A.P.* Multiple Choice: Dido's Background (Aeneid 1.348b-60)
* = Abney Practice

Here, we join Venus in what is supposed to be the short history of Carthage.
Read the passage and then choose the correct answer for the questions that follow.

 

                "Ille Sychaeum
impius ante aras atque auri caecus amore
clam ferro incautam superat, securus amorum
germanae; factumque diu celavit et aegram
multa malus simulans vana spe lusit amantem.             5
ipsa sed in somnis inhumati venit imago
coniugis ora modis attollens pallida miris;
crudelis aras traiectaque pectora ferro
nudavit, caecumque domus scelus omne retexit.
tum celerare fugam patriasque excedere suadet          10
auxiliumque viae veteres tellure recludit
thesauros, ignotum argenti pondus et auri
his commota fugam Dido sociosque parabat.

Aeneid 1.348b-60

(Excerpt from the Aeneid, available online here: Book 1.)


1.  To whom or what does ille refer (line 1)?

Pygmalion
Aeneas
Dido
Sychaeus


2.  Which of the following does not appropriately

     characterize the act described as impius

     (lines 1-4)?
betrayal
shedding of kin blood
desecration of an altar
rebellion


3.  What is the correct translation of aegram . . .

     amantem (lines 4-5)?
he tricked the lover, sick with false hope, by

     pretending many wicked things
wickedly pretending many things, he deluded the ill

     lover with false hope
the evil man very sickly pretending in vain deluded

     the lover with false hope
he deluded the ill woman with false hope, wickedly

     pretending that he loved her greatly


4.  To whom or what does ipsa refer (line 6)?

amantem (line 5)
imago (line 6)
somnis (line 6)
coniugis (line 7)


5.  What is the correct scansion of the first four feet of

     line 6?
dactyl-dactyl-spondee-spondee
dactyl-dactyl-dactyl-spondee
dactyl-spondee-spondee-spondee
dactyl-spondee-dactyl-spondee


6.  What happens in crudelis . . . retexit (lines 8-9)?
The ghost appears to Dido.
The ghost tells Dido to flee.
The ghost reveals that it was murdered.
Dido dreams of her lost husband.


7.  On what word does celerare depend (line 10)?
fugam (line 10)
suadet (line 10)
excedere (line 10)
auxilium (line 11)


8.  What aids Dido's efforts (lines 11-12)?
a massive bribe
buried treasure
an ancient forgotten road
Pygmalion's unguarded fleet


9.  What is the correct translation of his . . . commota

     (line 13)?
these disturbing things
disturbed by these things
having disturbed these things
disturbing to these people


10. What figure of speech occurs in line 13?
synchesis (interlocking word order)
chiasmus
hendiadys
zeugma