Vergil, Aeneid, Book 2 (AP)

Vergil's Aeneid, Book 2 recounts the fall of Troy through Aeneas' eyes. The narrative explores themes of duty, fate, and sacrifice. This pivotal chapter sets the stage for Aeneas' epic journey, detailing the Greeks' deception with the Trojan horse, the city's destruction, and Aeneas' escape with his family. Aeneas' struggle to accept his destiny amid personal loss and the destruction of his homeland foreshadows his future role as the founder of Rome, connecting Troy's fall to Rome's rise.

Key Characters and Their Roles

• Aeneas: the protagonist and narrator of Book 2, recounts the fall of Troy to Dido, Queen of Carthage

• Sinon: a Greek spy who deceives the Trojans into accepting the wooden horse, leading to the destruction of Troy

• Laocoon: a Trojan priest who warns against accepting the wooden horse, famously saying "I fear the Greeks, even when they bring gifts"

• Priam: the elderly king of Troy who witnesses the city's destruction and is brutally killed by Neoptolemus: son of Achilles

  • Priam's death symbolizes the end of Troy and its royal lineage

• Hecuba: Priam's wife and queen of Troy, who is taken captive by the Greeks after the city's fall

• Hector: Aeneas' cousin and the greatest Trojan warrior, appears to Aeneas in a dream, urging him to flee the city with the Trojan gods and found a new homeland

• Creusa: Aeneas' wife who is lost during the escape from Troy and appears to him as a ghost, prophesying his future journey and destiny

• Anchises: Aeneas' father who is reluctant to leave Troy but is convinced by omens and ultimately carried out of the city on Aeneas' shoulders

Historical Context and Background

• The Aeneid, written by Vergil (Publius Vergilius Maro) in the 1st century BCE, tells the story of Aeneas, a Trojan hero and legendary ancestor of the Romans

• Vergil wrote the epic poem during the reign of Augustus, the first Roman emperor, and the work serves as a founding myth for Rome, connecting its origins to the Trojan War

• The Trojan War, which forms the backdrop for the events in Book 2, was a legendary conflict between the city of Troy and a coalition of Greek forces, sparked by the abduction of Helen, wife of Menelaus, by Paris, a Trojan prince

  • The war lasted for ten years and ended with the destruction of Troy, as recounted in Homer's Iliad

• Vergil draws upon various mythological traditions and earlier works, such as the Iliad and Odyssey, to create a complex and layered narrative that interweaves history, myth, and prophecy

• The Aeneid also reflects the political and cultural context of Augustan Rome, promoting values such as pietas (duty), virtus (virtue), and the divine right of Roman rule

• Vergil's epic serves as a propaganda piece, legitimizing Roman power and presenting Augustus as the culmination of a divinely ordained destiny that began with Aeneas' journey from Troy

Plot Summary of Book 2

• Book 2 of the Aeneid opens with Aeneas recounting the fall of Troy to Dido, Queen of Carthage

• The Greeks, after a ten-year siege, pretend to abandon the war, leaving behind a giant wooden horse as an offering to Minerva

• Sinon, a Greek spy, deceives the Trojans into believing that the horse is a sacred object that will protect Troy, convincing them to bring it inside the city walls

• Laocoon, a Trojan priest, warns against accepting the horse, famously saying "I fear the Greeks, even when they bring gifts," but is ignored and later killed by serpents sent by the gods

• At night, Greek warriors hidden inside the horse emerge and open the city gates, allowing their army to enter and sack Troy

• Hector appears to Aeneas in a dream, urging him to flee the city with the Trojan gods and found a new homeland

• Aeneas awakens to find Troy in flames and battles the Greeks in the streets, witnessing the brutal killing of Priam by Neoptolemus

• Aeneas is reminded of his duty to his family and the gods, and he begins to lead his father Anchises, son Ascanius, and wife Creusa out of the city

• During the escape, Creusa is lost in the chaos, and Aeneas returns to search for her, only to encounter her ghost, who prophesies his future journey and destiny

