Etruscan heroes

thumb|Latinus from Guillaume Rouillé's Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum Latinus (; Ancient Greek: Λατῖνος, Latînos, or Λατεῖνος, Lateînos) was a figure both in Greek and Roman mythology. He is often associated with the heroes of the Trojan War, namely Odysseus and Aeneas. Although his appearance in the Aeneid is irreconcilable with his appearance in Greek mythology, the two pictures are so different that he cannot be seen as one character.

right|thumb|Mezentius wounded, preserved by his intrepid son Lausus, first prize of the Prix de Rome by [[Louis-Léon Cugnot, 1859]]

thumb|upright 1.2|Aeneas' fight against [[Mezentius and Lausus, by Wenceslaus Hollar.]] Lausus was the son of the ousted Etruscan king Mezentius, and fought with him against Aeneas and the Trojans in Italy. He appears in Virgil's Aeneid in Books VII and X. When his father is wounded by Aeneas, Lausus steps in between them, and Aeneas strikes them down. In doing so, Lausus embodies the idea of pietas that Virgil praises throughout, exemplified in the relationships of Anchises and Aeneas and of Pallas and Evander. Aeneas immediately feels remorse for having killed the boy, and reproaches Lausus'