The Aeneid, Book I quiz

From The Aeneid by Virgil

Book 1 of The Aeneid: Juno's storm wrecks Aeneas' fleet, Jupiter reveals Rome's destiny, and Dido welcomes the Trojans as Cupid kindles her fatal love.

12 questions · about 13 minutes

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Questions and answers

  1. Question 1. Whom does Juno persuade to raise the storm against the Trojan fleet?

    • Neptune, the god of the sea
    • Correct answer: Aeolus, the keeper of the winds
    • Vulcan, the god of fire and forge
    • Mercury, the messenger of the gods

    Juno bribes Aeolus with the nymph Deiopeia; he strikes the mountainside with his spear and releases the imprisoned winds.

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  2. Question 2. How many Trojan ships gather in the sheltered Libyan harbor after the storm?

    • Three
    • Correct answer: Seven
    • Twelve
    • Twenty

    Seven ships — 'the thin remainders of the scatter'd fleet' — reach the harbor, though Aeneas crossed from Troy with twenty.

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  3. Question 3. Who calms the storm and rebukes the winds for invading his realm?

    • Jupiter
    • Venus
    • Correct answer: Neptune
    • Triton

    Neptune, displeased at the intrusion on his watery kingdom, rebukes the winds, smooths the sea, and frees the stranded ships with help from Cymothoe and Triton.

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  4. Question 4. What does Jupiter foretell to comfort the weeping Venus?

    • That Aeneas will return in triumph to rebuild the fallen city of Troy
    • Correct answer: That Aeneas will wage a winning war in Italy and his line will found Rome
    • That Juno will be cast out of Olympus for opposing the decrees of fate
    • That Carthage will rule the world under Dido's long line of descendants

    Jupiter promises that Aeneas will conquer in Italy, Ascanius will found Alba Longa, and Romulus will build Rome — an empire without bounds or end.

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  5. Question 5. Why does Aeneas fail to recognize his own mother when she meets him in the woods?

    • Correct answer: She has taken the form of a young huntress with bow and quiver
    • She speaks to him only as a bodiless voice from inside a cloud
    • She visits him in a dream while he lies asleep on the shore
    • She has assumed the shape of his drowned pilot from the storm

    Venus appears dressed as a virgin huntress, and Aeneas only knows her as she departs, 'by her graceful walk, the Queen of Love is known.'

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  6. Question 6. What plan does Venus carry out to protect Aeneas in Carthage?

    • Correct answer: She has Cupid take Ascanius' shape and fill Dido's heart with love
    • She asks Jupiter to strike Carthage's rising walls with his thunder
    • She hides the whole Trojan fleet in a cloud until it can be repaired
    • She persuades Juno to seal a marriage alliance between the peoples

    Fearing the Tyrians and Juno's influence over the city, Venus lulls the real Ascanius to sleep and sends Cupid in his form to 'infuse thy venom in her veins.'

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  7. Question 7. What does Dido ask of Aeneas as the banquet draws to a close?

    • Correct answer: To relate the fall of Troy and all his seven years of wanderings
    • To marry her and rule the city of Carthage at her side as king
    • To lead her Tyrian armies against the hostile tribes of Libya
    • To send for Ascanius so that she may raise him as her own heir

    'Already doom'd to love's disastrous flame,' Dido begs her guest to tell 'the Grecian stratagems, the town betray'd' — the tale that fills Books II and III.

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  8. Question 8. Which of these events actually occur in Book I of The Aeneid?

    • Orontes' ship sinks before Aeneas' eyes with its Lycian crew.

      Happened

    • Aeneas kills seven stags, one for each of his surviving ships.

      Happened

    • Neptune raises the storm to punish the Trojans for escaping Troy.

      Didn't happen

    • Dido refuses to see any Trojan until Aeneas reveals himself.

      Didn't happen

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  9. Question 9. Which of these happen during Aeneas' first visit to Carthage?

    • Aeneas walks through the city unseen, wrapped in a mist sent by Venus.

      Happened

    • Aeneas weeps at paintings of the Trojan War on the temple of Juno.

      Happened

    • Dido recognizes Aeneas on sight from tales her father Belus told her.

      Didn't happen

    • Cupid, wearing Ascanius' form, is embraced by Dido at the feast.

      Happened

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  10. Question 10. What does 'suppliant' mean as used in: 'To whom the suppliant queen her pray'rs address'd'?

    • Correct answer: Humbly begging or petitioning
    • Fiercely commanding obedience
    • Quietly scheming in secrecy
    • Openly mocking and defiant

    Even Juno, queen of heaven, must approach Aeolus as a suppliant — a petitioner humbly asking a favor.

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  11. Question 11. What does 'refulgent' mean as used in: 'She turn'd, and made appear / Her neck refulgent, and dishevel'd hair'?

    • Correct answer: Shining radiantly
    • Pale and sickly
    • Bent low with age
    • Veiled from view

    Refulgent means gleaming or shining brilliantly — Venus' divine radiance breaks through her disguise as she departs, revealing her godhead to Aeneas.

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  12. Question 12. What does 'clemency' mean as used in: 'We wretched Trojans, toss'd on ev'ry shore, / From sea to sea, thy clemency implore'?

    • Correct answer: Mercy and compassion
    • Wealth and rich treasure
    • Armed military protection
    • A formal legal judgment

    Ilioneus begs Dido for clemency — merciful, compassionate treatment of the shipwrecked Trojans who have washed up on her shore.

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