Which critic attributes the ending's sense of closure to a long, deliberate buildup in the epic?

Which critic attributes the ending's sense of closure to a long, deliberate buildup in the epic?

• A. Denis Feeney - Plot
• B. Denis Feeney - Death of Turnus
• C. Emma Buckley - Narration of the Aeneid
• D. Gerry Nusbaum - Structure of the Aeneid

Answer: (B)

The ending’s sense of closure comes from a long, deliberate buildup that culminates in a decisive moment—the death of Turnus. Denis Feeney argues that the epic’s final arc is not a sudden shift but the payoff of sustained dramatic tension built across the later books. This climactic death resolves the central conflict, seals Aeneas’s mission, and anchors the prophecy of Rome, giving the narrative a felt completion. The earlier episodes—wars, oaths, mercy and brutality—accumulate to make Turnus’s death meaningful as the turning point that brings the epic to its close. Other scholars focus on different aspects—plot progression, narration, or general structure—but Feeney links the ending’s closure specifically to that carefully prepared, final act.

The ending’s sense of closure comes from a long, deliberate buildup that culminates in a decisive moment—the death of Turnus. Denis Feeney argues that the epic’s final arc is not a sudden shift but the payoff of sustained dramatic tension built across the later books. This climactic death resolves the central conflict, seals Aeneas’s mission, and anchors the prophecy of Rome, giving the narrative a felt completion. The earlier episodes—wars, oaths, mercy and brutality—accumulate to make Turnus’s death meaningful as the turning point that brings the epic to its close. Other scholars focus on different aspects—plot progression, narration, or general structure—but Feeney links the ending’s closure specifically to that carefully prepared, final act.