• Aeneas leads the surviving Trojans out of the city, carrying his father on his shoulders and holding his son's hand, setting the stage for their long journey to find a new home

Important Quotes and Passages

• "Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes" (2.49) - "I fear the Greeks, even when they bring gifts," Laocoon's famous warning about the Trojan horse, highlighting the theme of deception and the importance of heeding divine warnings

• "Heu, fuge, nate dea, teque his, ait, eripe flammis" (2.289) - "Alas, flee, son of the goddess, and tear yourself away from these flames," Hector's urgent plea to Aeneas in the dream, emphasizing the need for Aeneas to escape Troy and fulfill his destiny

• "Non tibi Tyndaridis facies invisa Lacaenae / culpatusve Paris, divum inclementia, divum, / has evertit opes sternitque a culmine Troiam" (2.601-603) - "It is not the hated beauty of the Laconian woman, daughter of Tyndareus, nor Paris that is to blame, but the gods, the relentless gods, who overturn this wealth and topple Troy from its peak," Aeneas' lament, acknowledging the role of fate and divine intervention in the fall of Troy

• "Iamque vale et nati serva communis amorem" (2.789) - "And now farewell and preserve your love for our son," Creusa's parting words to Aeneas, emphasizing the importance of familial bonds and Aeneas' duty to his son Ascanius

• "Cessi et sublato montem genitore petivi" (2.804) - "I yielded and, lifting my father, sought the mountain," Aeneas' description of his escape from Troy, carrying his father Anchises on his shoulders, symbolizing his pietas and the preservation of Trojan heritage

Cultural and Mythological References

• The Trojan horse, a giant wooden horse left by the Greeks as a supposed offering to Minerva, is a famous mythological device that highlights the themes of deception and hubris

  • The story of the Trojan horse is also recounted in Homer's Odyssey, and Vergil draws upon this earlier work to create a vivid and emotionally resonant narrative

• The gods play a significant role in the events of Book 2, with their actions and interventions shaping the course of the story

  • Neptune, Apollo, and Minerva are mentioned as having aided the Greeks in the destruction of Troy, reflecting the complex relationships between gods and mortals in classical mythology

• The serpents that kill Laocoon and his sons are sent by the gods as a punishment for his warning against the Trojan horse, demonstrating the consequences of defying divine will

• Aeneas' encounter with Creusa's ghost and her prophecy about his future journey and the founding of a new city reflects the importance of omens and prophecies in classical literature

  • This scene also draws upon the mythological trope of the hero receiving guidance and encouragement from a deceased loved one

• The Penates, the household gods of Troy, are entrusted to Aeneas by Hector in the dream, symbolizing the preservation of Trojan culture and the continuity of the Trojan lineage

  • The Penates play a significant role throughout the Aeneid, representing the sacred duty of Aeneas to establish a new home for the Trojan people

Breakdown of Lines 40-56 

• The Trojans wonder what the purpose of the wooden horse on the beach is. However, Laocoon begins his rush towards the beach to express his feelings about it. Even before Laocoon reaches the beach from descent from the city, he is still avidly shouting.

• Laocoon rapidly begins to fire off questions towards the Trojan people. “What is this great insanity” Laocoon first asks as he initially wonders what these “wretched” citizens are largely gathering for in what seems to be already known by Laocoon.

• Laocoon shifts his attention to whether the Trojans think that the Greeks “have been carried away” or this gift from the Greeks is “free from treachery”. Laocoon brings up if the Greeks are following the reputation of Odysseus since he was widely known for being a cunning trickster in the Ancient World.

• Next, Laocoon begins to brainstorm some hypothetical reasons why there is a horse. Laocoon initially guesses the reason why there is a Trojan horse as the Greeks are hiding “hidden in this timber”, but continues to speculate further in the horse being a military weapon against the Trojans.

• Other reasons that Laocoon postulates is that it “looks down upon our home, “it will fall on the city from above” or another trick, but clearly emphasizes at the end that the Trojans should not trust this horse. Laocoon fears the Greeks and doesn’t trust their nature even if gift-bearing is included, although it was a gift to Minerva.

