Latin 3 Final Review

When and where was Vergil born?

October 15, 70 BC (Ides of October) in Andes, near Mantua.

What was Vergil’s family background?

He was the son of a farmer.

What did Vergil study, and where?

Literature and Philosophy in Mantua and Milan.

How is Vergil described in terms of personality?

Shy and modest.

Why was Vergil’s father’s farm confiscated, and by whom?

Octavian confiscated it to reward soldiers after the Battle of Philippi.

Who was Maecenas and how did he influence Vergil’s career?

A patron and close friend of Octavian; he recognized Vergil’s talent and helped him gain Augustus’s support.

What did Octavian do after meeting Vergil?

Returned his father’s land and supported his poetic career financially.

How long did the Aeneid occupy Vergil’s time?

The final 10 years of his life.

Why did Vergil go to Greece, and what happened there?

For poetic inspiration; while in Athens, he met Augustus, returned with him, and later died in Brundisium in 19 BC.

Who were Vergil’s literary contemporaries in the 'Golden Age' of Roman literature?

Livy, Cicero, Ovid, Horace, Julius Caesar.

What is the Aeneid modeled after?

Homer’s Odyssey (first half) and Iliad (second half).

What is the central theme of the Aeneid?

Aeneas’s journey and settlement in Italy.

How did Roman aristocrats use the Aeneid for their lineage?

Many traced their ancestry to Aeneas and his companions, like the gens Julii.

Who were members of the gens Julii?

Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar.

How did the Aeneid influence Roman customs and identity?

It provided a Trojan origin myth for Roman institutions, ceremonies, and customs.

How did Vergil balance tradition and originality?

He imitated earlier poets but added variation and complexity, which made his work distinct.

Why does Vergil’s engagement with tradition matter?

He contributed to an ongoing literary dialogue, setting a standard for future writers.

How does the Aeneid portray Augustus?

As a restorer of Roman greatness and a bringer of peace.

Who does Vergil often sympathize with in the Aeneid?

The oppressed and the defeated.

How influential was the Aeneid in Roman education?

It was a core text; poets like Ovid referenced it in their works.

How did Saint Augustine respond to the Aeneid?

In City of God, he questioned its value in Christian education.

Why is the Aeneid considered a 'classical' work?

Its lasting significance and universal themes.

What are two major reasons for continued devotion to the Aeneid?

Its deep insight into the human experience and technical poetic mastery.

What is the basic meter used by Vergil and Homer?

Dactylic hexameter.

How many groupings (feet) are in a line of dactylic hexameter?

Six.

What is a dactyl?

– ∪ ∪ (long, short, short).

What is a spondee?

– – (long, long).

What letters are considered vowels in Latin?

A, E, I, O, U, Y.

What are Latin diphthongs?

ae, oe, ei, au, ui, eu.

When is a syllable long?

If it’s long by nature, is a diphthong, or if a vowel is followed by two consonants.

What is an elision?

When a word ending in a vowel/m is followed by a word starting with a vowel/h and the syllable is dropped.

What is a caesura and where is it usually found?

A pause in the line, often in the 3rd foot; never in the last two.

What is word painting?

The arrangement of sounds and words to mirror the content.

What is syncopation?

Shortening a word (often a verb) for meter.

What is synizesis?

Contraction of two vowels into one syllable.

What is systole?

Shortening a normally long syllable.

What is diastole?

Lengthening a normally short syllable.

What is a spondaic line?

A line with a spondee in the fifth foot.

What is hiatus?

When elision conditions exist but elision is not applied.

What is tmesis?

Splitting a compound word into two parts.

How are proper nouns treated in scansion?

They may be scanned flexibly for metrical needs.

What is apocope?

The dropping of a final vowel.

What is allegory?

A prolonged metaphor using images to convey deeper meanings.

What is alliteration?

Repetition of consonants at the beginning of words.

What is anaphora?

Repetition of a word/phrase at the beginning of successive lines.

What is anastrophe?

Inversion of normal word order (e.g., preposition after its object).

What is aposiopesis?

A break in the middle of a sentence, leaving it unfinished.

What is apostrophe?

Directly addressing someone or something, often absent.

What is asyndeton?

Omission of conjunctions.

What is chiasmus?

ABBA word order, often with adjectives/nouns.

What is ecphrasis?

An extended description of art or nature.

What is ellipsis?

Omission of easily understood words.

What is enjambment?

A sentence running into the next line without pause.

What is a golden line?

A synchesis (ABAB) with a verb centered.

What is hendiadys?

Using two nouns with a conjunction to express one idea.

What is hyperbaton?

Significant disruption of word order.

What is hyperbole?

Deliberate exaggeration.

What is hysteron proteron?

Reversing logical sequence (e.g., 'die and fight').

What is litotes?

Affirmation by negation (e.g., 'not unkind').

What is metaphor?

Implicit comparison using symbolism.

What is metonymy?

Substitution of one word/image for another related one.

What is onomatopoeia?

Sound mimics meaning.

What is personification?

Giving human traits to non-human things.

What is pleonasm?

Redundant or superfluous wording.

What is polysyndeton?

Overuse of conjunctions.

What is simile?

Direct comparison using 'like' or 'as.'

What is synecdoche?

Using a part to represent the whole (a type of metonymy).

What is synchesis?

Interlocked word order (ABAB).

What is transferred epithet (enallage)?

Adjective shifted from its logical noun to another related one.