The Aeneid: Book 2

Question 1

After some initial hesitation, ________ begins to tell the story of ________’s downfall. Everything that follows in this book is told by Aeneas, and so reflects his perspective.

Answer 1

Aeneas, Troy

Question 2

Aeneas begins by telling how the Greeks, unable to defeat the _______ in battle, sail away from Troy. On the beach, they leave behind a giant wooden horse, with ______ warriors hidden inside it – though the Trojans don’t know that yet.

Answer 2

Trojans, Greek

Question 3

Something else the Trojans don’t know is that the Greeks didn’t actually sail home. Instead, they made their way to the nearby island of _________, and parked their _____ behind it.

Answer 3

Tenedos, navy

Question 4

The Trojans are amazed at the ______ and come out of their city to have a better look at it. Some argue in favor of taking it inside the city. Others say it should be ________.

Answer 4

horse, destroyed

Question 5

_________, a priest, comes down from the city to have a look. He says not to trust anything having to do with the Greeks. He even guesses that there are Greeks hiding inside it, and throws his _______ at the horse. It echoes, revealing that it is hollow.

Answer 5

Laocoön, spear

Question 6

The Trojans would have followed __________’s lead and destroyed the horse, but they are interrupted by a commotion. It turns out that all the ruckus is coming from some shepherds, who step forward with a ________ – a Greek!

Answer 6

Laocoön, prisoner

Question 7

The captive’s name is ______, and he has a story to tell.
Sinon claims to be related to _______, a Greek hero who came to oppose the Trojan War. As a result of this, Palamedes was executed on a trumped-up charge, as a result of _________’s trickery.

Answer 7

Sinon, Palamedes, Ulysses

Question 8

_______ says that because he complained about this injustice, ________ had it in for him. He also says that the Greeks tried several times to sail home, but, every time, they were held back by bad ________. He says that their problems only got worse after the ______ was built.

Answer 8

Sinon, Ulysses, weather, horse

Question 9

Finally, they sent a guy called _______ to ask the oracle of _______ what they should do. The oracle told Eurypylus that a ______ sacrifice was required for them to get home, just as a human sacrifice was required for them to get to _____.

Answer 9

Eurypylus, Apollo, human, Troy

Question 10

(Huh? The oracle is referring to the fact that, on the way to Troy the Greek king ________ had to sacrifice his daughter, _________, to convince the winds to blow the right way.)

Answer 10

Agamemnon, Iphigeneia

Question 11

As you can imagine, this made everyone pretty nervous. _________ asked ________, the soothsayer, to interpret the true will of the gods.

Answer 11

Ulysses, Calchas

Question 12

______ kept silent for ten days, but finally caved in to _______’s pestering, and named _____ as the victim. Everyone else was cool with that.

Answer 12

Calchas, Ulysses, Sinon

Question 13

When the day of the sacrifice rolled around, however, _______ managed to escape. In the end, the _______ sailed off without finding him.

Answer 13

Sinon, Greeks

Question 14

So ends ______’s story. In concluding, he begs the _______, in the name of the gods, to spare his life.

Answer 14

Sinon, Trojans

Question 15

The _______ feel pity for _______, and _______ orders them to remove his chains.

Answer 15

Trojans, Sinon, Priam

Question 16

At this point, ______ thinks it’s time to ask ______ about the elephant in the room – that is, the ______ on the beach.

Answer 16

Priam, Sinon, horse

Question 17

Sinon first swears that he is no longer loyal to the ________. Then he explains how the Greeks’ troubles started when _______ and _________ stole a statuette of _______ from the Trojan citadel.

Answer 17

Greeks, Ulysses, Diomedes, Minerva

Question 18

After they brought the ________ back to camp, however, wacky stuff started happening. The statuette started sweating, flaming, and moving its eyes. Oh yeah, and the _______ herself kept appearing out of the ground amid flashes of lightening.

