus actually blames himself, saying ‘I have brought this upon myself’, and I find this
incredibly moving – Turnus, who has been so optimistic until Book 12, finally accepts defeat
and has to come to terms with the fact that he has failed in his mission. I also think it’s
particularly sad because really Turnus was angered and inspired to fight by Juno, and,
although we don’t know for certain what would have happened if Juno hadn’t intervened,
we can definitely conclude that Turnus’ death is not completely his fault – Juno holds some,
or even most of, the blame – and yet Turnus will die thinking he is to blame for his death. He
also gives up and offers Aeneas everything they have been fighting: ‘Lavinia is yours. Do not
carry your hatred any longer’. We can sense a tone of regret in his voice as he ‘lowers his
eyes’ and begs for his life in front of his people. In Passage A, however, the hatred between
Achilles and Hector makes it impossible for the scene to have the same emotion and depth
as Passage B. Achilles and Hector despise each other, and both think they are right. Unlike
Turnus, Hector doesn’t give up when his death is near, and the feeling between him and
Achilles is pure hatred rather than the slight humanity/understanding Turnus shows Aeneas,
giving up and accepting that perhaps Aeneas is right, therefore Passage B is more engaging.

Carrying on from this, Aeneas and Achilles’ reactions towards their suppliants are also
interesting to compare. Passage A is engaging because of the shocking remarks Achilles
makes towards his enemy. Achilles is almost devoid of any human emotion other than rage
here, saying he ‘wishes he could summon up the will to carve and eat’ Hector ‘raw’. This
disgusting and visceral comment shows how all-consuming Achilles’ hatred and rage is
towards Hector, and his hope that dogs will ‘mangle Hector’s body foully’ is appalling,
knowing how important burial rights were to the Greeks. He shows no human
understanding and actually takes pleasure in imagining Hector’s mother Hecuba not being
able to ‘lay his body on a bier’ – killing Hector is not enough: Achilles’ hatred for Hector will
continue after he has killed him, allowing his body to become mangled and lie unburied, as
well as inflicting pain onto Hector’s family and friends by denying them burial rights.
Although this is definitely an engaging passage, I think Passage B is more engaging. The
scene has much more complex feelings, in my opinion: Aeneas doesn’t have the same all-
consuming, unwavering hatred for Turnus which allows him to be moved by Turnus’ words.
Killing a suppliant who has given up, and offered him everything he has asked for, would go
against everything Aeneas stands for – pietas and clementias, and directly contradicting the
advice Anchises gave Aeneas (to show mercy). However, Evander specifically asked Aeneas
to kill Turnus to avenge his son Pallas, and Pallas was dearly loved by Aeneas, so naturally
Aeneas would want to carry out revenge on Turnus. These two conflicting paths are running
through Aeneas’ head and he ‘hesitates more and more’ as he struggles with the decision. In
my opinion, although Aeneas ultimately decides to kill his suppliant like Achilles does, he
shows human emotion and struggle when he kills Turnus, and Aeneas is not devoid of
humanity like Achilles is.

Lastly, Passage B is more engaging because the reader doesn’t know what is going to
happen. In the Iliad, Hector’s death has been foretold throughout the poem and Achilles’
victory is obvious. Although there has been great anticipation up to the actual battle
between Achilles and Hector, there is no doubt that Achilles is going to triumph over Hector.
Whereas in the fight between Aeneas and Turnus, the prophecies have only specified that
Aeneas will found Rome – not that he will kill Turnus, therefore tension builds up because
the audience is interested to know what will happen.