• Laocoon shifts his verbal assault of the Trojan horse to means of action. Laocoon “hurled a great spear” into the “beast” which refers to the Trojan horse. Vergil reiterates how much hatred Laocoon has towards this gift and the Greeks in general. The spear was thrown with “great force” so Vergil highlights it being “stuck” and “quivering” as it was thrown in the curved belly as the hollow spaces “rang” and the cavities to “groan.”

• Aeneas pities himself that if the fate of the gods or if Trojans hadn’t been foolish, Troy would still stand, as the Trojan horse would be destroyed, exposing the Greek soldiers, and ruining their failed attempt to besiege the city.

Breakdown of Lines 201-249 

• As Sinon, supposedly abandoned Greek conspirator, concludes his speech, convincing the Trojans to bring the horse within the city, Vergil highlights the unexpected fate of Laocoon. First, we learn that Laocoon was a “priest for Neptune, chosen by a lot” and because of that, was sacrificing a “huge bull” in order to find more information about the horse from the gods.

• Suddenly, two serpents, presumably representing Greek kings and twin brothers, Menelaus and Agamemnon, from the island of Tenedos, what would later be where the Greek fleet is hiding before the Trojan horse enters Troy, come into the scene. Their “huge coils” head to the shore from the deep sea as even Vergil “shudders” as he attempts to narrate the incident. The serpent's chests were “raised between the waves”, their “bloody crests” top them, and the rest of their body “glides in the sea” as each “twists its back large with a coil.”

• As the snakes began reaching dry ground, a sound arose. The serpents' “glaring eyes filled with blood and fire” as the snakes “were licking with quivering tongues in their hissing mouth,” exposing the malice that Pallas had when sending them to Laocoon.

• Vergil enlists some narrative commentary from Aeneas as the Trojans grow pale from the sight and flee. The serpent's head lunges straight towards Laocoon, and we find out here that Laocoon’s two sons are with him as well at the altar. Vergil surprisingly kept that part out of the story until now, and in a short time each snake “entangles the bodies of his two sons” while they bite into their “wretched limbs.” Laocoon with his sons becomes intertwined among the twin serpents. 

• Afterward, Laocoon comes to their aid “with spears in his hands”, but he becomes bound with massive coils as well. The snakes encompass his back and waist twice with their “scaly backs.” In a matter of time, Laocoon is conquered by them. In desperation, Laocoon attempts to tear apart the coils with his hands but he is unable to with his “headbands soaked in blood and black venom.”

• At this time, Laocoon begins crying for help from the gods and the shouts are compared by Vergil to those of a wounded bull bellowing as he flees from the altar wounded with an “ill-aimed ax” from its neck. However, the “dragon’s pair” referring to the serpents, flee from the brutal scene to the highest citadel of fierce Pallas, where they become hidden by “the feet of the goddess and under the circle of her shield.”

• The Trojans aren’t aware that the serpents were sent by Minerva, but rather believe that Laocoon has paid for his crimes of striking the “sacred oak with his spear," the sacred oak being that of the Trojan horse. As a result, the Trojans shout that the horse must be let into the city and the goddess’s divinity must be prayed for. It seems like the Trojans weren't so crazy to let the horse in after all--they were doing their best to avoid encountering fates similar to those of Laocoon and his sons.

• The walls of the city are divided and opened because the horse is so large that it won't fit through the gates. In an attempt to please the gods, all work to open up the city as they “place rollings of wheels under the feet” and “stretch hemp ropes around the neck.” However, the Trojan horse is “pregnant with arms," just as Laocoon feared. Boys and unwedded girls sing sacred songs while they pleasingly touch the ropes as it passes by, but the horse still “sails and passes threateningly into the middle of the city.” The wooden horse is entering the city of Troy.

• As the horse enters the city, Aeneas discusses Troy before it was burned and surfaces the pity we feel for the fallen city later on. Even though the Trojan horse was “stopped at the threshold of the gate” and “the arms produced a sound in its belly” four times for each, the Trojans were “blind with rage” and allowed the Trojan horse to sit near the most dedicated citadel where the serpents lie.

