Which author notes that the verb condere can mean both 'to stab' and 'to found', linking Turnus's death to the founding of the Roman race?

Which author notes that the verb condere can mean both 'to stab' and 'to found', linking Turnus's death to the founding of the Roman race?

• A. Harrison - Battle scenes
• B. Denis Feeney - Plot
• C. Emma Buckley - Death of Turnus
• D. G.E. Duckworth - Structure of the Aeneid

Answer: (C)

The key idea here is how Virgil’s word choice can carry a double meaning that ties a violent moment to Rome’s origin. The Latin verb condere ordinarily means to found or establish (as in founding a city or lineage). But in this passage, the sense can be read as “to stab” as well, highlighting the moment of Turnus’s death as a decisive act of violence. Emma Buckley foregrounds this dual reading, showing how Turnus’s kill can simultaneously function as the end of a warrior and as a founding act for the Roman race. This double sense links Turnus’s death directly to Rome’s beginnings, reinforcing the epic’s long-standing pattern of tying martial victory to nation-building. The emphasis on this lexical nuance—condere with both senses—sets Buckley apart because she specifically connects the language to the broader teleology of Rome’s founding, rather than focusing solely on battle scenes, plot progression, or the poem’s structural design.

The key idea here is how Virgil’s word choice can carry a double meaning that ties a violent moment to Rome’s origin. The Latin verb condere ordinarily means to found or establish (as in founding a city or lineage). But in this passage, the sense can be read as “to stab” as well, highlighting the moment of Turnus’s death as a decisive act of violence. Emma Buckley foregrounds this dual reading, showing how Turnus’s kill can simultaneously function as the end of a warrior and as a founding act for the Roman race. This double sense links Turnus’s death directly to Rome’s beginnings, reinforcing the epic’s long-standing pattern of tying martial victory to nation-building. The emphasis on this lexical nuance—condere with both senses—sets Buckley apart because she specifically connects the language to the broader teleology of Rome’s founding, rather than focusing solely on battle scenes, plot progression, or the poem’s structural design.