In Roman folklore, Mezentius was an Etruscan King and father of Lausus. He was sent into exile because of his cruelty, and he moved to Latium. He reveled in bloodshed and was overwelmingly savage on the battlefield, but more significantly to a Roman audience, he was a "contemptor divum" (contemptor of the gods). He appears in Virgil's Aeneid, primarily book ten, where he aided Turnus in a war against Aeneas and the Trojans. While in battle with Aeneas, he was critically injured by a spear blow, but his son Lausus bravely blocked Aeneas' final blow to save his life. Lausus was then killed by Aeneas, who mocked the young man's piety towards his father. Mezentius escaped death for a short while, but upon hearing of Lausus' death, he went back into battle, ashamed that his son had died in his place and full of grief and anger. He eventually was overcome by Aeneas, but remained defiant and fearless unto his death, not begging for mercy as Turnus later did, but simply asking that he be buried with his son. Roman mythology, the mythological beliefs of the people of Ancient Rome, can be considered as having two parts. ... Map showing the extent of the Etruscan civilization and the twelve Etruscan League cities. ... Rutulian soldier that fought against Aeneas and the Trojans in Italy, killed by Aeneas in battle. ... Latium (Lazio in Italian) is a region of central Italy, bordered by Tuscany, Umbria, Abruzzo, Marche, Molise, Campania and the Tyrrhenian Sea. ... A sculpture of Virgil, probably from the 1st century AD.  It should be possible to replace this fair use image with a freely licensed one. ... The Aeneid (IPA English pronunciation: ; in Latin Aeneis, pronounced — the title is Greek in form: genitive case Aeneidos): is a Latin epic written by Virgil in the 1st century BC (between 29 and 19 BC) that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy where he... In Vergils Aeneid , Turnus was the King of the Rutuli, and the chief antagonist of the hero Aeneas. ... Aeneas flees burning Troy, Federico Barocci, 1598. ... Troy or Ilion, see Troy (disambiguation) and Ilion (disambiguation). ... Aeneas flees burning Troy, Federico Barocci, 1598. ... Rutulian soldier that fought against Aeneas and the Trojans in Italy, killed by Aeneas in battle. ... Aeneas flees burning Troy, Federico Barocci, 1598. ... Rutulian soldier that fought against Aeneas and the Trojans in Italy, killed by Aeneas in battle. ... Aeneas flees burning Troy, Federico Barocci, 1598. ... Rutulian soldier that fought against Aeneas and the Trojans in Italy, killed by Aeneas in battle. ... Aeneas flees burning Troy, Federico Barocci, 1598. ... In Vergils Aeneid , Turnus was the King of the Rutuli, and the chief antagonist of the hero Aeneas. ...

In the traditional myth before Virgil's Aeneid, Mezentius actually outlived Aeneas, who 'dissappeared' into the River, of which Aeneas became associated with and worshipped by a hero cult. However Virgil was eager to show his native Etruria in a good light, so portrayed Mezentius as a Tyrant, attributing to him the evils which the Greek authors had previously accused the Etruscans of, such as torture and savagery - an ethnic prejudice present in works such as the Homeric Hymns. Thus he created something of a scapegoat of Mezentius and portrayed the Etruscan people as a good race who fight alongside Aeneas.

References

• Appears in Aeneid, Book VII, line(s) 648; also VIII, 482; X 786, 907
• Livy Book one