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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 leads Aeneas to the golden bough?

2. What action does the goddess Rumor take after Dido and Aeneas begin to revel in each others' company?

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

4. How does Aeneas put out the burning Trojan ships after the Trojan women set them on fire?

5. Why does Acestës welcome Aeneas and his followers?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How will Aeneas start the line that turns into the rulers of the Roman Empire?

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

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

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

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

8. Describe the Harpies.

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Ultimately, how do you think Fate and Fortune work in the lives of any and all of the characters in The Aeneid? Use examples from the text to discuss issues such as:

1) How predetermined is fate and can it be changed? If so, by whom?

2) How are good or bad fortunes won?

3) How free or constrained are the gods and goddesses to act with or against fated outcomes?

Essay Topic 2

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.

Essay Topic 3

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.

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