The Aeneid: Book 5

Question 1

As they are sailing away, the Trojans see a huge fire burning on the shore. They can guess what it is coming from. (______’s funeral pyre.)

Answer 1

Dido

Question 2

Shortly afterward – as seems to happen whenever the Trojans set out anywhere – a ______ comes up, and they decide to head for shore.

Answer 2

storm

Question 3

They land in _____, coincidentally, at exactly the spot where they buried Anchises – coincidentally again, exactly one year before. This is in the region of Sicily ruled by ________, another exile from Troy.

Answer 3

Sicily, Acestes

Question 4

Aeneas decrees a feast day and ritual commemoration of his ______. He also says that in _____ days they will hold athletic contests in the man’s honor.

Answer 4

father, nine

Question 5

Then, while Aeneas is making ritual offerings to his father, something weird happens: a giant _____ crawls out of the _________’s burial mound and curls up around it. Then it slithers around all the ritual objects, eats off the altar, and then heads back under the tomb.

Answer 5

snake, Anchises

Question 6

Aeneas wonders if the snake is a local _____, or if it is the spirit of his father. He proceeds with the _______ anyway.

Answer 6

god, sacrifice

Question 7

When the ______ day after that rolls around, it is time for some athletic contests. Both Trojans and local ______ are competing.

Answer 7

ninth, Sicilians

Question 8

The first event is a ______-_____. The idea is for the competitors – teams of rowers in long galleys – to sail out to sea, round a certain half-submerged rock designated as the turning post, and then be the first to make it back to shore. _____ ships are competing.

Answer 8

boat-race, Four

Question 9

On the way out, the ship commanded by a man called ______ is in the lead. He keeps telling his pilot (the guy who mans the tiller) to come in close around the rock, but __________ (that’s the guy’s name) is afraid of crashing, and makes a wide turn.

Answer 9

Gyas, Menoetes

Question 10

This gives ________, the captain of the next ship, to squeeze in between Gyas and the rock, making a sharper turn that puts him in the lead for the homestretch.

Answer 10

Cloanthus

Question 11

Gyas is so mad that he throws _______ overboard and takes the tiller himself. ________ swims over to the rock and climbs on top of it.

Answer 11

Menoetes, Menoetes

Question 12

The two ships in the rear are commanded by guys named __________ and _________.

Answer 12

Sergestus, Mnestheus

Question 13

________ is in front – until he gets greedy, tries to cut the turn too close, and smashes up his oars against the rock. __________ rounds the turn ahead of him.

Answer 13

Sergestus, Mnestheus

Question 14

Next Mnestheus passes ______, who is having trouble acting as captain and pilot at the same time.

Answer 14

Gyas

Question 15

Now Mnestheus and _________ are competing for first place.

Answer 15

Cloanthus

Question 16

________ prays to the sea-gods for help. Sure enough, a bunch of divinities show up to help him on his way to victory.

Answer 16

Cloanthus

Question 17

Cloanthus comes in first, followed by ________, with Gyas coming after him, and _________ bringing up the rear in his disabled craft.

Answer 17

Mnestheus, Sergestus

Question 18

_______ gives prizes to each of them.

Answer 18

Aeneas

Question 19

The next event is a ________. It looks like a guy called _______ is going to win it, but then he slips in some blood and guts left over from one of the sacrificial animals.

Answer 19

footrace, Nisus

Question 20

When he falls, he makes sure to trip up the guy behind him, so his boyfriend ________ can speed ahead to victory.

Answer 20

Euryalus

Question 21

After the race, the guy tripped up by ______ demands a consolation prize. So does Nisus. _______ obliges both of them.

Answer 21

Nisus, Aeneas

Question 22

Next comes _______. The first challenger to stand up is a Trojan guy named _______.

Answer 22

boxing, Dares

Question 23

For a long time, nobody has the guts to take him on, but then, after some prodding, a Sicilian old-timer named ________ steps up.

Answer 23

Entellus

Question 24

The fight goes on pretty evenly at first, though then _______ puts all his weight into a punch he fails to land, and falls right on his face. King _______ comes and helps him up.

Answer 24

Entellus, Acestes

Question 25

The fight goes on, however, and now that Entellus’s pride has been hurt he starts giving _____ a royal thumping. Eventually, _________ steps in to stop the fight.

Answer 25

Dares, Aeneas

Question 26

As a pretext, he tells everyone that the gods must be supporting ________, and that their will must be followed. (Though we haven’t seen any indication that the gods were helping him.)

Answer 26

Entellus

Question 27

When Entellus claims his prize, a _____, to prove he’s still got it he punches the creature between the horns, shattering its skull, killing it.

Answer 27

bull

Question 28

Next comes the _______ contest. Aeneas raises the _____ of a ship on the plain. To the top is tethered a _____, which flaps around helplessly. The idea is to shoot the bird.

Answer 28

archery, mast, bird

Question 29

A guy called ________ shoots first. He hits the mast, but misses the bird.

