Fun Trivia : Virgil

Structure Sub-topic of: Authors T-Z Quizzes Interesting Questions, Facts and Information There are a total of 20 general entries. Special Topics Aeneid Trivia 2 Aeneid The Aeneid Vergil's Aeneid Book 1 Vergil's 'The Aeneid': The Founding of Rome P. Vergili Maronis Aeneidos Liber Primus P. Vergili Maronis Aeneidos Liber Secundus

Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information

Virgil

The hero of "The Aeneid" is the Trojan hero Aeneas. Who was his lovely mother?

Virgil's 'Aeneid'


Venus. His mother was none other than the Roman goddess of love. His father was Anchises, a Trojan prince, who was later crippled because he slept with a goddess. Granted, Venus disguised herself as a Phrygian princess and seduced him.



Aeneas certainly was not a philanderer, but he did have three famous consorts throughout his career. What are their names, and what is the correct chronological order?

Virgil's 'Aeneid'


Creusa, Dido, Lavinia. Creusa was Aeneas' first wife, who was left behind during the sack of Troy. Dido was his short-lived love in Carthage, but he soon moved on to woo Lavinia in Latium (in modern Italy). Amata was never closely associated with Aeneas; she was the wife of King Latinus of Latium.



Aeneas was traditionally held to be the founder and progenitor of the Roman race. At one point in the Aeneid, our hero has a Nostradamic vision of all the future Romans. Where does this encounter occur?

Virgil's 'Aeneid'


The Underworld. In the Underworld, Aeneas glimpses the souls of his future descendants, as they await the right moment to drink of the river Lethe (forgetfulness). Upon drinking from this river, the souls forget their past lives and they return to the land of the living. It's an interesting take on metempsychosis.



To provide Aeneas with safe passage to Italy, Venus bribed Neptune with the death of the Trojan helmsman on Aeneas' ship. Somnus, god of sleep, caused this man to doze off, and he fell off the ship. He washed up on Lucania in Italy, where the native Lucani killed him. What was this helmsman's name?

Virgil's 'Aeneid'


Palinurus. Later on, Aeneas is reunited with Palinurus, or at least with his shade, in the Underworld. Interestingly, Palinurus' name was given to a genus of spiny lobsters.



Mezentius was the blasphemous, nefarious king of the Etruscans. He was called the "contemptor divum" (contemptor of the gods). He was exiled by his subjects for his extremely cruel method of execution. What was this horrific punishment?

Virgil's 'Aeneid'


The punished were executed by being tied to dead bodies. Mezentius is depicted as an evil of evils. Virgil was careful to make the Etruscans into the victims of Mezentius' tyranny, rather than to pile upon them the cruelties previously attributed to them by Greek writers. Thus, Mezentius became the scapegoat while the Etruscans were portrayed as brave allies instead of barbarous savages.



Which fearsome warrior maiden fought alongside the forces of Turnus against the Trojans?

Virgil's 'Aeneid'


Camilla. Unlike Hippolyta, Penthesilea, and Antiope, Camilla was not an Amazon queen but the queen of the Volsci.



On the Ionian isles called the Strophades, Aeneas and others were accosted by the same group of monsters that did battle with the Argonauts in another tale. With help of the sons of Boreas, the Argonauts drove off these monstrosities, but the Trojans were not so lucky. Who were these bothersome monsters that managed to put the valiant Trojans to flight?

Virgil's 'Aeneid'


The Harpies. These harpies were so ferocious, apparently, that the Trojans fled in a hurry from the Strophades, passing a dozen other islands including Zacynthos and Ithaca.



In the epic, a certain giant's fate is mentioned. Wounded by Minerva, this giant was trapped beneath Mount Aetna on Sicily, and to this day, his writhing causes volcanic eruptions and tremors. What is the name of this giant?

Virgil's 'Aeneid'


Enceladus. For this question, Typhon is incorrect because, although this was also a monster buried beneath Mount Aetna, Typhon was not a giant. In Greece, an earthquake is still called a "strike of Enceladus".



What was the name of the beautiful nymph who was given to Aeolus (Regent of the Winds) by Juno as a bribe to stir up a storm?

Virgil's 'Aeneid'


Deiopea. Juno played dirty in the Aeneid, as you can see. Deiopea was the fairest nymph of Juno's team of fourteen retainers.



To Nisus and Euryalus, there was a single what?

Nisus and Euryalus - Virgil's 'Aeneid'


Love. 'Nisus erat portae custos, acerrimus armis, et iuxta comes Euryalus, quo pulchrior alter non fuit Aeneadum* Troiana neque induit arma, his amor unus erat pariterque in bella reubant' *this form of the genitive had stopped being used by Virgil's time, but he used it in the way we would use 'thou' - 'Nisus was the guard of the gate, very fierce in arms, and nearby his comrade, Euryalus, and none of the followers of' Aeneas was more handsome than he, nor did a more handsome man put on Trojan armour To these men there was a single love and they used to charge into war side by side'



Whilst 'other creatures throughout all the lands were easing their cares and their hearts, forgetting their labours, in sleep' what were the foremost leaders of the Trojans doing?

