AP Latin : Syllabus Passages
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Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Scanning Dactylic Hexameter In Vergil
Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam, fato profugus, Laviniaque venit
litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
vi superum saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram;
multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem, 5
inferretque deos Latio, genus unde Latinum,
Albanique patres, atque altae moenia Romae.
Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso,
quidve dolens, regina deum tot volvere casus
insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores 10
impulerit. Tantaene animis caelestibus irae?
Which is the correct scansion of line 2?
_ vv | _ _ | _ _ | _vv | _ vv| _ vv
_ vv | _ _ | _ vv | _ _| _ vv| _ vv
_ vv | _ vv | _ vv | _vv | _ vv| _ vv
_ vv | _ vv | _ _ | _vv | _ vv| _ _
_ vv | _ _ | _ _ | _ _| _ vv| _ vv
_ vv | _ _ | _ _ | _vv | _ vv| _ vv
The correct scansion for line 2 is: _ vv | _ _ | _ _ | _vv | _ vv| _ vv
In dactylic hexameter, the first syllable of a dactyl is always long and there must be six dactyls total.
The first set is a dactyl because there are no long syllables in "Itali-." The "-am," however, is long because of meter. The syllables of "fato" are both long because of case and to fit the meter. The syllable "pro-" is also naturally long. the "-fu-" is long to fit the meter and the rest is a regular dactyl. The line ends with two more dactyls, mainly to fit the meter.
(Passage adapted from the Aeneid by Vergil, 1.1-12)
Example Question #2 : Grammar, Syntax, And Scansion In Vergil
Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam, fato profugus, Laviniaque venit
litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
vi superum saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram;
multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem, 5
inferretque deos Latio, genus unde Latinum,
Albanique patres, atque altae moenia Romae.
Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso,
quidve dolens, regina deum tot volvere casus
insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores 10
impulerit. Tantaene animis caelestibus irae?
The third meter in line 3 looks like __________.
v _
_ vv
_ _
_ v
_ _
The third meter in this like looks like: _ _. This is because there is ellision between the words "multum ille et," which, when scanning, makes it sound like three syllables. When ellision occurs, the ellided syllables become long.
(Passage adapted from the Aeneid by Vergil, 1.1-12)
Example Question #3 : Grammar, Syntax, And Scansion In Vergil
Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam, fato profugus, Laviniaque venit
litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
vi superum saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram;
multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem, 5
inferretque deos Latio, genus unde Latinum,
Albanique patres, atque altae moenia Romae.
Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso,
quidve dolens, regina deum tot volvere casus
insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores 10
impulerit. Tantaene animis caelestibus irae?
What is the proper scansion of the fourth meter in line 4?
_ vv
_ x
_ v _
_ _
_ _
The proper scansion of the fourth meter in line 4 looks like: _ _. Both the syllables "rem" and "Ju-" must be long in order to fit the meter.
(Passage adapted from the Aeneid by Vergil, 1.1-12)
Example Question #1 : Grammar, Syntax, And Scansion In Vergil
Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam, fato profugus, Laviniaque venit
litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
vi superum saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram;
multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem, 5
inferretque deos Latio, genus unde Latinum,
Albanique patres, atque altae moenia Romae.
Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso,
quidve dolens, regina deum tot volvere casus
insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores 10
impulerit. Tantaene animis caelestibus irae?
What is the correct scansion of line 5?
_ _ | _ vv | _ vv | _ _ | _ vv | _ x
_ _ | _ vv | _ _ | _ _ | _ vv | _ x
_ vv | _ vv | _ vv | _ _ | _ vv | _ x
_ vv | _ _ | _ vv | _ _ | _ vv | _ x
_ vv | _ _ | _ _ | _ _ | _ vv | _ x
_ vv | _ _ | _ _ | _ _ | _ vv | _ x
The correct scansion for line 5 is: _ vv | _ _ | _ _ | _ _ | _ vv | _ x
In dactylic hexameter, the first syllable of a dactyl is always long and there must be six dactyls total.
The line starts off with a normal dactyl. The next few meters, though, are long because an ellision occurs between "quo" and "et," which makes the syllable long and therefore shifts other syllables to long as well to fit the meter. The last two meters end in the common fashion of a dactyl (_ vv) and _ x
(Passage adapted from the Aeneid by Vergil, 1.1-12)
Example Question #3 : Scanning Dactylic Hexameter In Vergil
Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam, fato profugus, Laviniaque venit
litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
vi superum saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram;
multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem, 5
inferretque deos Latio, genus unde Latinum,
Albanique patres, atque altae moenia Romae.
Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso,
quidve dolens, regina deum tot volvere casus
insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores 10
impulerit. Tantaene animis caelestibus irae?
Where does the caesura occur in line 6?
In the word "Latio"
Between "Latio" and "genus"
In the word "genus"
Between "deos" and "Latio"
Between "deos" and "Latio"
The caesura of line 6 most naturally occurs between the words "deos" and "Latio."
(Passage adapted from the Aeneid by Vergil, 1.1-12)
Example Question #4 : Grammar, Syntax, And Scansion In Vergil
Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam, fato profugus, Laviniaque venit
litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
vi superum saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram;
multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem, 5
inferretque deos Latio, genus unde Latinum,
Albanique patres, atque altae moenia Romae.
Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso,
quidve dolens, regina deum tot volvere casus
insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores 10
impulerit. Tantaene animis caelestibus irae?
Where does the caesura occur in line 7?
In the word "patres"
Between "patres" and "atque"
In the word "altae"
Between "atque" and "altae"
Between "patres" and "atque"
The caesura of this line most naturally occurs after the word "patres."
(Passage adapted from the Aeneid by Vergil, 1.1-12)
Example Question #5 : Grammar, Syntax, And Scansion In Vergil
Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam, fato profugus, Laviniaque venit
litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
vi superum saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram;
multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem, 5
inferretque deos Latio, genus unde Latinum,
Albanique patres, atque altae moenia Romae.
Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso,
quidve dolens, regina deum tot volvere casus
insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores 10
impulerit. Tantaene animis caelestibus irae?
Where does the caesura occur in line 8?
Between "quo" and "numine"
Between "memora" and "quo"
In the word "memora"
Between "causas" and "memora"
Between "causas" and "memora"
The caesura of line 8 most naturally occurs between the words "causas" and "memora."
(Passage adapted from the Aeneid by Vergil, 1.1-12)
Example Question #61 : Syllabus Passages
Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam, fato profugus, Laviniaque venit
litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
vi superum saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram;
multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem, 5
inferretque deos Latio, genus unde Latinum,
Albanique patres, atque altae moenia Romae.
Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso,
quidve dolens, regina deum tot volvere casus
insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores 10
impulerit. Tantaene animis caelestibus irae?
How many ellisions are in line 9?
1
2
3
0
0
Zero ellisions occur in line 9.
(Passage adapted from the Aeneid by Vergil, 1.1-12)
Example Question #62 : Syllabus Passages
Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
Italiam, fato profugus, Laviniaque venit
litora, multum ille et terris iactatus et alto
vi superum saevae memorem Iunonis ob iram;
multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem, 5
inferretque deos Latio, genus unde Latinum,
Albanique patres, atque altae moenia Romae.
Musa, mihi causas memora, quo numine laeso,
quidve dolens, regina deum tot volvere casus
insignem pietate virum, tot adire labores 10
impulerit. Tantaene animis caelestibus irae?
How many ellisions occur throughout this excerpt?
3
6
8
5
5
A total of 5 ellision occur throughout this excerpt. Remember, ellisions occur when one word ends with a vowel (or accusative singular ending), followed by a word beginning with a vowel.
(Passage adapted from the Aeneid by Vergil, 1.1-12)
Example Question #63 : Syllabus Passages
1 Quod genus hoc hominum? Quaeve hunc tam barbara morem
2 permittit patria? Hospitio prohibemur harenae;
3 bella cient, primaque vetant consistere terra.
4 Si genus humanum et mortalia temnitis arma
5 at sperate deos memores fandi atque nefandi.
6 Rex erat Aeneas nobis, quo iustior alter,
7 nec pietate fuit, nec bello maior et armis.
In line 5 ("at…nefandi"), the metrical pattern of the first four feet is __________.
dactyl – dactyl – dactyl – spondee
spondee – dactyl – spondee – spondee
dactyl – dactyl – spondee – spondee
spondee - dactyl - dactyl - spondee
spondee - dactyl - dactyl - spondee
The initial “e” in "sperate" is long by nature, which makes the first foot a spondee. The last “e” of "sperate" and the first “e” in "deos" are short, making the second foot a dactyl. The first two syllables of "memores" are short, making the third foot a dactyl. Because two consonants “nd” follow the “a” in "fandi," the “a” is long, making the fourth foot a spondee.
(Passage adapted from The Aeneid of Vergil 1. 539-546)
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