P. Vergili Maronis Aeneidos Liber Primus Quiz

Answer: Aeneas

Though Aeneas' name is not actually used until line 92, he is the focus of the epic from the very beginning.

Answer: The kidnapping of Cassandra

To be fair, Ganymede's honors and Paris' judgement weren't really Aeneas' fault, they were just reasons that Juno hated the Trojans in general. The reason she was after Aeneas specifically was that the Fates had told her one of his descendants would destroy Carthage, her favorite city.

She later argues that if Minerva was permitted to kill Ajax for the kidnap of Cassandra, she should be able to kill Aeneas.

Answer: Juno

"Mene incepto desistere victam, nec posse Italia Teucrorum avertere regem?" (She is whining that Aeneas is going to found Italy and there isn't a single thing she can do to stop him.)

Answer: The Dead Trojans--They died in Troy

He says this when he thinks he will die in the storm sent by Juno. He envies the Trojans who died when the city fell because they never had to leave their homes. Though he does later envy the Tyrians for their city, he calls them "fortunati", not "beati."

Answer: Neptune

He yells at the winds for disturbing his domain (the ocean) without permission, and the winds go home. Then he, Triton, and Cymothoe move the ships into open water and send them on their way.

Answer: A herd of deer

Aeneas goaes after an 'agmen' or battle-line of deer, killing seven- one for each remaining ship.

Answer: No

They have just come from Sicily, and are now in Carthage. That means they were sailing south, when they should have sailed north to the mouth of the Tiber, and then on to Latium.

Answer: Venus

Cytherea was the island upon which Venus first stepped after being born fron the sea. Aphrodite would not be an acceptable answer because even though Aeneas is Greek, the Aeneid is a Roman epic, and therefore uses Roman names.

Answer: The expultion of the Etruscan kings

Though Romulus kills Remus before Rome is completed, in Juppiter's vision they rule together. He also tells Venus that she will recieve her descendant (though it isn't specified which Caesar, maybe Julius, Mabe Augustus) and that the descendants of Troy (the Romans) will rule the descendants of Hector (the Greeks).

Answer: Her sister

She tells Aeneas he will know her sister because she is wearing the skin of a lynx and a quiver. Of course, she is just making all of this up as an excuse for being in the middle of the woods alone.

Answer: Diana

He tells her that she is too beautiful to be mortal, and asks if she is Phoebus' sister (Diana), or maybe a nymph. Vergil, in his description, compares her to a Spartan.

Answer: Carthage

Though the place Aeneas is standing is actually all of these (Carthage/City of Agenor is in the colony of Punica on the edge of Lybia), Venus never actually uses the word 'Carthage.'

Answer: Sychaeus

He comes back to tell her of his murder (he was killed by Pygmalion at the altar) and to reveal to her the location of burried treasure, which she took with her when she fled to found Carthage.

Answer: The leader of the deed: a woman

I just love this line. 'Dux' and 'femina' are both subjects, so they have to agree with each other. 'Facti' is a genative to both of them, so you end up with 'the woman-leader of the deed' or 'the leader of the deed: a woman.' The deed is the theft of the gold and subsequent flight to Libya; the 'dux femina' was Dido.

Answer: Blow him a kiss

It is only as she is leaving him that she reveals her true nature.

Answer: Call her cruel

He asks her why she plays games with her son, and doesn't just shake hands with him. He also calls her 'crudelis tu', or 'you cruel thing.'

Answer: A cloud

She hides Aeneas and Achates in a cloud so they can spy safely on the Carthiginians.

Answer: bee

"Just like work in the new summer trains bees through the flowered countryside under the sun, when they lead out the mature fruit of the species or when they stockpile liquid honey and stretch the cells with nectar, or they accept the burdens of the ones coming, or the troop having been made, they keep the herd of lazy drones from the hive: work buzzes, fragrant honey is scented with thyme."

Answer: Bronze

Bronze was a symbol of wealth in the ancient world, and only a prosporous city could afford to make temple doors out of it. Bronze is also the material from which the doors of Priam's palace were made (Book 2, ln 481).

Answer: Hippolyta in the midst of battle

The Amazon queen depicted fighting against the Greeks is Penthesilea, not Hippolyta.

Answer: Diana

Virgil compares her to Diana, surrounded by oreades, or mountain nymphs. She is approaching the temple to hold court.

Answer: Orontius

Though Orontius is one of the Trojans that Aeneas thought were dead, he is not mentioned by name in the scene in the temple.

Answer: Cupid

Venus is still afraid that Aeneas will be mistreated by the Carthiginians, so she sends Cupid to Dido in the shape of Ascanius to make her fall madly in love. The nominative singular form of his name in Latin is Cupido, not Cupidus.

Answer: Tell them about his adventures

This sets the stage for Books 2 and 3, in which Aeneas recounts all of his adventures leading up to the storm at the beginning of the book.

Answer: 6

He is thus described in lines 10, 220, 305, 378, 520, and 603. This is one of the major differences between Aeneas and the heroes of the Greek epics whom he emulated. While Ulysses, Achilles, et al. are bold and brazen, Aeneas is a devoted son, father, and husband. This is a reflection of the importance of family and social order under Augustus.