Lines 1-11

Question 1

arma virumque cano

I sing of arms and the man

Answer 1

Clear similarity to Homer’s openings, emphasises Virgil’s wish to not only create a beautiful poem, but also to create a work to emulate that of Homer.

Question 2

fato profugus, … venit

a fugitive by fate… first came

Answer 2

fato goes better with venit that profugus. Virgil is emphasising how it was Aeneas’s fate to found Rome, rather that he was escaping Troy.

Question 3

ille

he

Answer 3

Pleonastic

Draws marked attention to person spoken of- Aeneas.

Question 4

deos

his Gods

Answer 4

The gods are the penates- the household Gods of Troy. Royal family was in charge of protecting them, and so Aeneas (second cousin of Priam) was put in charge of finding them a new home.

Question 5

unde

from whom

Answer 5

Deliberately vague to mean both Aeneas and his men.

Question 6

atqua altae moenia Romae

and the walls of high Rome

Answer 6

Rome is placed at the end of the line and the end of this section. Most important word, will be remembered.

Question 7

laeso, dolens, irae
(offended, grieving, anger)
vs.
impulerit, volvere casus, adire labores
(drive, endure such dangers, to face trials)

Answer 7

Aeneas’s succes in his journey to Italy is all the more admirable because he faced Juno’s malevolence and completed so many hard tasks.

Question 8

volvere

turn

Answer 8

Implies a cycle of disasters

Question 9

Pietate

piety

Answer 9

Aeneas is consistently represented as pious. He is the ideal Roman, and has many similarities to Emperor Augustus.

Question 10

Adire

to face

Answer 10

Infinitives are often used in poetry to mean an action that has been completed in fewer syllables.