The Aeneid: Book 5 Flashcards
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.)
Dido
Shortly afterward – as seems to happen whenever the Trojans set out anywhere – a ______ comes up, and they decide to head for shore.
storm
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.
Sicily, Acestes
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.
father, nine
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.
snake, Anchises
Aeneas wonders if the snake is a local _____, or if it is the spirit of his father. He proceeds with the _______ anyway.
god, sacrifice
When the ______ day after that rolls around, it is time for some athletic contests. Both Trojans and local ______ are competing.
ninth, Sicilians
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.
boat-race, Four
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.
Gyas, Menoetes
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.
Cloanthus
Gyas is so mad that he throws _______ overboard and takes the tiller himself. ________ swims over to the rock and climbs on top of it.
Menoetes, Menoetes
The two ships in the rear are commanded by guys named __________ and _________.
Sergestus, Mnestheus
________ 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.
Sergestus, Mnestheus
Next Mnestheus passes ______, who is having trouble acting as captain and pilot at the same time.
Gyas
Now Mnestheus and _________ are competing for first place.
Cloanthus
________ prays to the sea-gods for help. Sure enough, a bunch of divinities show up to help him on his way to victory.
Cloanthus
Cloanthus comes in first, followed by ________, with Gyas coming after him, and _________ bringing up the rear in his disabled craft.
Mnestheus, Sergestus
_______ gives prizes to each of them.
Aeneas
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.
footrace, Nisus
When he falls, he makes sure to trip up the guy behind him, so his boyfriend ________ can speed ahead to victory.
Euryalus
After the race, the guy tripped up by ______ demands a consolation prize. So does Nisus. _______ obliges both of them.
Nisus, Aeneas
Next comes _______. The first challenger to stand up is a Trojan guy named _______.
boxing, Dares
For a long time, nobody has the guts to take him on, but then, after some prodding, a Sicilian old-timer named ________ steps up.
Entellus
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.
Entellus, Acestes
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.
Dares, Aeneas
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.)
Entellus
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.
bull
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.
archery, mast, bird
A guy called ________ shoots first. He hits the mast, but misses the bird.
Hippocoön
Next, ________ shoots. He misses the bird, but cuts the cord. The bird flutters away.
Mnestheus
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.
Eurytion’s, Pandarus
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.
Acestes
Aeneas gives ________ first prize. Second prize goes to Eurytion, third to Mnestheus, and fourth to ___________.
Acestes, Hippocoön
Next, the youth take part in a display of _______ maneuvers.
cavalry
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.
Iris
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.
Beroe, Cassandra
Then _____ hurls a torch at one of the ships.
Iris
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!
Pyrgo
If there was any doubt about that, it vanishes when ______ springs back up to the heavens.
Iris
Although the women are at first confused about what to do, it isn’t long before they start _______ the ships.
burning
When word reaches the men, ________ is the first to rush back to the shore, on horseback. The others come hurrying after.
Ascanius
The women, _______ of what they have done, disperse, but it is too late: the ships are ablaze.
ashamed
In desperation, Aeneas prays to ______: “Either save the ships or strike me dead with a lightning bolt.”
Jupiter
______ sends a storm and the rain quenches the fires. All but ______ ships are saved.
Jupiter, four
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.
Nantes
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.
Anchises
It says that a difficult war awaits them in _____, meaning they should take only their toughest warriors.
Italy
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.
underworld, Elysium
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.)
Acestes
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.
Venus, Neptune
________ says that Aeneas will get there safely, only losing one man. Then he calms the sea.
Neptune
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.
Palinurus
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.
Somnus, Phorbas
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.
Lethe
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.
Palinurus, Sirens
______ 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.
Aeneas
