The Aeneid, Book XII quiz

Questions and answers

1. 1

   Question 1. Why does Turnus insist on fighting Aeneas in single combat?

   • He believes the gods have promised him victory in a dream
   • Correct answer: His honor is publicly questioned after the Latin defeats
   • King Latinus threatens to exile him if he refuses to fight
   • He wants to avenge the death of his sister Juturna

   After the Latins are routed, Turnus becomes 'the mark of public spite' for delaying the promised duel, and wounded pride drives him to demand it despite every plea.

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2. 2

   Question 2. What does Aeneas promise will happen if he loses the duel?

   • Correct answer: The Trojans will withdraw to Evander's town and renounce all claims
   • The Trojans will become slaves of the victorious Latin kingdom
   • Ascanius will be surrendered as a hostage to King Latinus
   • The Trojan fleet will sail back across the sea to rebuild Troy

   Aeneas swears that in defeat his people will retire to Evander's city and Ascanius will renounce the Ausonian crown, never enforcing a claim by arms.

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3. 3

   Question 3. Who throws the first spear that breaks the sworn truce?

   • Messapus, charging at the Tuscan king Aulestes
   • Juturna, disguised in the armor of Camers
   • Turnus, enraged by the sight of the Trojan altars
   • Correct answer: Tolumnius the augur, after misreading a bird omen

   Tolumnius interprets the eagle forced to drop its swan as a call to fight and hurls the spear that kills one of Gylippus's nine sons, restarting the war.

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4. 4

   Question 4. How is Aeneas's arrow wound cured?

   • Iapis extracts the arrowhead with his surgical pincers
   • Apollo answers the prayers of his devoted healer
   • Correct answer: Venus secretly adds healing dittany to the treatment
   • Ascanius binds the wound with herbs from the camp

   Iapis's skill and prayers both fail; hidden in a cloud, Venus infuses dittany, ambrosia, and panacea into the water, and the steel slips out on its own.

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5. 5

   Question 5. Why does Turnus's sword shatter during the duel?

   • Jupiter strikes the blade to signal that fate has decided
   • Correct answer: In his haste he took his charioteer's mortal-made sword
   • Aeneas's spear splits the blade at the moment of impact
   • The Fury's shriek causes his weakened grip to fail

   Hurrying to war, Turnus snatched Metiscus's sword instead of his father's god-forged blade, and the mortal steel bursts to fragments on Aeneas's Vulcanian armor.

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6. 6

   Question 6. What concession does Juno win from Jupiter before the duel ends?

   • Correct answer: The Latins will keep their name, language, and customs
   • Turnus's soul will be granted a place among the gods
   • Juturna will be released from her unwanted immortality
   • The new city will be named in honor of Queen Amata

   Juno yields to fate but asks that Troy's name die with the city; Jupiter agrees that the blended people will remain Latin in name, tongue, and dress.

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7. 7

   Question 7. What stops Aeneas from sparing Turnus at the very end?

   • Turnus reaches for a hidden dagger while pleading
   • The ghost of Pallas appears and demands justice
   • The watching armies cry out for the death blow
   • Correct answer: He sees the belt Turnus stripped from dying Pallas

   Aeneas is on the point of relenting when the golden belt of Pallas catches his eye; roused to wrath, he kills Turnus in Pallas's name.

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8. 8

   Question 8. Which of these events actually occur before and during the breaking of the truce?

   • King Latinus urges Turnus to give up the duel and accept a foreign heir.

     Happened

   • Queen Amata begs Turnus not to fight and vows to share his fate.

     Happened

   • Turnus is wounded in the opening skirmish after the truce collapses.

     Didn't happen

   • Aeneas, unarmed and bareheaded, is struck by an arrow from an unknown hand.

     Happened

   • Latinus fights beside the Rutulians to defend his broken treaty.

     Didn't happen

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9. 9

   Question 9. Which of these events actually occur in the final movement of Book XII?

   • Queen Amata hangs herself, believing Turnus has been killed.

     Happened

   • Juturna, disguised as Metiscus, drives Turnus's chariot away from Aeneas.

     Happened

   • Jupiter sends a Fury in the form of a bird to signal Turnus's doom.

     Happened

   • Turnus's throw of the great boundary stone crushes Aeneas's shield.

     Didn't happen

   • Aeneas grants Turnus's plea and returns him alive to his father Daunus.

     Didn't happen

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10. 10

    Question 10. What does 'adjure' mean as used in: 'O Turnus, I adjure thee by these tears, and whate'er price Amata's honour bears within thy breast'?

    • Correct answer: To solemnly beg or entreat someone
    • To formally accuse of a crime
    • To quietly dismiss from service
    • To publicly praise for bravery

    Amata is solemnly entreating Turnus, as if binding him by oath, to give up the single combat she fears will kill him.

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11. 11

    Question 11. What does 'foment' mean as used in: 'Nor fails the goddess to foment the rage with lying wonders, and a false presage'?

    • To calm or gently soothe away
    • Correct answer: To stir up or provoke further
    • To predict with great accuracy
    • To conceal from public view

    Juturna deliberately inflames the Rutulians' anger with a fabricated omen, stirring them to break the truce — the opposite of calming them.

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12. 12

    Question 12. What does 'refulgent' mean as used in: 'his hands infold his thighs with cuishes of refulgent gold'?

    • Extremely heavy and burdensome
    • Ancient and handed down by ancestors
    • Correct answer: Brilliantly shining or radiant
    • Skillfully engraved with images

    Refulgent describes the gleaming brilliance of the golden thigh armor Aeneas straps on as he returns, healed, to the battle.

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