How does Aeneas feel about the sack of Troy and the loss of his city?

Discussion Questions: Aeneid, Books 2-3 and 6
Humanities 101 Keith W. Jensen All Semesters
Due: Initial Post due July 02 by 11:59 pm; Posts to your Classmates’ Responses due July 05
by 11:59 pm.
Directions: Respond to one of the following questions in the Discussion Board. This will serve
as your initial post. Your answer should be approximately 1-2 pages (300-600 words). Make
sure that you give specific examples from the poem in your response to support and/or illustrate
your points.
Discussion Board Directions: When you are ready to post, copy and paste the question and
your response into the discussion board. To do this, click on Discussion Board #3: Virgil, The
Aeneid, Books 2, 3, and 6 in Module 6 or directly in the Discussion Board tab, click on the
“create a thread” button, and post your initial response. Either copy/paste the whole thing or
copy/paste the question and write your response in the thread.
Book 2: The Fall of Troy
1. How does Aeneas feel about the sack of Troy and the loss of his city?
2. What do you think of Aeneas as a hero, especially if we compare him to, say Odysseus?
Book 3: Aeneas’s Journey
3. In what places does Aeneas try—unsuccessfully—to settle and establish his city? Why do these
foundations fail? What do they tell us about the perils of Aeneas’ mission?
4. What are some of the major similarities and differences between Aeneas’ adventures and Odysseus’
adventures in the Odyssey? What do you think the significance of these similarities/differences are to
our understanding of the differing purposes of Roman and Greek literature?
Book 6: The Underworld
5. What are the three levels of the Underworld? Name them and describe them. Which type of person
went to each level of the underworld?
6. Choose three people named in the last 500 lines of Book VI (excluding Aeneas, Anchises, or any of
the gods), do some research on each person, and tell us who they turned out to be historically.
Based on your response, what is the purpose of Book VI, both for Aeneas and for the audience?
7. What are the two gates at the end of Book VI (name them and explain their purpose)? Which gate
does Aeneas pass through and what is the significance of this?