Book 5 Summary Flashcards
Where do the Trojans land after facing another storm?
Sicily
What event does Aeneas commemorate upon landing in Sicily?
- The one-year anniversary of his father’s death, marked by funeral games
What types of competitions are held during the funeral games?
- He proposes eight days of sacrificial offerings
- and a ninth day of competitive games, including rowing, running, javelin, and boxing, in honor of his father
- Rowing races, footraces, boxing matches,archery contests, and horseback mock battles
what is the first competiition
rowing race
How does the rowing race unfold and who ultimately wins?
- 4 galleys race along the coast with twists like a helmsman’s misjudgment and a collision with rocks,
- and through Neptune’s intervention in prayer, Cloanthus wins the race
What does Iris do get the women to burn the ships
- Trojan women, who are further along the beach from where the men enjoy their sport
- Iris stirs them to riot, playing on their fear of further journey and more battles
- She distributes flaming torches among them, inciting them to burn the Trojan ships so that the men will be forced to build their new city here, in Sicily
What role does Juno play during the festivities?
Juno, still angry with the Trojans, sends Iris to incite the Trojan women to burn the ships
How is the threat to the fleet from the burning ships resolved?
- Aeneas prays to Jupiter, who sends a rainstorm to douse the flames, saving most of the fleet.
What decision does Aeneas make about his crew after the ship-burning incident?
- Aeneas is shakne & contemplates if they hsould settle on Sicily
- Natus a seer (supernatural insight) pushes him forward
- He chooses to leave behind those who have lost their ships or their will to continue, while the rest set sail for Italy
what additional advice does Nausus give Aneas
- Aeneas will have to fight a difficult foe in Latium, but must first visit the underworld to speak more with Anchises
What supernatural guidance does Aeneas receive that influences his journey?
- In a dream, the ghost of his father, Anchises, instructs him to visit the Sibyl in Cumae to learn about the destiny and greatness of the Roman mission
How does Neptune contribute to the Trojans’ journey?
- Neptune promises safe passage to Italy but demands an innocent sacrifice as payment for his protection
Who becomes the victim demanded by Neptune’s condition, and how does it occur?
Palinurus, the helmsman, falls asleep at the helm and falls overboard, fulfilling Neptune’s price
What is the signficance of Palinurus’ death
- Neptune’s last strike at Palinurus seems a ridiculous impulse of divine vanity:
- Neptune harbors no explicit anger against the Trojans and has no interest in delaying their destiny,
- yet he requires the death of Palinurus as a price for safe passage.
- It is unclear why Neptune needs to be pacified at all—he is calm and gentle in his talk with Venus.
- They conduct their dealings with the tone of a friendly business transaction,
- and the bloodshed incurred seems gratuitous and irrational,
- demonstrating yet again how the whims of the gods have grave consequences for mortal affairs.
what is the significance of the games to the Aeneid
- Virgil excels at representing universal passions, and here he portrays the passion for sport and physical competition
- Any athlete can relate to the comic frustration of the losers, the triumphant gloating of the winners, the fervent displays of masculinity, and the irreverent enthusiasm of the spectators
- The games matter little to the plot as a whole, but they show a more lighthearted facet of Virgil’s artistry—one that is welcome after Dido’s suicide
Why is Aenea’a passivity not representative of him being a loser in this book
- gods, not the hero, drive the plot —> Aeneas has been reduced to a responsive role
- A low morale point occurs when, to stop the burning of his fleet, Aeneas begs Jupiter to help him or end his life Virgil’s hero has reached the limit of psychological suffering in the face of divine mistreatment that he perceives to be arbitrary.
- That Aeneas goes so far as to consider ignoring the fates and settling in Sicily simply to end this weary journey indicates how tired and perhaps powerless he feels.
- But the importance of stoic persistence is one of the Aeneid’s messages, and Aeneas decides to go on, his strength renewed by the visit of Anchises’s spirit.
what is the irl link of the funeral games to Rome
- piety of Aeneas is shown as for the first time in history, when he performs fo rthe first time. the rites of the parentalia, the roman festival of the dead
- the aeneid is authenticating contemporary Roman Religious practise by attributing it sorigins to the founded of the Julian family
give an example of how during the games Aeneas is generous and a laugh!
- he gives munificient prizes to every competitor, even to Sergesteous when his ship limps home last
- he is amused by the effrontery of Nisus when he squabbles with Salius over prizes
give an example of how during the games Aeneas is fatherly, statemanlike & cheerful
Aneas cares like a father for his people, grieving fo rth will of the pople that it is the will of the Gods & the wisest course that he should leave the women & children in Scicily, in the new city he founds fo rthem under Acestes
give an example of how during the games Aeneas is inspirng active & efficient
- In the boxing match it is Aneas that consoles the life of Dares & shows supreme tact in consoling him for his defeat
what is signficant about aeneas respinding to the gods in this chapter
had aneas not neen able to hear the divine voice & respond to it, the mission would have indeede been abandoned
