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5 min readβ’june 18, 2024
hunter_borg
hunter_borg
Salvete! Welcome to AP Latin, and welcome (if you're new here) to studying the works of Vergil and Julius Caesar! This unit covers Book 1 ofΒ The Aeneid.Β
In order to prepare for the exam, you'll be reading book 1 in Latin (Lines 1-209, 418-440, and 494-578). Reading over the Unit 1 checklist is important in making sure you understand the correct skill categories each unit tackles.
In AP Latin and other languages, there are no key concepts like there are in other AP subjects. Instead, we will practice skill categories in the form of different style questions to help you prepare for the exam. Then, we will break down the lines within that particular section of the book.
Also, there are 7 different themes within the course catalog that students should be able to know, as well as understand theΒ focusΒ of each theme and its relevance to the text. As it is Unit 1, all the themes will be listed down below however in future units we will go with each the themes relevant to that unit. Also, for Unit 1, the relevant themes are Literary Style and Genre (LIT), Leadership (LDR), and Human Beings and the Gods (HBG).
Theme | Description of Theme |
Literary Style and Genre (LIT) |
The Aeneid is an epic poem written by a Roman poet named Publius Vergilius Maro (or as we call him today, Vergil) from around 30 BCE to 19 BCE. Vergil also wrote two other major works,Β The EcloguesΒ andΒ The Georgics however for our purposes they are, while interesting reads, unrelated for further discussion. By far Vergil's most major work isΒ The Aeneid. The Aeneid was partially inspired by Vergil's experiences in life as he lived through the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire under Augustus.
The poem is written in dactylic hexameter (the verse scheme used for epic poetry). In dactylic hexameter, every vowel is called a foot and each line has six feet (hexa=six). A dactyl is a long followed by two shorts, and a spondee is two consecutive longs. It also features two types of elision, which is a literary mechanism that omits a sound or syllable when speaking. Type 1 is when the word ends with a vowel, and the next word starts with a vowel, then sometimes the vowel and the "m" elide and drop out of grammatical existence. Type 2 is when a word ends with a vowel and the next word starts with a vowel, the ending vowel has to elide.
The epic also deals with metaphorical meanings so some parts of the poem require a more abstract thought paradigm to truly grasp the content, and those will be pointed out as they appear.
1st Foot: long, long or long, short, short
2nd Foot: long, short, short or long, long
3rd Foot: long, short short or long, long
4th Foot: long, short, short or long, long
5th Foot: can only be long, short short
6th Foot: long, short or long
A vowel "long by position" is when a vowel, followed by two consonants, is usually a long vowel.
Arma vir|umque can|o. Troi|ae qui| primus ab| oris.
|= To The left, is one foot.
Great Resource for Dactylic Hexameter Review:Β http://myweb.ecu.edu/stevensj/LATN2004/hexameter.pdf
Let's get started with Book One ofΒ The Aeneid, shall we?
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5 min readβ’june 18, 2024
hunter_borg
hunter_borg
Salvete! Welcome to AP Latin, and welcome (if you're new here) to studying the works of Vergil and Julius Caesar! This unit covers Book 1 ofΒ The Aeneid.Β
In order to prepare for the exam, you'll be reading book 1 in Latin (Lines 1-209, 418-440, and 494-578). Reading over the Unit 1 checklist is important in making sure you understand the correct skill categories each unit tackles.
In AP Latin and other languages, there are no key concepts like there are in other AP subjects. Instead, we will practice skill categories in the form of different style questions to help you prepare for the exam. Then, we will break down the lines within that particular section of the book.
Also, there are 7 different themes within the course catalog that students should be able to know, as well as understand theΒ focusΒ of each theme and its relevance to the text. As it is Unit 1, all the themes will be listed down below however in future units we will go with each the themes relevant to that unit. Also, for Unit 1, the relevant themes are Literary Style and Genre (LIT), Leadership (LDR), and Human Beings and the Gods (HBG).
Theme | Description of Theme |
Literary Style and Genre (LIT) |
The Aeneid is an epic poem written by a Roman poet named Publius Vergilius Maro (or as we call him today, Vergil) from around 30 BCE to 19 BCE. Vergil also wrote two other major works,Β The EcloguesΒ andΒ The Georgics however for our purposes they are, while interesting reads, unrelated for further discussion. By far Vergil's most major work isΒ The Aeneid. The Aeneid was partially inspired by Vergil's experiences in life as he lived through the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire under Augustus.
The poem is written in dactylic hexameter (the verse scheme used for epic poetry). In dactylic hexameter, every vowel is called a foot and each line has six feet (hexa=six). A dactyl is a long followed by two shorts, and a spondee is two consecutive longs. It also features two types of elision, which is a literary mechanism that omits a sound or syllable when speaking. Type 1 is when the word ends with a vowel, and the next word starts with a vowel, then sometimes the vowel and the "m" elide and drop out of grammatical existence. Type 2 is when a word ends with a vowel and the next word starts with a vowel, the ending vowel has to elide.
The epic also deals with metaphorical meanings so some parts of the poem require a more abstract thought paradigm to truly grasp the content, and those will be pointed out as they appear.
1st Foot: long, long or long, short, short
2nd Foot: long, short, short or long, long
3rd Foot: long, short short or long, long
4th Foot: long, short, short or long, long
5th Foot: can only be long, short short
6th Foot: long, short or long
A vowel "long by position" is when a vowel, followed by two consonants, is usually a long vowel.
Arma vir|umque can|o. Troi|ae qui| primus ab| oris.
|= To The left, is one foot.
Great Resource for Dactylic Hexameter Review:Β http://myweb.ecu.edu/stevensj/LATN2004/hexameter.pdf
Let's get started with Book One ofΒ The Aeneid, shall we?
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