Turnus was the legendary King of the Rutuli in Roman history, and the chief antagonist of the hero Aeneas in Virgil's Aeneid.
Aeneas defeats Turnus, Luca Giordano, 1634–1705. The female on the left is Venus, Aeneas' mother, who supported him during the battle. The female on the right must be Turnus' sister, the nymph Juturna, who was forced by a Fury (transformed to a black bird sent by Jupiter) to abandon Turnus to his fate.
In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas was a Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite. His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy, making Aeneas a second cousin to Priam's children. He is a minor character in Greek mythology and is mentioned in Homer's Iliad. Aeneas receives full treatment in Roman mythology, most extensively in Virgil's Aeneid, where he is cast as an ancestor of Romulus and Remus. He became the first true hero of Rome. Snorri Sturluson identifies him with the Norse god Víðarr of the Æsir.
Iapyx removing an arrowhead from the leg of Aeneas, with Aeneas's son, Ascanius, crying beside him. Antique fresco from Pompeii.
Aeneas flees burning Troy, Federico Barocci, 1598 (Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy)
Coinage of Aenea, with portrait of Aeneas. c. 510–480 BCE.
Venus and Anchises by William Blake Richmond (1889 or 1890)
