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The Aeneid
Virgil
Contains spoilers for the entire book.
Discussion topics
Topic 01 of 08
Forced by fate
What does Aeneas lose and gain by obeying his fate to found a new Troy?
Keep the conversation going
- Is he a hero, or a man doing his duty?
- How does Juno's hatred shape his journey?
There is no single right answer. Bring your own reading.
Discussion topics
What does Aeneas lose and gain by obeying his fate to found a new Troy?
Keep the conversation going
- Is he a hero, or a man doing his duty?
- How does Juno's hatred shape his journey?
How did Aeneas's account of the fall of Troy affect you?
Keep the conversation going
- What did you make of the Trojan horse and Laocoön?
- How did you feel when Aeneas loses Creusa?
Was Aeneas wrong to leave Dido?
Keep the conversation going
- How did her curse and death affect you?
- Whose side is the poem on?
What does Aeneas owe his father, and how does that shape him?
Keep the conversation going
- What does carrying Anchises out of Troy show?
- What did the funeral games in his honour mean?
What does Aeneas see in the underworld, and how does it change him?
Keep the conversation going
- How did you feel when Dido turns away from him there?
- What does the parade of future Romans mean to him?
Is Turnus a villain, or a man defending his home against invaders?
Keep the conversation going
- What did you make of Lavinia's place in the war?
- Do you sympathise with Turnus?
How does the death of Pallas change Aeneas?
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- What does Evander's grief add?
- Why does Pallas's belt matter at the end?
How did you feel about the poem's abrupt ending, with Aeneas killing Turnus?
Keep the conversation going
- Is it justice, rage, or both?
- Why do you think Virgil ends there, not with the founding of Rome?
There is no single right answer. Bring your own reading.