How does Virgil maintain the reader's attention

How does Virgil maintain the reader's attention

1. Constant deaths throughout & Gory imagery

   • The constant killing of people makes this story extremely gripping as the reader eagerly wants to find out what as a result of their deaths - throughout the story we see numerous deaths including those of Tagus, Rhoetus, Sulmo, Volcens, Nisus & Euryalus
   • Virgil's gory, vivd descriptions of the deaths also makes them very gripping - eg. 'Rhoetus spewed forth his dark red life-blood and as he died, he bought back wine mixed with blood'

2. Clear characterisation

   • Through conversations and variations in the narrative voice, the reader is able to create a clear impression of each character's personality which provides interest - For example, Virgil is able to accurately protray Nisus's heroic nature as the reader is able to access his thoughts about what he should do in his states of ambivalence - 'Unlucky Euryalus in which place have I abandoned you? Where am I to follow you?'

3. Invested in their relationship

   • From the very start, we gradually become invested in Nisus and Euryalus's relationship due to the way in which Virgil represents them both as likable people (heroic, handsom, young) - as the reader wants them to stay safe, the reader may feel anxious when the pair find themselves in dangers, causing them to want to read on

4. Wanting to find out their fate

   • As Virgil is constantly foreshadowing Nisus and Euryalus's deaths and reminding us of their unfortunate fate (eg. 'but the winds scattered them and have them useless to the clouds'), the reader wants to read right to the end in the hope that they might discover the reason for their fate and what went wrong

5. Chance

   • Throughout there is a lot of chance involved (eg. the helmet) which makes the story very dramatic and often gives the reader a slight hope that their fate might change. Along their journey they have many struggles causing the reader to want to read on to discover whether or how they overcome these struggles

6. Vivid descriptions of landscapes

   • The detailed description of the wood 'with thickets and dark holm oaks' creates a very dramatic atmosphere and they way in which Virgil describes the scene (eg. at night) allows the reader to sense that something bad is going to happen and so, they wan to read on to find out what this is