• Lastly, Cassandra, the daughter of Priam attempts to warn the Trojans about the Greeks inside the horse. However, she is ignored thanks to her curse. She was cursed by Apollo to have the ability of prophecy but not be believed by anyone whom she informed because she denied his sexual advances. With all of these factors in favor of the Greeks and almost everything going wrong for the Trojans, the city meets its demise that day. 

Lines 220-227

ille simul manibus tendit divellere nodos

perfusus sanie vittas atroque veneno,

clamores simul horrendos ad sidera tollit:

qualis mugitus, fugit cum saucius aram

taurus et incertam excussit cervice securim.

at gemini lapsu delubra ad summa dracones

effugiunt saevaeque petunt Tritonidis arcem,

sub pedibusque deae clipeique sub orbe teguntur.

Questions about the Latin

1. In line 2 of the passage (perfusus...veneno), name one AND only one description that Vergil gives about Laocoon’s headband?

• Drenched in dark blood or drenched in dark venom

2. Translate in context the words clamores AND horrendos AND identify the case of each.

• Horrendous shouts; accusative plural: Clamores meaning shouts and horrendos meaning horrendous both come from the accusative. Clamores comes from the third-declension masculine noun clamor, clamoris in the nominative and genitive. On the other hand, horrendous comes from the first/second declension adjective horrendus, horrendi in the nominative and genitive

3. A stylistic device that occurs in line 5 (taurus...securim) is...

• Alliteration is the repetition of the same letter or sounds together closely amongst words. In line 5, this is completed by single alliteration in between words throughout the sentence repeating a similar “C” sound: Taurus et in__c__ertam ex__c__ussit cervice se__c__urum.

4. Translate in context the words saevae AND Tritonidis AND identify the case of each.

• Of savage Pallas; genitive singular: Saevae meaning savage and Tritonidis meaning Pallas, the daughter of Triton, both come from the genitive. Therefore, of is added because genitives are translated of the ____. Saevae comes from the first/second declension adjective saevus, saevi in the nominative and genitive. On the other hand, Tritonidis comes from the third-declension feminine noun Tritonis, Tritonidis in the nominative and genitive.

5. A stylistic device that occurs in line 8 (sub...teguntur) is...

• Polysyndeton is the literary technique opposite of asyndeton where conjugations are now used repeatedly and successively without commas. The conjugation being used is sub in the ablative meaning under. Simply, the phrase translates as they are hidden under the feet of the goddess and under the circle of her shield.

Lines 235-240

accingunt omnes operi pedibusque rotarum

subiciunt lapsus, et stuppea vincula collo

intendunt ; scandit fatalis machina muros,

feta armis. pueri circum innuptaeque puellae

sacra canunt funemque manu contingere gaudent;

illa subit mediaeque minans inlabitur urbi

Modern English Translation

Everyone girds for the tasks and they arrange the wheels allowing motion under its foundation, and extend hemp ropes around its neck. That motor of fate ascends our walls pregnant with weapons. All over boys, and virgin girls, sing sacred songs, and rejoice to touch the ropes with their hands: Up it sails and passes threateningly into the midst of the city.

Breakdown of Lines 268-297

• As Troy’s last day concludes and night falls, the Greek soldiers exit the Trojan horse and begin their rampage by means of killing a few Trojan guards and opening the gate for the rest of the Greek soldiers. Aeneas is commenting that the first part of the night is enjoyable and welcoming for “weary men”, but allows the Greeks to enter unnoticed and lead to the destruction of Troy.

• Aeneas is still sleeping, but in his dreams, Hector’s spirit, the lone savior of Troy, since he had just been killed by Achilles, appears to him gloomful. A two-horse chariot tore Hector’s body after being slain as Hector is seen covered with “dark with bloody dust” and “his swollen feet pierced with leather straps.”

• Aeneas can’t believe how much Hector’s appearance has changed with two allusions from the Iliad. One reference from Iliad Book 17 includes Hector killing Patroclus and Hector stripping and then donning the armor of Achilles that Patroclus has previously worn, the other from Iliad Book 15 when Hector led the Trojans down to Phrygians and threatened to burn their fleet.