Answer 18

statuette, goddess

Question 19

______, the seer, interpreted these events to mean that ______ could not be captured. They would have to sail home and wait for another sign from the gods before making war on it again.

Answer 19

Calchas, Troy

Question 20

According to _______, it was on Calchas’s orders that they constructed the _______ – as a replacement for what they had stolen. He says that the reason they made it so big was so that the _______ wouldn’t be able to take it inside their city.

Answer 20

Sinon, horse, Trojans

Question 21

______ tells the Trojans that if any of them damage the horse, it will bring destruction on all of ______. On the other hand, if they take it inside the city, it will bring destruction on all the ________ (nudge, nudge, wink, wink). Here ends Sinon’s second story.

Answer 21

Sinon, Troy, Greeks

Question 22

At this point, ________, the priest guy who threw the spear at the side of the horse, starts making a sacrifice to __________, the god of the sea.

Answer 22

Laocoön, Neptune

Question 23

All of a sudden, two giant ________ slither out of the sea, crawl up to ________, and strangle him and his two sons to death. Then the serpents make their way into _____, head to ________’s citadel, and curl up behind the statue’s shield.

Answer 23

serpents, Laocoön, Troy, Minerva

Question 24

The Trojans interpret this as punishment from the ______ for spearing the _______. They decide to take the horse inside the city. They actually have to knock a hole in the wall to bring it in.

Answer 24

gods, horse

Question 25

Everyone is celebrating. ______ times the horse jars on its way into the city, and _______ times the weapons of the ________ inside clatter. No one notices.

Answer 25

4, 4, Greeks

Question 26

The Trojan princess ________, who has the gift of ______, tries to prevent them from taking the horse inside the city. Unfortunately, the gods have cursed her so that her predictions will not be believed. As indeed they aren’t.

Answer 26

Cassandra, prophesy

Question 27

Night comes. The Greek fleet sails back from ________. ______ lets the Greeks out of the horse. They kill the Trojan ________ and open the city gates for their friends who are just arriving at the city.

Answer 27

Tenedos, Sinon, sentries

Question 28

Meanwhile, in the city, _______ is asleep. The Trojan warrior _______ appears to him in his dream, all covered in blood and dirt as he was on the day he was killed by the Greek hero _________.

Answer 28

Aeneas, Hector, Achilles

Question 29

_______ tells Aeneas that ______ is about to be captured. He tells him to gather up his household gods and go found a new city for them.

Answer 29

Hector, Troy

Question 30

Aeneas wakes up and climbs up to his _____. From there, he hears a terrible clamor, and can see numerous houses burning.

Answer 30

roof

Question 31

His first thought is to arm himself for battle. Then, at his door appears ________, the priest of _______, who is carrying some images of the gods, and leading his grandson.

Answer 31

Pantheus, Apollo

Question 32

Aeneas asks _______ where they should take their stand to defend _____, but Pantheus tells him that the city is done for.

Answer 32

Pantheus, Troy

Question 33

All the same, ______ rushes into the fight, and gathers up some companions. Together, they fight with suicidal courage.

Answer 33

Aeneas

Question 34

They kill some _____ and take their equipment. With these disguises, they are able to join the ranks of other Greeks and kill them through ______.

Answer 34

Greeks, trickery

Question 35

But then _________, one of Aeneas’s comrades, who also happens to be the husband of ________, sees his wife being dragged out of ________’s temple by some Greek warriors. Like a madman, he rushes into the fight, and everyone else follows.

Answer 35

Coroebus, Cassandra, Minerva

Question 36

In the chaos, they are hit by a bunch of missiles thrown by _______ hiding out of top of the temple – they mistook ________ and company for Greeks because of their stolen armor.

Answer 36

Trojan, Aeneas

Question 37

Realizing the Trojans’ deception, the Greeks rally, and a furious battle breaks out in front of the ________. Many Trojans are killed, including ________.

