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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. Who is Andromache's new husband?

2. Who is the deity in charge of marriage?

3. How does Dido kill herself?

4. How do the Danaans get inside the walls of Troy?

5. Who sends Iris to talk to the mourning Trojan women?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why should Aeneas not have tried to found a city in Thrace?

2. Explain how Deïphobus died and why his body is mutilated.

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

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

5. How does Anchises explain the process by which souls become reborn?

6. Why are Dido's suitors so angry when she takes up with Aeneas?

7. How does talking to Anchises prepare Aeneas to go build a new city for the Trojans in Italy?

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

9. What message does Anchises give Aeneas in a dream?

10. What are some ways the characters in Book 2 are affected by fate?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar asked Virgil to write The Aeneid to celebrate his recent victory at the Battle of Actium, in which Augustus (then called Octavian) and his forces beat Mark Antony and the Egyptian ruler Cleopatra. This victory brought peace to the empire, and Octavian/Augustus worked thereafter to rule well. Looking at details in The Aeneid such as the subject matter depicted at the center of Aeneas' shield and all the references Virgil makes to the Rome of his time, discuss what purpose Virgil's work might have served at the time.

Essay Topic 2

One of the main characteristics of epic poems such as The Aeneid (and The Iliad and The Odyssey) is that the poem starts "in medias res," or in the middle of the action. The narrative then reveals information about what came before through various means, such as characters telling tales of the past or the narrator providing background. Discuss how this work begins in the middle, what information the reader is eventually given about what happened before, how this information is provided, and what effect this structure has on the experience of reading the poem.

Essay Topic 3

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.

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