• Hector was once a man “carrying a disgusting beard” with his “hair matted with blood” and “with many wounds” in between King Priam’s, his father, walls. Aeneas, weeping, seems as if he is going to speak first before Hector makes his appearance vocally, but isn't sure yet because he is still in a dream.

• Aeneas is confused by seeing “the light of Troy, surest hope of the Trojans”. Aeneas doesn’t know that Hector has already died, but is just absent. Aeneas believes that Hector is just weary “after the many deaths of his people” or from the “varied labors of our people and our city.” Aeneas concludes by wondering what caused Hector to be there emotionless as he spots the distinct features of Hector’s wounds but still isn’t able to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

• Hector doesn’t reply or even think about his foolish questions, but instead “heaving deep sighs from the bottoms of his heart” begins to straight-forwardly speak. Aeneas is reminded by Hector of his nature with the gods as his mother is the goddess, Venus, which leads into Aeneas beginning to lean on her in times of dire or uncertain moments throughout the Aeneid.

• Aeneas is brought into the loop of what is transpiring within the city of Troy and he is sleeping as Hector immediately stresses for him to flee the city. “The enemy has overcome the walls: Troy cascades from her lofty spot”, as there’s no more time for saving the city, but rather the Trojan citizens and himself instead. Hector explains that “if Pergama could be rescued by any right hand, it would have been rescued from this.” meaning that Hector kept the city safe during his life, but not even Aeneas could save the city this time.

• Hector finishes his speech by entrusting “its sacred rites and its deities to you” where Aeneas will carry the Trojan religion to Italy where these “friends of your fate” will be ingrained in the city of lofty walls of Rome. By visual, Hector shows Aeneas the rites from the Temple of Vesta in Troy: the headbands, the Vesta (the goddess of the hearth), and the sacred flame of which will be an important part of the success and prosperity of future Rome.

Breakdown of Lines 559-620 

• As Pyrrhus leads the Greek assault on Priam’s palace, Vergil focuses the attention back onto Aeneas on top of Priam’s palace as he scans over all of the destruction that transpired in Troy.

• After everything that Aeneas does in order to defend the city of Troy and after experiencing the death of Priam, he finally has time for emotion to take over. “Fierce terror gripped me,” Aeneas says, as he is horrified by the Trojan defeat. Aeneas was aghast as he now remembered the “image of my dear father...with a cruel wound breathing his life away.”

• Aeneas continues to think about three further things: his wife “abandoned”, his home “plundered”, and the fate of his little son Julus, later to be known as Ascanius, the legendary king of Alba Longa. Aeneas now switches his approach to the “troops that were around me.” All of the tired soldiers have deserted Aeneas and have either fallen to their death or were burned up.

• The next section is the Helen Episode, which has historians argue the validity of these lines as it was edited within the reign of Augustus in order to remove “superfluous bits.” However, we still read on! Aeneas is now sacredly alone as he spots Helen, the most beautiful person in the world, and the one who brought about the beginning of the Trojan War at the Temple of Vesta, the goddess of the hearth and fertility, seeking sanctuary. The “fires give me light” as the undying holy fire permits Aeneas to “wandering and enduring my eyes all about through everything.” Helen's abduction by Paris begins her journey to Troy

• Helen is afraid of the Trojans’ hostility after the overthrow of Pergamon while she also fears “the punishment from the Greeks” since her departure caused the Trojan War in the first place and “the angers of her abandoned husband" will of course get back to her. Nobody views Helen favorably anymore as she is a shared “fury” between Troy and the Greeks, and, known as “the hated thing,” she hides herself at the altars.

• Fire begins to burn in Aeneas's soul, he feels the rage to avenge Troy and the wishes to exact wicked punishments. Simply put, Aeneas burns to kill Helen. Aeneas’s internal monologue begins as he wonders if Helen will see Sparta and her “native Mycenae” again unharmed considering the fact that she is now the "hated thing" of both sides of the war. Helen will “go as queen” after this military victory and be able to see “her house and husband, her parents and children” with a crowd of Trojan women and Phrygian servants. Will Priam have died, will Troy be burned by fire, and will the Dardanian shore be soaked again and again with blood for no reason with Aeneas doing nothing about it, Aeneas questions.

