Book 2 Summary Flashcards
Why does Aeneas begin his recounting of Troy’s fall, and what emotional toll does it take on him?
Aeneas tells his tragic story for Dido, admitting that every retelling forces him to relive the pain of Troy’s destruction.
Aeneas does not enter his own narratve until …… appears to him in a dream
- Hector
What is the significance of the wooden horse in Book 2?
he Greeks construct a giant wooden horse to secretly hide their best soldiers, deceiving the Trojans by presenting it as a peace offering to the goddess Minerva
Who is Sinon and what role does he play in the Trojan deception?
- Two giant serpents emerge from the sea and devour the priest Laocoön and his sons
- The Trojans see this as an omen from Minerva, prompting them to wheel the horse into Troy
How do the Greek soldiers finally infiltrate Troy?
- Once night falls, Sinon opens the horse’s belly, releasing the hidden Greek warriors who then kill the Trojan guards and open the city gates for the rest of the Greek army
How does Aeneas become aware of the danger infiltrating Troy?
- Aeneas is alerted by a dream in which Hector warns him, and by witnessing the chaos on Troy’s rooftops as the city burns and fights erupt.
How does Aeneas react to Hector’s ghost
- This is the first indication that he has a ‘mission’,
- yet his immediate response is to rush outside and seek a more glorious death in battle
- This is the Homeric warrior: impetuous, courageous, ready to sell his life dearly;
- Aeneas has not yet begun to learn that his mission must not involve his glorious death
- His life is not his own to give away; he must step out of Homer’s world and become the first Roman
Describe how Aeneas is slow to react to Hector’s ghost
- he is slow to realise this and he plunges himself into the fighting
- ‘Let us die!’ (354) - he feels the heroic warrior’s guilt at having escaped when so many brave men have died
What key events occur during the sack of Troy?
- In the ensuing battle, Aeneas and his men fight valiantly but are overwhelmed.
- In King Priam’s palace, Greek forces led by Pyrrhus kill Priam and his young son Polites, marking the brutal end of Troy’s leadership.
what effect does Aeneas witnessing the death of Priam & Polities have on him
- Only now for the first time does he think of his other obligations and remembers his own family
What reaction does Aeneas have upon encountering Helen during the chaos, and why is it significant?
- Overcome with furor, Aeneas contemplates killing Helen—the spark of the war—
- but is stopped when Venus appears, shifting the blame for the conflict from Helen to the gods.
What does Venus say to Aneas to get stop him killing Helen
- His mother urges him to think of his family’s safety and to focus upon escape, not vengeance;
- she shows him the supernatural vision of hostile gods destroying Troy
- and convinces him that armed resistance is useless
What divine intervention directs Aeneas’s actions as Troy falls?
- Venus appears and urges Aeneas to flee Troy immediately,
- reminding him that his fate lies elsewhere and that his destiny is to found a new homeland
How is Anchises persuaded to leave Troy despite his initial reluctance?
- Omens—first, a harmless tongue of flame on Ascanius’s forehead, then a bright falling star—convince Anchises that the gods are urging him to escape the doomed city.
What tragedy befalls Aeneas’s family during the escape, and how is it later addressed?
- Amid the chaos, Aeneas’s wife Creusa is lost.
- When he later returns to search for her, her shade appears and reassures him that he will find a new home—and a new wife—in the west.
How does Book 2 conclude with respect to Aeneas’s escape?
- Aeneas flees the burning ruins of Troy with his father, Anchises, and his son, Ascanius, leading the survivors into the mountains as the beginning of his long journey toward fulfilling his destiny.
