The Aeneid, Book Two The plot

CharactersThemes

Pathos and tragedySymbols and imagery

SimilesProphecy

Learning Objective

Through understanding the themes, language features and symbols we can comprehensively evaluate and discuss Book Two.

Quiz

Who was Laocoon? He was the Trojan priest. What is the main idea in Book Two? The defeat of the Trojans. Whose idea was it to erect the giant horse, according to

Sinon? Calchas’ idea (high priest of the Greeks) Who appears to Aeneas in a dream? Hector. Who was Creusa and what happened to her? She was Aeneas’ wife. She was killed when the Trojans

were escaping. Who are the Danaans? They are the Greeks (sub-tribe).

NEIGH

PLOT - Find the right quote for each section.

1. The crowd falls silent as Aeneas retells the story of the Trojan War.

2. He begins with the Greeks, after the death of Achilles. Minerva inspired them to build a great wooden horse and fill it with armed men. They left it in front of the gates of Troy and sailed to the island Tenedos.

3. Laocoon (Trojan priest) warns the Trojans to be careful about the wooden horse. He throws a spear at the horse and noises are heard.

4. The Trojans find Sinon. He tells his pitiful tale to the Trojans. After hearing Sinon’s story, King Priam accepts him with open arms.

“All lips were hushed, all eyes attentive fixed: Then Prince Aeneas from his lofty couch Addressed him thus to speak” (lines 1-2)

“Build up a horse of mountain bulk, the ribs of pine-planks interwoven” (line 15)“Hither they sail, and on the barren shore Lie hid. We deemed them far upon their way” (lines 24-25)

“Alack! So mad, my masters! Do ye think the foe departed?... Even gift in hand I fear the Danai still.” (lines 44-49)

“If Fortune shaped Sinon for misery, shall her spite, beside, shape him to fraud and falsehood.” (line 78)

•5. “For Laocoon, the priest of Neptune…was sacrificing a bull, when, lo! From Tenedos, over the tranquil ocean serpents twain…His two son’s slender bodies either snake embraces and enfolds…then him they seize…’rightly hath Laocoon paid for his crime’, they cry….”

6. “Meanwhile the face of heaven is turned, and night comes up from ocean…The Teucrians lay; sleep held their weary limbs…Sinon by stealth lets loose the pinewood bolts…Them the horse…thrown open…Hector before my eyes, all woe-begone….”

7. “I…stand, all ear, to hearken; as, when fire falls on the corn beneath the furious south…shouting of mean…distraught I seize mine arms…And with my comrades hasten to the hold: frenzy and anger urge my headlong will, and death methinks how comely, sword in hand!”

8. “The youth Corobus. In those days it chanced he, mad with passion for Cassandra fired…Maiden Cassandra…vainly to heaven her burning eyes she casts – eyes, for her tender hands are locked in chains. This sight Corobus brooked not; mad with rage He hurled them on their very midst, to die.”

Plot - explain what each section is about to the person next to you.

Plot - arrange these points in the correct order.

B) Coroebus rushed off to death when they found out that Cassandra was raped.

D) Priam put on his armour. His wife and daughters plead with him. At that moment Pyrrhus rushed in and killed Polites on the altar. Priam flung his spear towards the invader. Pyrrhus laughed as the old man missed and then he killed him.

A) Aeneas passes Helen. He thinks of striking her down then for causing the war. Venus appears and asks him why he is so bitter. She shows him that the gods were working against Troy emphasizing that they had no hope. She sped him along to his father, Anchises. Anchises refuses to leave.

C) Ascanius' face lites up with a divine light as if it were on fire and Anchises asked Jupiter to confirm the omen. They watched a shooting star streak through the sky and Anchises decided that he should leave. Aeneas slung his father over his shoulders and led his child by the hand.

Plot.

And finally … Aeneas searches the city for Creusa. ◦What does she say to Aeneas?

ACTIVITY

Read pages 17-21 of the Findlay text. ◦In pairs discuss the questions on pages 17-18

as a recap.◦Do activities 1 and 3 on page 20.

QUIRKY QUESTION

When did Hitler become Chancellor of Germany?

1933

CHARACTERS

AENEAS: demonstrates furor instead of fleeing Troy. He decides to fight and possibly die as a hero.

Venus reminds him of his duty (to protect his family and start a new race). HE BEGINS SHOWING PIETAS.

New characters: fill in the blanks

Laocoon: Trojan ____ of _______.Sinon: Greek soldier captured by the ______.Hector: son of ___ ____ of Troy, appears to ____ in

his sleep.Panthus: priest of ____.Coroebus: ally of King ____.Cassandra: _______ of King Priam.Androgeos: ____ warrior.Pyrrhus: Greek warrior, son of _____.Priam: aged king of ___.Hecuba: Priam’s ___.

priest NeptuneTrojans

King PriamAeneas

Apollo

Priam

daughter

Greek

Achilles

Troy

wife

Role of the gods in Book II

The gods are responsible for the start of the war (Judgement of Paris). They are also responsible for the outcome of the war: the downfall of Troy.

Gods control the events in Book II.

Role of the gods cont.

Cruelty of the gods. Power and control of the gods. Can not

avoid will of the gods.Gods assist with fate.Intervention of the gods in the affairs of

the mortals – no concern for welfare of the mortals.

Human dependence on the gods. Gods = enemies of Troy.

GODS

GOD GOD

GOD

Activity on the gods

Create a mind map which demonstrates the below:◦How the gods act in Bk II◦How the mortals put their trust in the gods◦How the gods impose on Aeneas’ personal life◦How they meddle in the process of things.

Major theme: Aeneas’ divine mission

Read page 35 Findlay. Create a flow chart which summarises the Aeneas’ divine mission.

Major theme: War/ the Trojan War

The storyRoman heritagePain and suffering of warThe death of PriamSympathetic view. Portrays the Trojans as

heroes.

Another theme is war and the horrors surrounding it. Write a paragraph which explains how Book II portrays this. You may use the below points.

PATHOS AND TRAGEDY

Pathos (sorrow).The fall of Troy is narrated by Aeneas, a

victim of war, because of this the reader is made to sympathise with him and his plight.

Virgil is sympathetic towards the Trojans.

Find a direct quote which supports this idea.

PATHOS AND TRAGEDY

Concentration on a single purpose: Aeneas’ destiny.

Continuity of themes, motifs (prophecies and predictions) and characters.

Integration of imagery: snakes, ghost of Hector.

PATHOS AND TRAGEDY

Tragic fear and pity, such as the destruction of Troy is not a deserved punishment.

The tragic hero – Aeneas.

Emphasis on the idea that neither righteousness nor religion are any protection to the Trojans.

Language features

Wooden Horse: the Trojan horse is one of the main symbols of Book II because it represents the infiltration of the Greeks.

Language features

The other major symbol are snakes: represents the invasion of the Greeks and danger.

A recurring image in the book :◦ the two sea-snakes kill Laocoon; ◦Androgeos is like a man who stepped on a

snake;◦Neoptolemus (Pyrrhus) is compared to a snake

who's just sloughed its skin.

Language features

OTHER SYMBOLSGhost of Hector: reveals to Aeneas the

beginning of his divine mission.Flames: symbolises that the Trojans must

leave. What other images does Zeus create?

Creusa as a melting dream.War as a flood representing violence.

“Troy’s dying anguish” (personification)“Now, too, dewy night adown the sky falls

headlong, and the stars sinking invite sleep” (metaphor)

“All lips were hushed” (metaphor)“When from the upturned eyes shot

quivering flames” (metaphor).

Describe the effects of the above language features

“the shepherd [Aneas]” Discuss how this is an example of multiple correspondence.

PROPHECY

There are parts of prophecies contained in the speeches of Hector and Creusa as they hint that Aeneas must go on a journey with the refugees on Troy and found a city.