• These events wouldn’t have happened without consequence for Helen. For Aeneas, there’s no great glory in Helen’s punishment, nor will this killing earn much merit. However, Aeneas reasons that Helen's crimes and sins have dehumanized herself so much so that that “quenching wickedness” would be a “deserving punishment.”

• Aeneas finishes by stating that it will be pleasing to “fill my soul with the flame of revenge” and “avenge the ashes of my people.” Filled with an enraged mind and uttering such words that he had just been saying, his “dear mother”, Venus, came to him “never before so clear to his eyes.” 

• The revelation shows how carried away Aeneas is as he still stands on the roof of Priam’s palace. Venus radiated with pure light in the night (see what we did there), revealing herself fully as a goddess in the way that other gods/goddess would perceive her as, unlike how she was disguised to Aeneas in Book 1.

• Aeneas was halted and restrained by Venus, grabbing his “right hand" as she began to speak from her “red mouth.” Venus addresses Aeneas wondering “what great grief” aroused these “uncontrolled angers.” Venus asks why Aeneas is raging, and where the “care for us”, meaning his family, has vanished. Venus reminds Aeneas of his family, which he already began thinking about after the death of Priam, but this time, she asks why Aeneas hasn't been looking for them instead of worrying about the situation with Helen.

• Venus concludes her appearance by addressing the consequences that could ensue. The Greek forces “surround them all” and if “my concern [for them] stops," they will be engulfed by flames or drained by the sword. Aeneas must now come to their rescue. In an attempt to drive Aeneas’s mind off of Helen, Venus asserts that neither Helen nor Paris, the Greek prince who abducted Helen, is to blame for the knocking “Troy from its peak” but instead the “ruthlessness of the gods” is the sole instigator.

• Venus understands that Aeneas might not believe her at first, so she needs to explain with evidence why the gods should be blamed. Venus removes “the whole drawn-over cloud” that “dims your mortal vision” in order to remove the barriers between the mortals and the gods so that they can see everything that’s happening clearly. Venus says that Aeneas should not fear “what your mother commands” nor to “refuse to obey her instructions.” Venus now shows Aeneas the “shattered structures” and the rocks of the wall tumbling into the city as the smoke bellows with “dust mixed in.”

• The most important part of her evidence is the fact that the gods are within the action of destroying the city as well. “Neptune is jostling the walls and the foundations shifted by his powerful trident” as the whole city is torn from its roots. Neptune opposes the Trojans, even though he helped build these great walls, with the assistance of Apollo, since the father of King Priam, Laomedon, didn’t pay. Venus motions Aeneas’s view to another goddess, Juno, near the Scaean gates, Troy’s most famous gates which were near the Greek camp. Juno was leading destruction against Troy, calling upon the troops from the ships in rage.

• Lastly, Pallas Minerva is “glaring from the storm-cloud” from the “loftiest towers” with her “Gorgon breastplate,” the head of Medusa, as her appearance becomes hidden. However, Jupiter’s role is emphasized and reinforced by “supplying the Greeks with spirits, and favorable strengths” and “arousing the gods against the Trojan army.” It was the divine plan that Troy fell apparently based on this evidence, and Jupiter makes sure he follows the fates.

• For these reasons, to end her address, Venus commands Aeneas to leave and drop his labor of going after Helen, and she reminds him that although the other gods/goddesses are against him, she (Venus) will always be watching after him.

Lines 615-620

Iamque adeō super ūnus eram , cum līmina Vestae

servantem et tacitam sēcrētā in sēde latentem

Tyndarida aspiciō ; dant clāra incendia lūcem

errantī passimque oculōs per cūncta ferentī.

illa sibi īnfestos ēversa ob Pergama Teucrōs

et Danaum poenam et deserti coniugis iras

praemetuēns ,Trōiae et patriae commūnis Erīnys,

abdiderat sēsē atque ārīs invīsa sedēbat.

