Virgil, “The Fall of Troy”: A Discussion Guide for Book 2 of Virgil’s "Aeneid"
By David Bruce
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About this ebook
This is a short discussion guide for Book 2 of Virgil’s "Aeneid," which is the fullest surviving ancient account of the Fall of Troy, one of the most important myths in the Western world.
This book uses a question-and-answer format. It poses, then answers, relevant questions about Book 2 of Virgil’s "Aeneid."
Teachers may find this book useful as a discussion guide for the book. Teachers can also use the questions in this discussion guide as the topics for short reaction memos.
David Bruce
I would like to see my retellings of classic literature used in schools, so I give permission to the country of Finland (and all other countries) to give copies of my eBooks to all students and citizens forever. I also give permission to the state of Texas (and all other states) to give copies of my eBooks to all students forever. I also give permission to all teachers to give copies of my eBooks to all students forever.Teachers need not actually teach my retellings. Teachers are welcome to give students copies of my eBooks as background material. For example, if they are teaching Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey,” teachers are welcome to give students copies of my “Virgil’s ‘Aeneid’: A Retelling in Prose” and tell students, “Here’s another ancient epic you may want to read in your spare time.”Do you know a language other than English? I give you permission to translate any of my retellings of classic literature, copyright your translation in your name, publish or self-publish your translation (but do say it's a translation of something I wrote), and keep all the royalties for yourself.Libraries, download my books free. This is from Smashwords' FAQ section:"Does Smashwords distribute to libraries?"Yes! We have two methods of distributing to libraries: 1. Via library aggregators. Library aggregators, such as OverDrive and Baker & Taylor's Axis360 service, allow libraries to purchase books. Smashwords is working with multiple library aggregators, and is in the process of signing up additional aggregators. 2. On August 7, 2012, Smashwords announced Library Direct. This distribution option allows libraries and library networks to acquire and host Smashwords ebooks on their own servers. 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He has also retired from teaching English and philosophy at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.SOME BOOKS BY DAVID BRUCERetellings of a Classic Work of Literature:Arden of Favorsham: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Alchemist: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Arraignment, or Poetaster: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Bartholomew Fair: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Case is Altered: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Catiline’s Conspiracy: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Devil is an Ass: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Epicene: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Every Man in His Humor: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Every Man Out of His Humor: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Fountain of Self-Love, or Cynthia’s Revels: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Magnetic Lady: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The New Inn: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Sejanus' Fall: A RetellingBen Jonson’s The Staple of News: A RetellingBen Jonson’s A Tale of a Tub: A RetellingBen Jonson’s Volpone, or the Fox: A RetellingChristopher Marlowe’s Complete Plays: RetellingsChristopher Marlowe’s Dido, Queen of Carthage: A RetellingChristopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus: Retellings of the 1604 A-Text and of the 1616 B-TextChristopher Marlowe’s Edward II: A RetellingChristopher Marlowe’s The Massacre at Paris: A RetellingChristopher Marlowe’s The Rich Jew of Malta: A RetellingChristopher Marlowe’s Tamburlaine, Parts 1 and 2: RetellingsDante’s Divine Comedy: A Retelling in ProseDante’s Inferno: A Retelling in ProseDante’s Purgatory: A Retelling in ProseDante’s Paradise: A Retelling in ProseThe Famous Victories of Henry V: A RetellingFrom the Iliad to the Odyssey: A Retelling in Prose of Quintus of Smyrna’s PosthomericaGeorge Chapman, Ben Jonson, and John Marston’s Eastward Ho! 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in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 2 Henry IV, aka Henry IV, Part 2: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 1 Henry VI, aka Henry VI, Part 1: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 2 Henry VI, aka Henry VI, Part 2: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s 3 Henry VI, aka Henry VI, Part 3: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s All’s Well that Ends Well: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s As You Like It: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Coriolanus: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Cymbeline: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Hamlet: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Henry V: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Henry VIII: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s King John: A Retelling in ProseWilliam Shakespeare’s King Lear: A Retelling in ProseWilliam 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Funniest People in Dance: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 3: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 4: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 5: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Families, Volume 6: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Movies: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Music: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Music, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Music, Volume 3: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Neighborhoods: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Relationships: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Sports: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Sports, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Television