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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. What does Creusa's ghost tell Aeneas?

2. What do the crowd of refugees expect from Aeneas?

3. What does Aeneas ask the gods through the Sibyl?

4. Why did Misenus meet an early death?

5. How did Polydorus die?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. Describe the state of construction in Carthage in Book 1.

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

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

6. What fate does Laocoön meet and why?

7. 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?

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

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

10. Once Aeneas is definitely leaving, what disagreeable options lay before Dido that make death seem the best choice?

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

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

Compare the information about the future depicted on the shield of Aeneas with the information about the future told to Aeneas when he travels to the underworld to see Anchises. How are the depictions alike? How are they different? What might these similarities and differences signify?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,044 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample