At the center of Book IX is the night raid of Nisus and Euryalus. Modeled closely on the night raid of Odysseus and Diomedes in the Iliad, the raid here has less military justification and is less successful; yet upon their violent, predictable, and seemingly pointless deaths, Vergil praises Nisus and Euryalus in the highest terms. The meaning of this praise is the central question we discuss in this episode. Why is so much space devoted to the story of these two young, impetuous soldiers and lovers?

The first words we hear Nisus speak are “Do the gods inspire this warmth, or make we gods of our desires?” A strikingly modern, introspective question for a Trojan soldier to be asking. Does this unusual question suggest that the tale of these two, beginning here and ending with their bloody, melodramatic slaughter, as Nisus attempts to sacrifice himself to save Euryalus, is meant to be something of a stand-alone tale? Furthermore, how are we to understand that their story sits within two episodes where prudence and calm reason are shown to be superior to raging passions? Finally, while it is easy to see that the night raid in the Iliad is the model for this one, saying just what the relationship between the two raids is supposed to mean turns out to be much trickier. What is Vergil attempting to do with the allusion? As usual, expect more questions than answers on another exciting episode of the Key to All Mythologies.