and Radio: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People in Theater: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People Who Live Life: 250 AnecdotesThe Funniest People Who Live Life, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesMaximum Cool: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Movies: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Politics and History: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Politics and History, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Politics and History, Volume 3: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Religion: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People in Sports: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People Who Live Life: 250 AnecdotesThe Most Interesting People Who Live Life, Volume 2: 250 AnecdotesReality is Fabulous: 250 Anecdotes and StoriesResist Psychic Death: 250 AnecdotesSeize the Day: 250 Anecdotes and StoriesKindest People Series:The Kindest People Who Do Good Deeds: Volume 1The Kindest People Who Do Good Deeds: Volume 2The Kindest People Who Do Good Deeds: Volume 3Discussion Guide Series:Dante’s Inferno: A Discussion GuideDante’s Paradise: A Discussion GuideDante’s Purgatory: A Discussion GuideForrest Carter’s The Education of Little Tree: A Discussion GuideHomer’s Iliad: A Discussion GuideHomer’s Odyssey: A Discussion GuideJane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: A Discussion GuideJerry Spinelli’s Maniac Magee: A Discussion GuideJerry Spinelli’s Stargirl: A Discussion GuideJonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal”: A Discussion GuideLloyd Alexander’s The Black Cauldron: A Discussion GuideLloyd Alexander’s The Book of Three: A Discussion GuideMark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Discussion GuideMark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A Discussion GuideMark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court: A Discussion GuideMark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper: A Discussion GuideNancy Garden’s Annie on My Mind: A Discussion GuideNicholas Sparks’ A Walk to Remember: A Discussion GuideVirgil’s Aeneid: A Discussion GuideVirgil’s “The Fall of Troy”: A Discussion GuideVoltaire’s Candide: A Discussion GuideWilliam Shakespeare’s 1 Henry IV: A Discussion GuideWilliam Shakespeare’s Macbeth: A Discussion GuideWilliam Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Discussion GuideWilliam Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: A Discussion GuideWilliam Sleator’s Oddballs: A Discussion GuideComposition Projects:Composition Project: Writing an Autobiographical EssayComposition Project: Writing a Hero-of-Human-Rights EssayComposition Project: Writing a Problem-Solving LetterTeaching:How to Teach the Autobiographical Essay Composition Project in 9 ClassesAutobiography (of sorts):My Life and Hard Times, or Down and Out in Athens, OhioMiscellaneous:Mark Twain Anecdotes and QuotesProblem-Solving 101: Can You Solve the Problem?Why I Support Same-Sex Civil MarriageBlogs:https://davidbruceblog429065578.wordpress.comhttps://davidbrucebooks.blogspot.comhttps://davidbruceblog4.wordpress.comhttps://bruceb22.wixsite.com/website
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Virgil, “The Fall of Troy” - David Bruce
Virgil, The Fall of Troy
: A Discussion Guide for Book 2 of Virgil’s Aeneid
By David Bruce
SMASHWORDS EDITION
Copyright 2013 by Bruce D. Bruce
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Chapter 1: The Fall of Troy
This is a short discussion guide for Book 2 of Virgil’s Aeneid, which is the fullest surviving ancient account of the Fall of Troy, one of the most important myths in the Western world.
This book uses a question-and-answer format. It poses, then answers, relevant questions about Book 2 of Virgil’s Aeneid.
Teachers may find this book useful as a discussion guide for the book. Teachers can also use the questions in this discussion guide as the topics for short reaction memos.
Summary — Book 2: The Fall of Troy
In Book 2 of Virgil’s Aeneid, Aeneas tells Dido, the Queen of Carthage, how the Greeks used the trick of the Trojan Horse and the lies of Sinon to conquer Troy. Aeneas tells Dido how he, his father, and his son escaped Troy, although his wife died in the carnage. He tells of how he returned to Troy to search for his wife, and of how her ghost appeared to him. Her ghost told him that he would arrive safely in a land in the West. Her ghost also told him not to grieve for her.
Gods
Note: Some characters have both a Roman and a Greek name. Their mythologies were similar, and the Romans borrowed many cultural elements from the Greeks.
The Greek gods and goddesses have Roman equivalents. The Greek name is followed by the Roman name:
Aphrodite: Venus
Apollo: Apollo (yes, the same name)
Ares: Mars
Artemis: Diana
Athena: Minerva
Hera: Juno
Hades: Pluto
Hephaestus: Vulcan
Hermes: Mercury
Poseidon: Neptune
Zeus: Jupiter
The Roman gods and goddesses have Greek equivalents. The Roman name is followed by the Greek name:
Apollo: Apollo (yes, the same name)
Diana: Artemis
Juno: Hera
Jupiter: Zeus
Mars: Ares
Mercury: Hermes
Minerva: Athena
Neptune: Poseidon
Pluto: Hades
Venus: Aphrodite
Vulcan: Hephaestus
Of course, Homer uses the Greek names, and Virgil uses the Roman names.
By the way, the Greek warrior Odysseus has a Roman name: Ulysses.
Greeks
Achilles: Achilles was the main warrior for the Greeks. Homer’s Iliad tells of the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles that led to the deaths of many Greeks. Achilles died in the tenth year of the war, before Troy finally fell.
Agamemnon: Agamemnon was the leader of the Greek forces against the Trojans. His brother is Menelaus, the lawful husband of Helen, who was stolen by Paris and became Helen of Troy.
Diomedes: Diomedes is a Greek warrior who fought alongside Ulysses, whose Greek name is Odysseus.
Menelaus: Menelaus is the younger brother of Agamemnon, who led the Greek forces against the Trojans after the Trojan prince Paris ran off with Helen, Menelaus’ wife. Whether Helen ran away willingly with Paris or Paris kidnapped her is ambiguous.
