Poetry Questions to Try

Language Skills

1. Ille similis deo esse videtur.

A) from a god B) by a god C) to a god D) god

2. Nescio ubi Cornelia habitaverit.

A) lives B) to live C) lived D) living

3. Eripite illum puerum his flammis!

A) Snatch B) To snatch C) Will be snatched D) Having been snatched

4. Iuvenis ab ure proficiscitur.

A) was setting out B) sets out C) has set out D) will set out

5. Femina nullum metum mortis habuit.

A) from death B) of death C) death D) in death

6. Huc adveni ut darem tibi donum.

A) as I give B) in order to give C) because I gave D) while giving

7. Aeneas dixit filium regis interfecturm ________.

A) esse B) est C) erat D) sit

8. Imperator cum exercitu _________ advenit.

A) fortem B) forti C) fortes D) fortibus

9. Viri Dardani terram antiquam coluere.

A) will inhabit B) had inhabited C) inhabited D) inhabiting

10. Dea Diana est altior omnibus mulieribus.

A) from all women B) of all women C) than all women D) by all women

Culture, Mythology, and Geography

11. Which pair were not father and son?

A) Aeneas and Ascanius B) Odysseus and Telemachus C) Achilles and Patroclus D) Priam and Hector

12. The town on the east coast of Italy from which the ancients sailed to Greece is

A) Mantua B) Pompeii C) Ostia D) Brundisium

13. What is the metrical pattern of "Tu quoque perpetuos semper gere frondis honores"?

A) SDDSDS B) DDSDDS C) DDSSDS D) SSDSDS

14. Which mythological couple had a long and loving marraige before finally dying together?

A) Baucis and Philemon B) Pyramus and Thisbe C) Orpheus and Eurydice D) Apollo and Daphne

15. Which Roman author wrote the Odes, Epodes, Satires, and Epistles?

A) Horace B) Terence C) Ovid D) Catallus

16. What hero escaped from the one-eyed monster Polyphemus?

A) Theseus B) Perseus C) Odysseus D) Jason

17. The plot of the Aeneid is most similar to

A) the Eclogues and the Georgics B) the Amores and the Heroides C) the Histories and the Annals D) the Illiad and the Odyssey

18.Which could be called arboreal animals?

A) squirrels and monkeys B) dogs and cats C) goats and sheep D) otters and seals

19. Multum in parvo is an example of the figure of speech known as

A) anaphora B) hendiadys C) oxymoron D) simile

20. Which expression could be used by a commentator who is amazed at the event he is reporting?

A) mirabile dictu B) in loco parentis C) sub rosa D) bona fide

A Prayer for Rome

The poet laments the state of Rome

Quippe ubi fas versum atque nefas; tot bella per orbem, Quippe ubi = here indeed; versum = has been turned around

tam multae scelerum facies, non ullus aratro aratrum, -i, n. = plow

dignus honos, squalent abductis arva colonis, honos = honor; squalent = are neglected

et curvae rigdum falces conflantur in ensem. falces = sickles; conflantur = are forged

Hic movet Euphrates, illinc Germania bellum;

vicinae ruptis inter se legibus urbes

arma ferunt; saevit toto Mars impius orbe,

ut cum carceribus sese effudere quadrigae, ut = just as; carceribus = starting gates; quadrigae = chariots

addunt in spatia, et frustra retinacula tendens in spatia = lap after lap; retinacula = reins

fertur equis auriga neque audit currus habenas. auriga = charioteer; audit = does respond to; habenas = reins

Vergil, Georgics, I.505-51

21. In line 1, the poet describes a world full of

A) starvation B) sickness C) poverty D) wars

22. The best translation for tam...facies (line 2) is

A) the deeds of wicked men B) such an evil face C) so many aspects of evil D) so many evil torches

23. According to lines 2-3, farmers are

A) ignoring the gods B) looting the countryside C) dying of disease D) not working the fields

24. The sense of line 4 is that

A) farm implements are being made into weapons B) there are efforts to stop the slaughter C) the people have lost confidence in their leaders D) the gods are taking an interest in the suffering

25. In line 5 we learn that

A) rivers are flooding B) people are moving their homes away from Rome C) other countries are more beautiful than Rome D) war is breaking out in the far regions of the Roman world

26. The best translation for vicinae...urbes...arma ferunt (lines 6-7) is

A) arms are borne against the cities B) neighboring cities bear arms C) the neighborhoods of the city bear weapons D) the neighbors and city have weapons

27. In line 7, the god Mars represents war. This figure of speech is

A) metonymy B) chiasmus C) anaphora D) ellipsis

28. The simile of lines 8-10 compares war to

A) a victorious charioteer B) an excited crowd watching a chariot race C) the confinement of the starting gates D) a chariot that is out of control