Term Test 3 - Lecture 6 Flashcards
Who wrote the Aeneid?
Virgil
Who was ruling when Virgil wrote the Aeneid?
Augustus Caesar
Who was Publius Vergilius Maro?
Virgil
When did Virgil live from?
70-19 BCE
What political event did Virgil live through?
Julius Caesar’s death, Augustus Caesar’s overthrowing of Mark Anthony and Cleopatra in 27 BCE - civil war
What was one of the values that was emphasized in Virgil’s writing?
Peace
What three main pieces did Virgil author? Who encouraged them?
- Eclogues: Greek model, but Latin poetry
- Georgics: didactic in dactylic hexameter
- Aeneid
What did Virgil base his poems off of?
Greek models, but with Roman values
-Virgil can do what HESIOD did, only better - ex. Georgics in dactylic hexameter)
What are the major themes of the Aeneid?
- Fugitives
- Rome
- Fathers and sons
- Piety
- Personal sacrifice
- Destructive emotions (PASSION AND RAGE)
- Divine interest in the POLITICAL world
Why are fugitives a main theme in Virgil’s Aeneid?
Because Rome was essentially founded by them. Aeneas himself was essentially a refugee from Troy. Aeneas is the hero, but Rome is even more of a hero!
What is the central virtue of the Aeneid?
Piety
What is piety? How does it differ from Greek values?
A sense of duty to others, greater than oneself. The Romans are pious to Rome. This is the opposite of Greek values: the Greek heroes typically values selfishly
ex. Achilles want to win, and wants revenge on Hector for killing Patroklus
ex. Odysseus wants to win home so he can be reunited with Penelope
What threatens piety?
Emotions. Especially emotions such as passion and rage because they result in selfish acts
Who are the parents of Aeneas?
Anchises and Aphrodite
Who is the offspring of Aeneas and Creusa?
Ascanius (Iulus)
Who is also known as Iulus?
Ascanius
Who is also known as Ilia?
Rhea Silvia
What 4 things are Aeneas pius to?
- Religion (Jupiter especially)
- Ancestors (Achises, his father, evidenced when he carries him out of Troy on his back)
- Descendents (Ascanius)
- Nation (Troy, eventually Lavinium)
He will put any of these things before himself
Who does Aeneas marry? Where is she from?
Creusa, she is a Trojan
What is the epithet for Aeneas?
Pius Aeneas
Where is Arma virumque cano… from?
The first sentence of the Aeneid
What is the first sentence of the Aeneid? What does it refer to?
“Arms and a man, I sang”
Arms (war arms): first
Man: second
What is the significance of “arms and a man, I sang”
Arms: war and anger = the first word of the Iliad
Man: the first word of the Odyssey
How many book are in the Iliad? How many books are in the Odyssey?
How many books are in the Aeneid? What is the significance of this?
Iliad: 24
Odyssey: 24
Aeneid: 12
In the Aeneid, the first 6 books are comparable to the Odyssey, while the last 6 books are comparable to the Iliad
Generally, what happens in books 1-6 of the Aeneid? What happens in books 6-12?
1-6:
- voyage from Troy to Italy (cf. Odyssey)
- persecution by Juno
- Dido (tragedy)
- Underworld
Not to get BACK to his home, but rather to found a new home. A war must be fought before a city can be founded.
6-12:
-War in Italy (cf. Iliad)
How is Aeneas different than the Greeks in terms of fate?
He accepts his fate, rather than trying to reject it and get around it like the Greeks do
Why is Juno (Hera) hostile to Troy, and therefore Aeneas?
- Carthage is dear to Juno
Carthage is the city being built in Phoenicia on the shore of Africa. The Queen of Carthage (Dido) has built a giant temple in honour of Juno. Juno knows that the Romans are fated to defeat Carthage, and therefore she tries to prevent it by targetting Aeneas
- The divine beauty contest
Paris (a Trojan) chose Aphrodite to win the divine beauty contest over Juno, and she is still bitter about that.
Where does Juno oppose Aeneas from?
On the land, and on the sea
Do Juno and Aeneas ever reconcile?
Yes, at the end of the Aeneid
Which god contrasts Jupiter?
Juno
Which god is on Aeneas’ side? Which is not?
Is: Jupiter
Is not: Juno
How does Aeneas become shipwrecked? How does this facilitate Aeneas acting as a leader?
Juno commands Aeolus (wind god) to shipwreck them.
Aeneas acts as a leader by encouraging his men to keep going and trying, despite the fact that he feels hopeless himself
In Odysseus, Athena goes to Zeus to try to get Calypso to stop detaining Odysseus so he can get home to Penelope… who does this for Aeneas? How does Zeus respond?
Venus (Aphrodite), who is his mother
Jupiter tells Venus that it will all work out because Aeneas is FATED to give rise to a long line of kings and a new nation. He predicts the future - Alba Longa, JULIUS CAESAR and his apotheosis, Romulus and Remus etc.
Who is Sychaeus
The deceased husband of Dido, also the wealthiest man in all of Phoenicia
How did Dido go to build her city of Carthage?
Her husband, Sychaeus was murdered by hrt brother. Sychaeus was at one time, the wealthiest man in Phoenicia and he was murdered for his money. Sychaeus comes to Dido in a dream and tells her what happened, to flee the city, and where some treasure could be found. She goes and founds Carthage.
Is Dido a foreign woman?
Yes, she is neither Greek nor Roman, but of Phoenician descent. Dido is a REFUGEE and a QUEEN.
Where is Aeneas shipwrecked?
On the coast of Libya
Does Aeneas ever meet his mother again?
Yes, she appears to him in Book 1 disguised as a young female huntress and she explains the story of Dido, and how she came to be the queen of Carthage.
Who married Sychaeus?
The brother of Dido
When does Aeneus realize that he met his mother?
Right as she is leaving him - he’s sad, he wants to meet her
After shipwrecking on the coast of Libya, how does Aeneas get to Carthage?
His mother Venus shrouds him and his men in a mist, making them invisible to everyone else.
What can the shroud of mist Aphrodite puts Aeneas in be compared to?
What Athena did for Odysseus - when he reached the island of his home in Ithaca
Where is Carthage located?
In North Africa