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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 do the Trojans and the Latins call a twelve-day truce?

2. What do Nisus and Euryalus do as they move through Turnus' camp?

3. What does the goddess Circe do to those she enchants?

4. What is Iulus' first feat of arms?

5. What pictures are shown on the shield Venus gives to Aeneas?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Jupiter become involved with the war in Book XI, and does this seem fair after he said before in Book X about being the same king to both Trojans and Rutulians?

2. What might Evander mean when he says that it isn't empty-headed superstition that leads them to celebrate?

3. What does Evander tell Aeneas about Latin history?

4. Under what conditions does Jupiter allow Juno to remove Turnus from the fight?

5. Who are the princes referred to in the book title, how do they die, and why might their deaths be particularly significant?

6. What does Evander mean when he tells Aeneas that Aeneas must have the courage to shape himself to fit through the low doorway into Evander's humble home, besides the literal fact that Aeneas is too tall to walk through the doorway without stooping a bit?

7. How has King Latinus' method of dealing with the war changed since Book VII?

8. What does Jupiter mean when he says that to everyone (Trojan or Rutulian), he is the same king?

9. What false portent does Juturna send the Rutulians and how do they interpret it?

10. Why is it significant that in Latinum, Aeneas and some of his followers eat the wheaten cakes they were using as plates for their meal?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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?

Essay Topic 2

In Book XII, in one of many references to a place that had been built or civilized by the time he was writing but had not yet been constructed in the past, Virgil says that Juno was "gazing from the height we now call Alban--nameless then, it had no fame or glory." Use this and other examples of Virgil's mentioning past and present places to compare Rome at its birth in this work with the Roman Empire of Virgil's time. Address questions such as in what ways have the places changed, have they changed for the better, and what sorts of places are they that he bothers to mention?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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