Aeneid scholarship

Question 1

Jenkyns on poets

Answer 1

‘Poets gave you immortality in the future’

Question 2

Jenkyns on Aeneas as a character

Answer 2

‘Aeneas can be despairing, inconstant, imperfect and anxious’

Question 3

Jenkyns on Aeneas and destiny

Answer 3

‘Aeneas has the burden of destiny imposed on him’

Question 4

Jenkyns of Aeneas in the first half

Answer 4

‘In the first half of the poem Aeneas can be uncertain and misled’

Question 5

Jenkyns on Aeneas in the second half

Answer 5

‘In the second half of the poem he is just moving irresistibly forward to victory’

Question 6

Jenkyns on Achilles as a hero

Answer 6

Aeneas is not a Stoic hero

Question 7

Jenkyns on Aeneas’ faults and feelings

Answer 7

Aeneas’ faults are that he feels too much

Question 8

Jenkyns on Carthage

Answer 8

‘Carthage is authentically noble’

Question 9

Jenkyns on cities

Answer 9

‘Cities are places of civility and pleasure and entertainment’

Question 10

Morgan on the gods (x2)

Answer 10

‘The gods get involved in these events because it matters to them’

‘Gods are critical to the poem and make the story of the Aeneid’

Question 11

Morgan on Allecto (x2)

Answer 11

‘Alecto is a source of horror and conflict’

‘Alecto provides the material for the second half of the poem’

Question 12

Morgan on Anchises

Answer 12

‘(Anchises) is not an important presence in Aeneas’ activity’

Question 13

Morgan on Ascanius

Answer 13

‘Ascanius is not a significant figure in the poem’

Question 14

Morgan on the plot (x2)

Answer 14

‘The plot is generated by women’

‘The plot of the Aeneid is essentially generated by Juno’s determination to delay everything’

Question 15

Morgan on Turnus

Answer 15

‘Turnus is an impressive figure’

Question 16

Morgan on Aeneas (x2)

Answer 16

‘Aeneas is neither entirely commendable nor entirely despicable’

Aeneas is a ‘man of action, not a man of words’

Question 17

Marshall on Aeneas as a hero

Answer 17

‘Aeneas is an unlikely hero’

Question 18

Marshall on the focus of readers

Answer 18

‘Virgil insists that our focus in not on the greatness of Aeneas but on the greatness of Rome’

Question 19

Marshall on Aeneas’ role in the epic

Answer 19

Aeneas plays ‘a rather passive role in the poem’

Question 20

Marshall on Aeneas and fate

Answer 20

‘Aeneas is portrayed as an agent of fate’

Question 21

Anderson

Answer 21

Aeneas’ piety can lead to both creative and destructive acts

Question 22

Nortwick

Answer 22

Aeneas has at last succumbed to the violence against which he has struggled for so long

Question 23

Hardie

Answer 23

The parade of heroes suggests the roman empire is part of the preordained workings of the universe.

Question 24

Williams on what Turnus represents

Answer 24

Turnus represents a barbaric and antique way of life which can have no part in new civilisation

Question 25

Williams on why Turnus and Aeneas fight

Answer 25

‘Turnus fights for his own glory; Aeneas fights in the bitter fulfilment of duty’

Question 26

Williams on the shield of Aeneas

Answer 26

‘In picking up the shield, he literally shoulders Rome’s history’ Aeneas

Question 27

Gransden on Aeneas

Answer 27

‘No more than a puppet’ Aeneas

Question 28

Gransden on fate

Answer 28

‘The concept of fate … dominates the Aeneid’

Question 29

Gransden on the theme of the Aeneid

Answer 29

‘The real theme of the Aeneid … was the founding of Rome and its subsequent rise under Augustus to its greatest glory’

Question 30

Gransden on Aeneas and Augustus

Answer 30

‘Aeneas could be seen as a prefiguration of Augustus himself’

Question 31

Gransden on the plot of the epic

Answer 31

Most of the plot of the Aeneid is generated by Juno

Question 32

Camps on Aeneas (x3)

Answer 32

‘He has no personal motive’ ‘Burdened by responsibility’ ‘Ruthless in pursuit of what he sees as his duty’

Question 33

Rutherford

Answer 33

‘Turnus is hopeless due to the manipulation of the gods’

Question 34

Sowerby

Answer 34

‘The relationship between father and son is the closest bond in the poem’

Question 35

Armstrong

Answer 35

Ascanius is a catalyst for change

Question 36

Penwill

Answer 36

The shield represents a new and final phase of the hero’s roles