Quiz Guide: Aenead Book 1 (Two Essays). I will ask everyone to answer question 4. I will pick one other essay question from 1-3.
- While Odysseus is opposed in his long journey by Poseidon for blinding his son Polythemus, Aeneas is opposed on his journey to found Italy (Latium) by Juno (Hera) who is still upset by the "judgment of Paris." Similarly, while Odysseus (Ulysses) was aided by Athena (Minerva/ Pallas), the goddess of war and wisdom, Aeneas is aided by the goddess of love (Aprodite/ Venus/ Cythereas), who is his mother.
Discuss Aeneas's arrival at Dido's city of Tyre and compare it to Odysseus's arrival at Nausicaa's land of Scheria (alo known as Phaeacia). How does Aeneas's goddess patron (Venus) help him gain a friendly reception? How and why is her strategy different from the strategy Athena uses to gain Odysseus a friendly reception at Scheria?
- Aeneas's goddess enemy Juno opposes Aeneas not only because he is Trojan, kin to Paris, but also because of a prophecy that an offshoot of the Trojan race will overthrow Dido's city of Tyre, which Juno loves best (she even keeps her chariot and armor there). Give some examples of foreshadowing of this overthrow in Book 1. If this book were made into a movie, what strategy might be used to foreshadow in this way?
- When Aeneas arrives at the city of Tyre, he is able to walk back and forth in its temple undisturbed. Why? and what story does he read on its walls? Be specific, giving examples of episodes from the story.
- While Odysseus is initially described as aνδρα πολύτροπον (andra polutropon or "a man of twists and turns"), Aeneas is described as "vir pietate" or "man of duty or devotion" to "fato" (fate or destiny) as well as always associated with "arma" or war. Jupiter (Zeus) gives us a glimpse into this "destiny," while Juno fights against it. So we know that Aeneas's fate will be achieved by violence, and that those who get in the way will be forcefully overcome.
Write an essay about a time (in history, in literature or film, or in your own life), when someone's sense of destiny meant terrible sacrifice or had dire consequences for another.