Book 2

Question 1

What is book 2? (2)

Answer 1

A flashback
An embedded narrative

Question 2

‘No man could speak of such things and not weep’

Answer 2

Allusions to the Odyssey

Question 3

‘Fates of Troy were already moving towards that end’

Answer 3

Troy’s fall is fated, it is not the fault of the Trojans

Question 4

How does Virgil spin the Fall of Troy to have the Trojans come out not seen as losers?

Answer 4

By portraying them as victims of fate and their piety while the Greeks were liars and deceitful.
The Trojans didn’t fall due to a lack of military might but the will of fate

Question 5

Were the Trojans all in agreement about how to handle the Horse?

Answer 5

No - they were uncertain and their passions were divided

Question 6

What is the name of the Greek who lets himself be captured by the Trojans?

Answer 6

Sinon

Question 7

What is the name of the Trojan who threw a spear at the Horse?

Answer 7

Laocoon

Question 8

Who does Sinon claim the Greeks had consulted?

Answer 8

The oracle of Phoebus Apollo - Pythia

Question 9

‘I have no hope now of seeing the land which was once my home, or my beloved children, or my father whom I have so often longed for’

Answer 9

All important to Romans and would have resonated with a contemporary audience - Importance of Pater families

Question 10

‘The people should receive it with their traditional piety’

Answer 10

Pietas

Question 11

What is the fate of Laocoon?

Answer 11

He and his two sons are killed by two serpents

Question 12

What do the Trojans assume the reason for Laocoon’s death to be vs What is the actual reason?

Answer 12

Trojans - The result of him violating the Horse (offering to Minerva), Divine punishment
Actual - Pallas (side of the Greeks) caused it to make it appear Sinon was telling the truth

Question 13

‘The last day of a doomed people and we spent it adorning the shrines of the gods all through the city with festal garlands’

Answer 13

Fate moving forwards but even when doomed the Trojans remain dutifully pious

Question 14

What kind of Hero is Aeneas depicted as in the first half of this book?

Answer 14

Homeric

Question 15

What kind of Hero is Aeneas depicted as in the second half of this book?

Answer 15

Virgilian

Question 15

Who comes to Aeneas in his sleep?

Answer 15

The ghost of Hector

Question 16

What does the Ghost of Hector urge Aeneas to do?

Answer 16

Flee Troy with the household gods as Troy will fall

Question 17

‘Let us die. Let us rush into the thick of the fighting.’

Answer 17

Homeric hero

Question 18

‘Frenzy and anger drove me on and suddenly it seemed a noble thing to die in arms’

Answer 18

Homeric hero

Question 19

‘Down fell the fifty bedchambers with all the hopes for generations yet to come’

Answer 19

The end of Priams line - would have resonated within contemporary Romans as ancestry and descendance was of high importance

Question 20

Who kills Priam’s son Polites?

Answer 20

Neoptolemus - Achilles’ son

Question 21

Why does Priam’s supplication to Neoptolemus fail?

Answer 21

It is ineffective as Neoptolemus wasn’t close to his father so felt little obligation to do right by him, only to avenge him

Question 22

‘But this is not how Achilles treated his enemy Priam. He had respect for my rights as a suppliant and fir the trust I placed in him’

Answer 22

A direct reference to book 24 of Iliad

Question 23

Who is Aeneas reminded of upon seeing Priam’s death?

Answer 23

His father - Anchises

Question 24

On his way to his fathers house who does Aeneas see at the Temple of Vesta?

Answer 24

Helen

Question 25

Who stops Aeneas reaching Helen?

Answer 25

Venus

Question 26

What divine sign is given to convince Anchises to go with Aeneas and Creusa and flee Troy?

Answer 26

Ascanius' hair being alight

Question 27

'A star fell from the sky, trailing a great torch of light in its course through the darkness'

Answer 27

Allusion to Augustus - Caesar's comet made comets appear as a sign of divine approval to a contemporary Roman audience

Question 28

'This was the man who had been unmoved by all the missiles of the Greeks [...] but now every breath of wind frightened me and I started at ever sound, so anxious was I, so afraid both for the man I carried and the child at my side'

Answer 28

Virgilian Hero Importance of bloodline - specifically pater

Question 29

Who doesn't make it out of Troy?

Answer 29

Creusa

Question 30

What does the ghost of Creusa tell Aeneas? (3)

Answer 30

There's a kingdom awaiting him and a royal bride To not fail their son That she will remain in Troy and never have to face a slaves fate

Question 31

'Three times I tried to put my arms around her neck. Three times her phantom melted in my arms'

Answer 31

Rule of 3 Presenting Aeneas as a loving and dutiful husband Creates empathy and sympathy for his desperation