Modern English Translation

Now, look, Tritonian Pallas, sits on the loftiest towers, glaring from the storm-cloud, and fierce with her Gorgon breastplate. Father Jupiter himself supplies the Greeks with spirits, and favorable strengths, himself arouses the gods against the Trojan army. Hasten your departure, son, and put a halt to your efforts. I will not leave you, and I will set you safe at your father’s door.

Questions about Latin

1. Based on knowledge of Greek and Latin texts, which TWO Greek epics have Helen made an appearance in before?

• Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey

2. Based on knowledge of Roman culture, what is the term of the six prominent priestesses that watched over the Temple of Vesta?

• The Vestal Virgins or the Vestals were recognized for the success and protection of Rome for supposedly not allowing the sacred fire in the Temple of Vesta to go out. The Vestal Virgins would take a thirty-year pledge of chastity in order to devote themselves to the correct and observed rituals while also ignoring social obligations of the time of marrying and bearing children as well. The celebration of Vestalia between June 7th and June 15th was the major festival for Vesta, the goddess of health.

3. What was Helen’s role in the Trojan War?

• Helen is largely associated with helping precipitate the start of the Trojan War: Helen of Troy was the daughter of Jupiter, the king of all gods, and is famously known to be the most beautiful person in the world. From Vergil’s Aeneid, we learn that Helen was abducted by Theseus, and competition for her hand in marriage grew on account of her beauty. Menelaus’s gifts were more heavily favored amongst the rest of her suitors and they married. Out of respect, all of the former suitors agreed on the Oath of Tyndareus, which stated that the other suitors would provide a military defense to the husband if Helen was ever stolen. In Homer’s Iliad at the Judgement of Paris, Jupiter asks Paris to judge the most beautiful goddesses: Juno, Minerva, or Venus. Venus offered Helen to Paris in return for his favor, and as a result, Paris would ultimately choose Venus. Helen was thus carried off to Troy and seduced by Paris. The Greeks would start the Trojan War in response since they set out to reclaim her from Troy, and fulfill the above-mentioned oath.

4. Translate in context line 3-4 (dant...ferenti).

• The shining flames awarded to me wandering and enduring my eyes all about through everything: Let’s break this down step-by step. Clara, meaning shining, and incendia, meaning flames, are both nominative neuter plural and will start off the sentence, translating as The shining flames. Dant is a third-person plural present active indicative of do, dare, meaning to give or award. Therefore, Dant translates to awarded here. Lucem is the accusative singular of lux meaning light. Erranti is in the dative which comes from the third-declension participle errans, meaning wandering. Simply, it translates to me wandering. Ferenti follows a similar pattern as erranti in means of both being dative and coming from a third-declension participle. Ferenti is derived from fero meaning endure, so ferenti translates to to me bearing. Oculos is the accusative plural of oculus meaning eye. In brief, oculos translates exactly like the nominative. Per cuncta is in the accusative since per, meaning through is a proposition that takes the accusative case. Cuncta is an accusative neuter plural of cunctus meaning all about. Let’s jump to the next word first before we put that all together. Passimque is passim with a que added, with the -que suffix translating as and. Passim is an adverb that means everything. So, the final section translates as all about through everything.

5. How does Vergil’s perception of Helen in the Aeneid differ from that of Homer’s Iliad during the Sack of Troy?

• Vergil’s Aeneid describes Helen’s story from a treacherous stance where Helen stimulated Bacchic rituals with a group of Trojan women once the Trojan horse entered the city where she would signal the Greeks from the thresholds of Vesta. Homer’s Iliad describes Helen’s story as playing with the hearts of the Greek soldiers within the Trojan horse as she imitated the voice of the soldier’s lovers. Helen is lonely and in need of sanctuary while Troy begins to burn. The Greeks and Trojans were then prepared to stone her to death, and Menelaus, her husband, who even said that he was the person designed to kill his unfaithful wife, was caused by her beauty to drop his sword and not kill her.