Quiz Guide: Aenead Book 6(note: you are responsible for visiting some links in the guide)
- Aeneas's guide in the underworld will be Diana of the Crossroads and the Cumaean Sibyl. What additional background story about Diana of the Crossroads (a.k.a. Hecate) or the Sibyl does Ovid tell in his metamorphosis?
- Describe what happens physically to the Sibyl and the cave when Apollo speaks through her after Aeneas prays to him.
- When Aeneas asks to visit the shade of his dead father Anchises, the Sibyl says it is easy to get there. What, according to her, is more difficult?
- What task must Aeneas successfully complete in order to know if he is fated to visit his dead father in the underworld?
- Virgil addresses the gods directly in this book, and prays, "May it be right" to do what he is about to do. What is that?
- Aeneas and his guide discover several personified ills at the entrance of Orcus (Pluto/Hades/underworld). What are three of them?
- At the entrance, in the "jaws of Orcus," Aeneas meets some avenging women we have seen before, as well as a personified (female) quality with "viperish hair." Who is this?
- Name two monsters that Aenas discovers at the gate of the underworld.
- At the river of Acheron, a ferryman separates two classes of people, only one of which can cross. Explain.
- Identify and describe the dog that guards the underworld (make sure to use Virgil's description, and not another writer's).
- At the edge of the river "over which no soul returns," Aeneas sees several classes of people who exist in limbo, including dead babies, the falsely accused, the suicides, and the inhabitants of the Fields of Mourning. Who occupies this last place? What is the story of Caeneus, who wanders there?
- What acquaintance does Aeneas see in the Fields of Mourning? Describe their conversation.
- In the area reserved for famous soldiers, Aeneas finds a maimed son of Priam. Who is he, and what happened to him?
- The Sibyl tells Aeneas about an area of the underworld he cannot enter: a world in which "iron" Rhadamanthus judges and Tisiphone, a fury who avenges murder. These punish Titans, those guilty of hubris, betrayal, cheaters, misers, adulterers, and those who commit incest. Describe one such person, his crime, and his punishment.
- After Aeneas leaves his token on the sill of the goddess, he enters the Blessed Groves. What kinds of people live there? Why do you think Musaeus is in the center?
- When Aeneas finally finds Anchises, his father is watching the "souls of a thousand nations." What are they doing, and what is the noise they make compared to?
- Anchises shows Aeneas his own descendants up to and including Virgil's present day. Describe what is said about either Augustus or Marcellus, Augustus's nephew.
Essay: Virgil reminds us of the "two gates of sleep" that we saw in the Odyssey. What are these gates, and which one do Aeneas and Sibyl exit from? Why do you think they pick that gate?