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Virgil's 'Aeneid' Trivia Quiz

This quiz will test your knowledge Virgil's magnum opus, "The Aeneid". It will progress quickly from the simple to the obscure - but don't get left behind like Dido!

A multiple-choice quiz by rk2210. Estimated time: 6 mins.

Author
rk2210

Time
6 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
261,227

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
6 / 10

Plays
577

Last 3 plays: Guest 94 (3/10), Guest 109 (3/10), Guest 129 (6/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. The hero of "The Aeneid" is the Trojan hero Aeneas. Who was his lovely mother? Hint

Venus

Hecuba

Dido

Creusa

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Question 2 of 10

2. Aeneas certainly was not a philanderer, but he did have three famous consorts throughout his career. What are their names, and what is the correct chronological order? Hint

Dido, Lavinia, Amata

Creusa, Dido, Lavinia

Amata, Creusa, Lavinia

Lavinia, Dido, Creusa

3. Aeneas was traditionally held to be the founder and progenitor of the Roman race. At one point in the Aeneid, our hero has a Nostradamic vision of all the future Romans. Where does this encounter occur? Hint

On the banks of the Tiber river

Sibylline cave

The Underworld

Latium

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Question 4 of 10

4. To provide Aeneas with safe passage to Italy, Venus bribed Neptune with the death of the Trojan helmsman on Aeneas' ship. Somnus, god of sleep, caused this man to doze off, and he fell off the ship. He washed up on Lucania in Italy, where the native Lucani killed him. What was this helmsman's name? Hint

Achates

Palinurus

Ascanius

Pallas

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Question 5 of 10

5. In the epic, Juno is the bitter goddess who longs to destroy Aeneas. Which of the following reasons is NOT given in the Aeneid for her avid animosity? Hint

Aeneas descendants were destined to found Rome, which in turn was destined to destroy Juno's favourite city Carthage

Juno was angry at Aeneas because he was destined to cause Dido much grief - and Juno was exceedingly fond of Dido

Juno still held a grudge against the Trojans because Jupiter had kidnapped Ganymede, a Trojan prince, whom he had made a "favourite"

Juno still held a grudge against Paris, a Trojan prince, for judging her less beautiful than Venus

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Question 6 of 10

6. Mezentius was the blasphemous, nefarious king of the Etruscans. He was called the "contemptor divum" (contemptor of the gods). He was exiled by his subjects for his extremely cruel method of execution. What was this horrific punishment? Hint

The punished were executed by being tied to dead bodies

He would force the punished to perform cannibalism

After execution, he would perform "maschalismos" on the executed, an ancient rite of mutilation

The punished were starved for a week and then drowned in the Tiber river

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Question 7 of 10

7. Which fearsome warrior maiden fought alongside the forces of Turnus against the Trojans? Hint

Antiope

Hippolyta

Camilla

Penthesilea

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Question 8 of 10

8. On the Ionian isles called the Strophades, Aeneas and others were accosted by the same group of monsters that did battle with the Argonauts in another tale. With help of the sons of Boreas, the Argonauts drove off these monstrosities, but the Trojans were not so lucky. Who were these bothersome monsters that managed to put the valiant Trojans to flight? Hint

The Cyclopes

The Furies

The Harpies

The Gorgons

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Question 9 of 10

9. In the epic, a certain giant's fate is mentioned. Wounded by Minerva, this giant was trapped beneath Mount Aetna on Sicily, and to this day, his writhing causes volcanic eruptions and tremors. What is the name of this giant? Hint

Ephialtes

Typhon

Enceladus

Polyphemus

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Question 10 of 10

10. What was the name of the beautiful nymph who was given to Aeolus (Regent of the Winds) by Juno as a bribe to stir up a storm? Hint

Deidamea

Deiphobe

Deiopea

Deiphyle

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The hero of "The Aeneid" is the Trojan hero Aeneas. Who was his lovely mother?

Answer: Venus

His mother was none other than the Roman goddess of love. His father was Anchises, a Trojan prince, who was later crippled because he slept with a goddess. Granted, Venus disguised herself as a Phrygian princess and seduced him.

2. Aeneas certainly was not a philanderer, but he did have three famous consorts throughout his career. What are their names, and what is the correct chronological order?

Answer: Creusa, Dido, Lavinia

Creusa was Aeneas' first wife, who was left behind during the sack of Troy. Dido was his short-lived love in Carthage, but he soon moved on to woo Lavinia in Latium (in modern Italy). Amata was never closely associated with Aeneas; she was the wife of King Latinus of Latium.

Answer: The Underworld

In the Underworld, Aeneas glimpses the souls of his future descendants, as they await the right moment to drink of the river Lethe (forgetfulness). Upon drinking from this river, the souls forget their past lives and they return to the land of the living. It's an interesting take on metempsychosis.

Answer: Palinurus

Later on, Aeneas is reunited with Palinurus, or at least with his shade, in the Underworld. Interestingly, Palinurus' name was given to a genus of spiny lobsters.

5. In the epic, Juno is the bitter goddess who longs to destroy Aeneas. Which of the following reasons is NOT given in the Aeneid for her avid animosity?

Answer: Juno was angry at Aeneas because he was destined to cause Dido much grief - and Juno was exceedingly fond of Dido

Juno must hold the world record for the longest grudges ever held!

Answer: The punished were executed by being tied to dead bodies

Mezentius is depicted as an evil of evils. Virgil was careful to make the Etruscans into the victims of Mezentius' tyranny, rather than to pile upon them the cruelties previously attributed to them by Greek writers. Thus, Mezentius became the scapegoat while the Etruscans were portrayed as brave allies instead of barbarous savages.

7. Which fearsome warrior maiden fought alongside the forces of Turnus against the Trojans?

Answer: Camilla

Unlike Hippolyta, Penthesilea, and Antiope, Camilla was not an Amazon queen but the queen of the Volsci.

Answer: The Harpies

These harpies were so ferocious, apparently, that the Trojans fled in a hurry from the Strophades, passing a dozen other islands including Zacynthos and Ithaca.

Answer: Enceladus

For this question, Typhon is incorrect because, although this was also a monster buried beneath Mount Aetna, Typhon was not a giant.
In Greece, an earthquake is still called a "strike of Enceladus".

10. What was the name of the beautiful nymph who was given to Aeolus (Regent of the Winds) by Juno as a bribe to stir up a storm?

Answer: Deiopea

Juno played dirty in the Aeneid, as you can see. Deiopea was the fairest nymph of Juno's team of fourteen retainers.

Source: Author rk2210

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor MotherGoose before going online.
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