Virgil is able to demonstrate this struggle between piety and furor through distinct passages throughout the poem. One of these passages is the conflict that arises between Hercules and Cacus in book VIII after Cacus steals four bulls and four heifers. Here Virgil has created two very opposing characters. Cacus is the example of pure furor, while Hercules is the pious one. Virgil describes Cacus as being “half- human”, and having a “mind driven wild with frenzy” (VIII, 258-271). Hercules on the other hand is by nature a good and pious man. Virgil illustrates th

In the ensuing conflict between Cacus and Hercules, Hercules is momentarily swept up in a moment of furor. Here Virgil demonstrates that Hercules, who is normally a gracious and pious man, can become furious while in the midst of battle. It is through this fury that Hercules is able to overcome Cacus and defeat him. Virgil describes the rage that overwhelms Hercules by writing, “Hercules now showers shafts from overhead, calling on every kind of weapon”, and later, “Hercules grips him as in a knot and, clinging, squeezes out his strangled eyes, his throat run dry of blood” (VIII, 325-341). The actions that Hercules takes to defeat Cacus arise out of fury, but this fury is a necessary evil. It has provided Hercules with the will and strength to win the struggle. However, he still remains the gracious warrior that he always was. His fury is a reaction to Cacus’s dishonorable actions, and therefore is somewhat justified.

Virgil also uses the passage with Hercules and Cacus to illustrate one of the underlying themes of the poem. Just as Cacus, who is full of furor and completely lacking of piety, is consumed, so are others in the book that are furious or impious. Turnus exemplifies this through his actions and the consequences of these actions. Turnus does not show piety throughout his appearance in the poem. He himself even denounces the Gods and the Fates by saying, “And I have my own fates to set against their own,” and then again later, “I have no need of Vulcan’s arms” (IX, 178-196). Turnus has said that he will attempt to make his own fate to combat the fate that has already been dictated, and then later says that he doesn’t need the help of the Gods either to defeat the Trojans. He is by nature a very furious person. After killing Pallas, Turnus proclaims, “Take my words back to Evander…His welcome to Aeneas will not have cost your King Evander little” (X, 677-681). Turnus has brutally murdered Pallas, and shows no regret. Rather, he is rubbing the death of the king’s son into the faces of his enemies. But, just as was the case with Cacus, the irreverent and raging Turnus is eventually consumed. “Relentless, he [Aeneas] sinks his

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