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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does Aeneas transport Anchises out of Troy?

2. How does Anchises act when Aeneas first comes to help him escape?

3. What is remarkable about the boxing gloves of Eryx?

4. What does Ilioneus ask of Dido?

5. What sign does Aeneas see during the ritual for his father?

Short Essay Questions

1. What ties Aeneas and his people to the land to which they are headed to settle?

2. What sorts of souls live under Cretan Rhadamanthus' rule?

3. How does Priam compare and contrast Achilles and Pyrrhus?

4. How does Aeneas feel about having to leave Dido and to what extent does he allow his feelings to influence his decision to leave her?

5. What qualities of a good queen/leader does Dido exemplify? Cite specific examples from the book in your answer.

6. Why is Juno so angry with the Trojans?

7. Which gods and goddesses are actually involved in the fall of Troy and what actions do they take?

8. Why might the Trojan women have been tempted to set fire to the ships even without Juno and Iris befuddling them?

9. What fate does Laocoön meet and why?

10. What can you tell about how Aeneas is growing as a leader from his behavior at the funeral games?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Virgil uses foreshadowing for reasons such as to introduce events he will discuss in greater detail later, to create suspense, and to kindle his audience's interest so they will continue to listen to the story. Identify three examples of foreshadowing in this work, explain how they work, and identify what Virgil's purpose might have been for using them.

Essay Topic 2

Aeneas and Turnus are, respectively, the protagonist and antagonist of the story. Compare and contrast these two characters using examples from the text to identify ways their actions and fates parallel each other and ways they are alike or different in their personalities and beliefs.

Essay Topic 3

A bildingsroman is a work of art that tells of the development of a character, perhaps telling how the character matures or grows capable of taking on a duty as the process of a journey or a series of trials. Explain why The Aeneid is or is not a bildingsroman by examining how Aeneas does or does not develop over the course of it. Examine issues such as:

1) his capacity as a leader

2) his control over his emotions and temper

3) the wiseness of his judgement

4) his treatment of others.

(see the answer keys)

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