Phoenix: Phoenix is a father-figure to Achilles and the leader of some of Achilles’ men.
Pyrrhus: Pyrrhus is Achilles’ son. He is also known as Neoptolemus. After Achilles died in the final year of the Trojan War, Pyrrhus came to Troy. During the Fall of Troy, he killed Priam, the King of Troy.
Sinon: Sinon is a talented liar. His lies convince the Trojans that the Greeks have sailed home and that if the Trojan Horse is taken inside the walls of Troy, then Troy will never fall.
Ulysses: Ulysses is a Greek warrior who thought up the idea of the Trojan Horse. His Greek name is Odysseus, and Homer’s ancient epic the Odyssey is about his adventures and return to Ithaca, his home island, after the Fall of Troy.
Trojans
Aeneas: Aeneas is the hero of Virgil’s Aeneid. One of the main Trojan warriors, he survived the Fall of Troy, and he led other Trojan survivors to Italy, where they became important ancestors of the Romans. Aeneas is known for his pietas: his devotion to duty. Aeneas’ mother is the immortal goddess Venus.
Anchises: Anchises is Aeneas’ father. During the Fall of Troy, Anchises at first wants to die, but an omen convinces him to leave Troy with his son and his grandson.
Ascanius: Ascanius is Aeneas’ son. During the Fall of Troy, Aeneas carries his father on his back and leads his son by the hand.
Cassandra: Cassandra is a daughter of Priam. She has the gift of prophecy, but she is cursed because no one believes her when she foretells the future. During the Fall of Troy, Cassandra is raped in the temple of Athena. She becomes Agamemnon’s spear-bride, aka sex-slave, and she is killed when Agamemnon returns home to Mycenae only to be killed by his wife and her lover.
Creusa: Creusa is Aeneas’ Trojan wife. She dies during the Fall of Troy.
Hector: Hector is the foremost Trojan warrior. In Homer’s Iliad, we read of how Hector killed Achilles’ best friend, Patroclus, in battle. Enraged, Achilles then killed Hector. The death of Hector meant that Troy would soon fall. Hector’s parents are the King and Queen of Troy: Priam and Hecuba.
Hecuba: Hecuba is the aged Queen of Troy. After the Fall of Troy, she becomes a slave.
Helen: Helen’s lawful husband is Menelaus, the King of Sparta. She came to Troy with the Trojan prince Paris. Whether she did so willingly or unwillingly is unknown.
Laocoon: Laocoon is a Trojan priest of the sea-god Neptune. He advises against taking the Trojan Horse inside the walls of Troy, but sea-snakes kill him and his sons, and the Trojans disregard his advice.
Paris: A Trojan prince who visited Menelaus, the King of Sparta, and ran away with his wife (Helen) and some of his treasure. This is the cause of the Trojan War.
Priam: Priam is the King of Troy; he is also the father of Hector. Achilles’ son, Pyrrhus, kills Priam during the Fall of Troy.
Ripheus: Ripheus is a Trojan warrior known for his justice who dies during the Fall of Troy. In the Aeneid, he is only a minor character, but he appears in Dante’s Divine Comedy as a pagan who was able to enter Paradise.
A Carthaginian
Dido: Dido is the Queen of Carthage. Following a storm at sea, Aeneas and his men landed at Carthage. In Book 2 of Virgil’s Aeneid, Aeneas tells Dido his story, including what he experienced during the Fall of Troy. Aeneas and Dido have a love affair.
Gods
Apollo: In both Roman and Greek mythology, Apollo is the god of archery and of healing. In the Trojan War, Apollo favored the Trojans. Apollo is the name used by both the Romans and the Greeks.
Juno: Juno is the wife of Jupiter, King of the Gods. Juno’s Greek name is Hera. In the Trojan War, Juno favored the Greeks.
Jupiter, aka Jove: Jupiter is the main and most powerful god. He is the King of the Gods. Jupiter’s Greek name is Zeus.
Mars: Mars is the god of war. Mars’ Greek name is Ares. In the Trojan War, Mars favored the Trojans.
Minerva: Minerva is the goddess of wisdom. Minerva’s Greek name was Pallas Athena. In the Trojan War, Minerva favored the Greeks.
Neptune: Neptune is the god of the sea. Neptune’s Greek name is Poseidon. In the Trojan War, Neptune favored the Greeks.
Venus: Venus is the goddess of sexual passion. Venus’ Greek name is Aphrodite. In the Trojan War, Venus favored the Trojans. Venus is the mother of the mortal Trojan warrior Aeneas.
Places
Carthage: Carthage was a city in North Africa on the Mediterranean Sea. Dido founded Carthage, and it later became a great enemy of the Romans, who eventually destroyed it. Hannibal, who much later crossed the Alps with elephants in order to attack the Romans, was a Carthaginian general.
Tenedos: Tenedos is an island off the