Answer 37

temple, Coroebus

Question 38

But then the Trojans are distracted when they realize that ______’s palace is being besieged. Aeneas and some other men sneak in a back entrance to help out.

Answer 38

Priam

Question 39

They make their way to the _____, where they knock a ______ off onto the Greeks below. But there are too many of them, and they keep coming on.

Answer 39

roof, tower

Question 40

The most fearsome of the Greeks is ________, the son of _______.

Answer 40

Neoptolemus, Achilles

Question 41

Meanwhile, ______ puts on his armor and prepares to face down the _______, old and decrepit as he is.

Answer 41

Priam, Greeks

Question 42

When his wife ______ sees him, however, she tells him to stop being such a fool. She makes him come over with her and some women who are clinging to an _____ for safety. (They are assuming that the Greeks will not violate the holiness of the place.)

Answer 42

Hecuba, altar

Question 43

Just then, ______, one of ______’s sons, rushes in, wounded, with __________ in pursuit. Neoptolemus catches up to him and kills him.

Answer 43

Polites, Priam, Neoptolemus

Question 44

Enraged, ______ prepares to attack ________. Priam reminds Neoptolemus about how his father, ______, once had pity on him when he gave _______’s body back for burial. (This scene is described in Book 23 of Homer’s Iliad.) Priam tells Neoptolemus that his horrible behavior makes it seem as if he isn’t a true son of Achilles.

Answer 44

Priam, Neoptolemus, Achilles, Hector

Question 45

_____ feebly attacks his younger foe, but does not succeed in wounding him. Instead, __________ drags Priam through the blood of his son to the altar, and kills him there.

Answer 45

Priam, Neoptolemus

Question 46

______, who has been watching this whole scene, suddenly thinks of his own father, ________.
On his way home, he runs into _______. She is trying to hide, afraid of both the Trojans and the Greeks.

Answer 46

Aeneas, Anchises, Helen

Question 47

_______ is about to kill her, when his mother, _______, appears and tells him not to blame her. She says that what is happening to Troy is not _______’s fault; it is the will of the gods.

Answer 47

Aeneas, Venus, Helen

Question 48

______ takes the mist away from _______’s sight so he can see various gods at work destroying the city.
Then Aeneas runs home, finds his ______, and tells him to get ready: they’re going to head for the hills!

Answer 48

Venus, Aeneas, father

Question 49

But ________ refuses. He says that he has lived and suffered long enough.
_______, Aeneas’s wife, and _______, his son, try to bring Anchises around, but he keeps refusing.

Answer 49

Anchises, Creusa, Ascanius

Question 50

Finally, Aeneas gathers his weapons in order to go out and die fighting. ________ tells him to take her and ________ along with him.

Answer 50

Creusa, Ascanius

Question 51

Just then, flames burst out of _______’s head, but do not burn him. ________ prays for a sign from the gods, and suddenly a shooting star flashes overhead.

Answer 51

Ascanius, Anchises

Question 52

________ accepts the sign and decides to go with Aeneas.
Now thinking of survival instead of suicide, Aeneas takes his father on his shoulders. He gives his father the images of the household gods to carry. Then he takes ________ by the hand.

Answer 52

Anchises, Ascanius

Question 53

After Aeneas tells some servants that they will meet up at a certain ________ tree by an inland gate of the city, they head off, with Creusa following behind. In a moment of confusion, however, Aeneas ducks down some alleyways, and ______ gets lost. Aeneas doesn’t realize this until they get to the cypress tree.

Answer 53

cypress, Creusa

Question 54

He goes back alone through the flaming city, looking for her, but does not find her. Suddenly, her ghost appears and tells him that it is too late. She tells him to go to where the _____ river flows (i.e., in Italy). There he will get a new ________ – and a new wife.

Answer 54

Tiber, kingdom

Question 55

Aeneas accepts ______’s words and heads back to the ______ tree, where many refugees have now gathered. Together, they set out on their voyage.

Answer 55

Creusa, cypress