CLST 272-001: Heroes and Classical Epics

Fall Semester 2007
Dr. Jacqueline Long

Study Guide for Exam III: Vergil, Aeneid

Format

• cut-and-dried identifications: basic factoidal information (small credit per item, and a small component of the exam)
• passages from the Aeneid: identify context, and discuss briefly what the passage shows about the characters, the story, the understanding of history and the cosmic order they imply, and the way Vergil puts them together in his epic (each a medium-small quantum of credit, but adding up to a major component of the exam)
• essay: discuss a thematic question, drawing for support of your contentions on specific, concrete evidence from several passages within the Aeneid (the largest single item of credit; a major component of the exam)

Things to study

• major characters in the narrative of the Aeneid: Trojans and Greeks at Troy, fellow-refugees on the voyage and the human and other figures they encounter, Tyrians and natives at and around Carthage, dead people and people yet to be born, Italians and others either friendly or hostile to the Trojan immigrants, gods
• talismanic items, such as the Gates of Horn and Ivory, the Golden Bough, spoils, dedicated trophy
• major figures in stories evoked by visual representation, such as the temple-doors at Carthage and Cumae, Aeneas's shield, Pallas's belt
• places that are centers of significant action, including Troy, Delos, Crete, Epirus, Sicily, Carthage, Cumae, the Underworld, Tiber-mouth, the future site of Rome
• technical terms we have used in analyzing the Aeneid, such as aetiology, aristeia, charter-myth, ecphrasis, epic, epithet, narration "in medias res," ring-composition, simile, type-scene
• concepts important to the Aeneid, such as alliance, fate, pietas (respect for human, divine, and natural interrelationships), Roman civic values and institutions (e.g., Gates of War, senate), Roman family values

Strategy: think of specific passages that illustrate important points, so you can back up your arguments with concrete evidence on the test. Be sure you explain clearly how the passage helps demonstrate your point.

• techniques of epic story-telling, and their literary adaptations by Vergil
• how the Aeneid relates to traditional Greek mythology
• how the Aeneid relates to traditional Italian mythology
• how the Aeneid relates to Roman history, both mythological accounts of the Roman past, and "historical" Roman history
• how the Aeneid relates to real-world places and natural phenomena
• how various kinds of relationships function: what do the members of the relationship do for one another, and why does it matter? how does partnership in the relationship help shape individual identity?
  • relationships of the family: husbands and wives, parents and children, brothers and sisters, extended kinship ties - also the intimate relationships of lovers
  • relationships of the community: leaders and their peoples, fellow-citizens among themselves (neighbors, fellow-travelers, fellow-warriors), relationships with former fellows now separated
  • short-term and long-term relationships between communities: alliance, war, divine patronage of humans (on various bases), human worship of gods, connections between the dead and the living, connections between humans and animals
• place and distance: how does location connect individuals to themselves, to resources, and to relationships? how does changing location change those connections?
• past, present, and future: how do events and figures of the past relate to ongoing and anticipated concerns of humans and gods? by what means is memory invoked? by what means is the future anticipated? to whom do past and future matter, and why? how does Vergil's audience's knowledge of what is past to them but future to Aeneas affect the way we perceive his story as it unfolds?
• fate and the stability of the cosmic order: what principles do they rest on? what possibilities do they permit to humans and to gods? how does knowledge of fate affect humans' and gods' actions? how does Vergil's audience's knowledge of future outcomes affect the way we perceive his story as it unfolds?
• connections between divinities and mortals: who cares? why? what can they do and not do? how does divine interest relate to human responsibility?
• connections and contrasts between the natural world of organic forces and material realities and the social world of conflict, agreement, alliance, and negotiation
• connections between emotions, actions, and evaluations of actions
• physical being and moral identity: how do things like food and strength or skill relate to a person's worth?
• material goods, identity, and recognition: why do material goods matter to those who own them? to those who give them? to those who make them? to those who take them?
• art (especially visual and poetic art), inspiration, memory, and action: how does Vergil suggest art relates to life and heroic aspirations? compare and contrast to Homer's reflections on art
• human mortality and its consequences
• sexual desire and its consequences
• gender and the possibility of action
• personal affection and its consequences
• memory and identity
• glory and honor
• labor and personal responsibility
• home
• knowledge
• survival
• kindness
• life and hope

Revised 2 December 2007 by jlong1@luc.edu
http://www.luc.edu/classicalstudies/