18. Study Questions Copy

1. How does the poet’s use of language emphasise the battlefield scene at the start of these lines?

The sense of emptiness is emphasised by the use of long vowel sounds (assonance):atque illi, ut vacuo patuerunt aequore campi,/procursu rapido coniectis eminus hastis/invadunt Martem clipeis atque aere sonoro.

2. Comment on the effectiveness of the extended simile in lines 715-24. Refer to the Latin in your answer.

The pair are compared to two bulls fighting with great violence to gain control of the herd. ‘proelia’ indicates that this is more than posturing or mock-fighting. Even the magistri have withdrawn. Note the alliteration in line 718, that emphasises that this battle renders onlookers mute with fear: ‘stat pecus omne metu mutum, mussantque iuvencae’.

3. Who else is watching the combat and what are they doing?

Jupiter. He is weighing up of the fates of the two combatants.

18. Study Questions Copy

18. Study Questions Copy

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