Nisus and Euryalus - Virgil's 'Aeneid'


having a council. 'cetera per terras omnes animalia somno laxabant curas et corda oblita laborum: ductores Teucrum primi, delecta iuventus, consilium summis regni de rebus habebant, quid facerent quisve Aeneae iam nuntius esset.' - 'other creatures throughout all the lands were easing their cares and their hearts, forgetting their labours, in sleep: the foremost leaders of the Trojans, a select group of young warriors, were having a council about important matters of state, what they should do or who might now be a messenger to Aeneas.'



Nisus and Euryalus go to ask the leaders to let them go and ambush the Rutuli. Where does Nisus say that they have noticed a place for an ambush?

Nisus and Euryalus - Virgil's 'Aeneid'


at a fork in the road. 'locum insidiis conspeximus ipsi, qui patet in bivio portae quae proxima ponto' - 'we have ourselves noticed a place for an ambush which lies open at a fork in the road from the gate which is nearest to the sea'



Nisus says that the road will not deceive them (he and Euryalus) as they go. How do they know their way around so well?

Nisus and Euryalus - Virgil's 'Aeneid'


from their frequent hunting. 'nec nos via fallet euntes: vidimus obscuris primam sub vallibus urbem venatu adsiduo et totum cognovimus amnem.' - 'Nor will the road deceive us as we go: we have seen the outskirts of the city from down in the dark valleys in (our) frequent hunting and we have got to know the whole river'



As Nisus and Euryalus leave, who is giving instruction to be carried to his father?

Nisus and Euryalus - Virgil's 'Aeneid'


Iulus. 'nec non et pulcher Iulus, ante annos animumque gerens curamque virilem, multa patri mandata dabat portanda; sed aurae omnia discerpunt et nubibus irrita donant' - 'And also handsome Iulus, displaying the spirit and responsibility of a man, was giving many instructions to be carried to his father; but the breezes scatter them all and give them, useless, to the clouds.'



N&E make for the enemy camp, but are destined to do what first?

Nisus and Euryalus - Virgil's 'Aeneid'


Kill many. 'castra inimica petunt, multis tamen ante futuri exitio.' - 'they make for the enemy camp, yet destined to kill many first.'



How does Nisus attack Rhamnes?

Nisus and Euryalus - Virgil's 'Aeneid'


with his sword. '.. simul ense superbum Rhamnetem aggreditur, qui forte tapetibus altis extructus toto proflabat pectore somnum.' - 'at the same time with his sword he attacks the proud Rhamnes, who, by chance, propped up on high pillows, was snoring deeply as he slept.'



Who was the commander of the cavalry sent ahead from the city of the Latini?

Nisus and Euryalus - Virgil's 'Aeneid'


Volcens. 'interea praemissi equites ex urbe Latina cetera dum legio campis instructa moratur, ibant et Turno regi responsa ferebant, ter centum, scutati omnes, Volcente magistro.' - 'meanwhile cavalry, sent ahead from the city of the Latini, while the rest of the army waits, drawn up on the plains, were on the move and were taking replies to King Turnus, three hundred, all carrying shields, with Volcens as their commander.'



The cavalry see Euryalus wearing a helmet which betrays him, and Volcens tries to stop Nisus and Euryalus to question them, but they run away into the woods. Volcens, furious, insists they must pay the penalty and goes for Euryalus. As he does so, how does Virgil describe Nisus' reaction?

Nisus and Euryalus - Virgil's 'Aeneid'


Both. 'tum vero exterritus, amens, conclamat Nisus nec se celare tenebris amplius aut tantum potuit perferre dolorem:' - 'Then indeed, Nisus, terrified and out of his mind, shouted out and he was not able to hide himself away in the shadow any longer nor was he able to endure such great grief:'



Describing Euryalus as he dies, Virgil uses an idea from which other poet?

Nisus and Euryalus - Virgil's 'Aeneid'


Catullus. The idea Virgil uses is: 'volvitur Euryalus leto, pulchrosque per artus it cruor inque umeros cervix collapsa recumbit: purpureus veluti cum flos succisus aratro languescit moriens, lassove papavera collo demisere caput pluvia cum forte gravantur.' - 'Euryalus rolled over in death and blood travelled along his handsome limbs, and his neck having collapsed, sank down onto his shoulders: just like when a crimson flower, cut down by the plough, dying, begins to droop, or the poppies with a weary neck when, by chance, they are weighed down by the rain, hang their head down.' This idea is found in Catullus poem XI and is used to increase the pathos of the moment.