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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. Why does King Iarbas pray to Jove/Jupiter?

2. Who appears in a dream to warn Aeneas to flee Troy?

3. What is Coroebus' idea for how he, Aeneas, and their companions can pass to safety?

4. How does Dido kill herself?

5. Who is the deity in charge of marriage?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Describe the "marriage" between Dido and Aeneas.

3. What reversals of fate has Helenus faced?

4. What are some instances where Aeneas betrays a hastiness in temperament in Book 2?

5. Where does Helenus say destiny and change come from?

6. Why is Juno so angry with the Trojans?

7. Compare and contrast the Greeks with the Trojans in the affair of the wooden horse.

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

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

10. What are Neptune's feelings toward Troy and toward Aeneas? How do these feelings affect Aeneas' journey on the sea?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The proper disposal of the dead is an important issue that runs throughout The Aeneid. Use examples from the work to explain how one should dispose of one's own dead and how one should allow one's enemy to dispose of their dead, and why.

Essay Topic 2

Examine the role of signs, portents, omens, prophesies, and so forth in The Aeneid. What are some forms these signs take? Who sends them, if anyone? Can false signs be sent, and if so, for what purpose? How do people fare when they interpret signs correctly and follow them? How do they fare when they try to act against them?

Essay Topic 3

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.

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