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This speech is delivered while the Trojans' sudden
preparations for departure are underway.
| "Dissimulare etiam sperasti, perfide, tantum |
| posse nefas, tacitusque mea decedere terra? |
| Nec te noster amor, nec te data dextera quondam, |
| Line | nec moritura tenet crudeli funere Dido? |
| (5) | Quin etiam hiberno moliris sidere classem, |
| et mediis properas Aquilonibus ire per altum, |
| crudelis? Quid, si non arva aliena domosque |
| ignotas peteres, et Troia antiqua maneret, |
| Troia per undosum peteretur classibus aequor?" |
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Aeneid 4. 305-313
The introduction makes it clear that one character speaks (but does not indicate who is speaking) and that the Trojans are departing (but does not indicate from where).
Although the soliloquy continues beyond these lines, the 9-line excerpt ends with with a complete thought.
The vocabulary and syntax are manageable, and the passage is easy to identify.
The anaphora, rhetorical questions, tricolon crescens, etc., provide good material for figure-of-speech questions.
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This new window may be helpful as you answer the questions below.
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1. | The addressee of the speech is
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| (A) | Aeneas |
| (B) | Dido |
| (C) | Anna |
| (D) | Sychaeus |
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| Key : | A. |
| Type : | Background. |
| Level : | Easy. |
| Rationale : | Since this is an easily recognizable passage, this question should prove manageable for students. (B) will be an attractive distractor for students who have not read the question carefully. |
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2. | The tense and mood of sperasti (line 1) are
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| (A) | present indicative |
| (B) | perfect indicative |
| (C) | present subjunctive |
| (D) | perfect subjunctive |
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| Key : | B. |
| Type : | Grammar. |
| Level : | Easy. |
| Rationale : | Spero is an easily recognizable verb in any form, and contracted verb forms are common in poetry. |
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3. | In line 2, terra refers to
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| (A) | the underworld |
| (B) | Troy |
| (C) | Italy |
| (D) | Carthage |
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| Key : | D. |
| Type : | Background. |
| Level : | Easy (for those students who recognize the passage). |
| Rationale : | (B) might be attractive for students who think the context is the departure from Troy; (C) for those who think the reference is to the Trojans' final destination. |
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4. | In line 3, data dextera quondam is translated
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| (A) | the things given previously to [my] right hand |
| (B) | my right hand previously given [to you] |
| (C) | since favorable things are given [to you] |
| (D) | when [my] right hand gives things |
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| Key : | B. |
| Type : | Translation. |
| Level : | Medium. |
| Rationale : | Although this is a straightforward translation and only (B) is correct, the distractors are all equally attractive in this context. |
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5. | In line 3, both uses of the word te refer to
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| (A) | Aeneas |
| (B) | Dido |
| (C) | Anna |
| (D) | Sychaeus |
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| Key : | A. |
| Type : | Reference. |
| Level : | Easy. |
| Rationale : | if students recognize that Dido is one of the three subjects in the tricolon crescens. |
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6. | In line 4, moritura modifies
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| (A) | amor (line 3) |
| (B) | dextera (line 3) |
| (C) | funere (line 4) |
| (D) | Dido (line 4) |
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| Key : | D. |
| Type : | Grammar. |
| Level : | Medium. |
| Rationale : | Students tend to have some difficulty matching modifiers with their nouns when the nouns are not adjacent. |
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7. | In line 4, the words crudeli funere allude to death by
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| (A) | murder |
| (B) | accident |
| (C) | plague |
| (D) | suicide |
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| Key : | D. |
| Type : | Background. |
| Level : | Easy. |
| Rationale : | Students should remember the manner of Dido's death. |
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8. | In addition to anaphora, what figure of speech occurs in lines 3-4 (Nec te … Dido)?
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| (A) | Asyndeton |
| (B) | Hendiadys |
| (C) | Simile |
| (D) | Tricolon crescens |
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| Key : | D. |
| Type : | Figure of speech. |
| Level : | Difficult. |
| Rationale : | This is an infrequently tested figure of speech and far less obvious than the anaphora. |
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9. | In line 5, the words hiberno … sidere are a metaphor for
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| (A) | daylight hours |
| (B) | winter storms |
| (C) | night |
| (D) | springtime |
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| Key : | B. |
| Type : | Figure of speech/comprehension. |
| Level : | Medium. |
| Rationale : | Although hiberno is a word students should know, it is not common and, if they do not think of the cognate "hibernation," they may not know its meaning. |
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10. | In line 6, the word ire depends on
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| (A) | Quin (line 5) |
| (B) | sidere (line 5) |
| (C) | properas (line 6) |
| (D) | per (line 6) |
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| Key : | C. |
| Type : | Grammar. |
| Level : | Medium. |
| Rationale : | The separation of properas and ire may make the connection between these two words not easily apparent. (B), if mistaken for a verb, might be an attractive option. |
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11. | The words si … peteres (lines 7-8) tell us that Aeneas
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| (A) | is not happy in these lands that are not his |
| (B) | is headed for unknown lands belonging to others |
| (C) | is sought by enemies from a foreign land |
| (D) | has passed through unknown lands belonging to others |
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| Key : | B. |
| Type : | Comprehension. |
| Level : | Difficult. |
| Rationale : | All distractors make sense and could fit into the context of the passage. |
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12. | The metrical pattern of the first four feet of line 8 is
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| (A) | spondee-spondee-dactyl-spondee |
| (B) | dactyl-spondee-dactyl-spondee |
| (C) | spondee-dactyl-spondee-spondee |
| (D) | dactyl-dactyl-dactyl-spondee |
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| Key : | C. |
| Type : | Metrics. |
| Level : | Medium. |
| Rationale : | A clear question with some possible confusion in the fourth foot with the consonantal i and the elision in Troia antiqua. |
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13. | In line 9, undosum modifies
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| (A) | the implied subject of peteres (line 8) |
| (B) | Troia (line 9) |
| (C) | classibus (line 9) |
| (D) | aequor (line 9) |
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| Key : | D. |
| Type : | Grammar. |
| Level : | Difficult. |
| Rationale : | Both the separation of undosum from aequor and the fact that they do not have matching endings make this question difficult. |
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