Answer 29

Hippocoön

Question 30

Next, ________ shoots. He misses the bird, but cuts the cord. The bird flutters away.

Answer 30

Mnestheus

Question 31

Now it is _______’s turn. He is the brother of ______, a famous Trojan archer who died in the war against the Greeks. After saying a prayer to the spirit of his brother, Eurytion takes aim, shoots, and hits the escaping bird.

Answer 31

Eurytion’s, Pandarus

Question 32

Last up is the Sicilian King _______, who now has nothing to shoot at. Just to prove he still has strength in him, he shoots an arrow into the air. In mid-flight, the arrow catches fire and turns into a shooting star.

Answer 32

Acestes

Question 33

Aeneas gives ________ first prize. Second prize goes to Eurytion, third to Mnestheus, and fourth to ___________.

Answer 33

Acestes, Hippocoön

Question 34

Next, the youth take part in a display of _______ maneuvers.

Answer 34

cavalry

Question 35

Then things take a turn for the worse. Determined to stir up trouble, Juno sends ____, the messenger of the gods, down to where the Trojan women are gathered on the shore. There, they are lamenting the journeys that await them.

Answer 35

Iris

Question 36

Iris takes the form of a Trojan woman, ______. In this disguise, she plays to the women’s discontent, and tells them to burn the ships. She adds that _________ appeared to her in a dream, and instructed her to do so.

Answer 36

Beroe, Cassandra

Question 37

Then _____ hurls a torch at one of the ships.

Answer 37

Iris

Question 38

One of the Trojan women, ______, shouts out that the woman standing before them can’t be Beroe, who is sick – it has to be a goddess!

Answer 38

Pyrgo

Question 39

If there was any doubt about that, it vanishes when ______ springs back up to the heavens.

Answer 39

Iris

Question 40

Although the women are at first confused about what to do, it isn’t long before they start _______ the ships.

Answer 40

burning

Question 41

When word reaches the men, ________ is the first to rush back to the shore, on horseback. The others come hurrying after.

Answer 41

Ascanius

Question 42

The women, _______ of what they have done, disperse, but it is too late: the ships are ablaze.

Answer 42

ashamed

Question 43

In desperation, Aeneas prays to ______: “Either save the ships or strike me dead with a lightning bolt.”

Answer 43

Jupiter

Question 44

______ sends a storm and the rain quenches the fires. All but ______ ships are saved.

Answer 44

Jupiter, four

Question 45

After this disturbing incident, Aeneas is confused about what to do. ______, a wise old Trojan, suggests that they should leave behind in Sicily the number of people the burned ships would have carried. They can leave the women and the old, who can found a new city in Sicily.

Answer 45

Nantes

Question 46

Aeneas isn’t sure about this, but then, in the sky, he sees an image of _______. The image tells him to follow Nantes’s plan.

Answer 46

Anchises

Question 47

It says that a difficult war awaits them in _____, meaning they should take only their toughest warriors.

Answer 47

Italy

Question 48

Also, it says that, upon arriving in Italy, he will first have to visit the ________, where he will learn the future of his people. He will also see his father’s spirit, which is in ________, the abode of the blessed, not Tartarus, the black pit where the souls of evil men go. Then the apparition vanishes.

Answer 48

underworld, Elysium

Question 49

The next day, Aeneas takes up the proposal with _______, who is fine with letting the Trojans stay in his land. They make up a list of everyone who is staying behind, and Aeneas plots out their new city. (This guy’s a serious control-freak.)

Answer 49

Acestes

Question 50

A few days later, after much feasting together, Aeneas and the remaining ships head out. At this point, ______, who has been watching everything, turns to _______ and asks that Aeneas be granted safe passage to Italy.

Answer 50

Venus, Neptune

Question 51

________ says that Aeneas will get there safely, only losing one man. Then he calms the sea.

Answer 51

Neptune

Question 52

That night, after a day of calm sailing, the rowers are relaxing on their benches. ________, the pilot, is still awake, making sure everything is running smoothly.

Answer 52

Palinurus

Question 53

Then, all of a sudden, ________, the god of sleep, descends from the heavens and takes the form of _______, another Trojan. In this disguise, he tries to convince Palinurus to go to sleep.

Answer 53

Somnus, Phorbas

Question 54

But then the god shakes some dew off the magical bough he carries in his hand. This dew, from the River ______ in the underworld, makes Palinurus incredibly sleepy.

Answer 54

Lethe

Question 55

Finally, ________ tumbles overboard, breaking off a piece of the stern and rudder and taking them with him. He calls for help but no one hears him. The ship sails on, and a little while later is passing by the rocks where the ______ hang out.

Answer 55

Palinurus, Sirens

Question 56

______ hears the surf breaking off the rocks, and takes the helm. He laments the loss of his friend, but blames him for trusting too much in a calm sea.

Answer 56

Aeneas