Hearing this, Venus vehemently protests that, having promised her son should found a new realm in Italy, he is bound to protect him, while Juno argues with equal force that the Trojans should be further punished for kidnapping Helen.
Silencing both goddesses, Jupiter reiterates his orders and dissolves the assembly.
The scene now changes back to earth, where the Trojans, closely hemmed in by foes, long for Aeneas' return.

He, on his way back, encounters the sea-nymphs, who explain they were once his ships and bid him hasten and rescue his son.

Thus admonished, Aeneas hurries back, to take part in a battle where many heroic deeds are performed, and where Turnus, Mezentius, and Lausus prove bravest on the enemy's side, although they find their match in Aeneas, Pallas, and Iulus.

Among the brilliant duels fought, mention must be made of one between Pallas and Turnus, where notwithstanding his courage the Trojan prince succumbs.
After stripping his companion of his armor, Turnus abandons his corpse to his friends, who mourn to think that he lost his life while helping them.

Vowing to avenge him, Aeneas next attacks his foe with such fury that it seems as if Turnus' last day has come, but Juno pleads so eloquently in his behalf, that, although Fate has decreed he shall perish, she grants him brief respite.
To preserve Turnus from the deadly blows of the real Aeneas, Juno causes him to pursue a phantom foe on board a ship, whose moorings she loosens, thus setting him adrift upon the Tiber.