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Roman

Mezentius

King of Caere · Etruscan King · Despiser of the Gods

01Identity

He tied a subject to a corpse and left him to die. Mezentius was a tyrant and king of the Tyrrhenians. He killed those who resisted him and drove a multitude into flight. He had no supernatural form or parentage, and was the father of Lausus.

Mezentius belongs to the myths of the war in Italy. After being expelled from his own country for his cruelty, he aided Turnus against Aeneas and the Trojans, who sought to establish a new home in Italy. In one account, he fought Aeneas in single combat, and each killed the other. In another, Ascanius defeated him and he later joined the Trojans. In the account of his battle with Aeneas, his spear glanced from Aeneas's shield and struck Anthor, a Greek who had followed Evander into Italy.

Top questions
02Family

Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.

Mezentius
Lausus
03The names

Contemptor Divum

Despiser of the gods

SourceBullfinch Mythology - The Age of Fable

King of Caere

Ruler of Caere, also called Agylla

SourceBullfinch Mythology - The Age of Fable

Tyrant of Etruria

Harsh Etruscan ruler

SourceClassical Mythology a to Z

04Who it is

The myths across MythSource where Mezentius features, each on that figure’s page.

The film

The Underdrawing video on Mezentius embeds here once it publishes.