Which Roman author wrote the following:
“I am pious Aeneas, who carries my Penates,
snatched from the enemy, in my fleet with me, known by my fame above the ether.
I seek my fatherland, Italy, and a race from highest Jove.”
Explanation
Answer: D - In the second or third century BCE, Virgil wrote the quotation in the epic poem the Aeneid. In it, he tells the story of Aeneas, a Trojan warrior who fought in the Trojan War, then travelled to Italy, where he became a forbearer of the Romans. Aeneas was a character in Homer’s Iliad and was, therefore, already known in Greco-Roman mythology. Virgil’s poem pieced together various stories about Aeneas in epic fashion, glorifying Roman culture in the process. In many respects, the Aeneid became the celebrated national story about Rome’s founding and history.
