The Aeneid Modern Scholarship Practice Test

The idea being tested is recognizing who explicitly frames the Aeneid as continuing or completing the epic story started by the Iliad. Bob Cowan is the scholar most associated with the claim that the Aeneid functions as a sequel to the Iliad, tying Virgil’s epic directly into the Homeric tradition and treating it as a continuation of that epic project rather than just a broader influence. This viewpoint emphasizes how Virgil adopts Homeric epic conventions, themes, and scope to bring the Trojan War’s aftermath into a Roman horizon, guiding readers toward Rome’s foundations and values. The other options either address Homeric influence in a more general sense, focus on different topics like a specific book or on comparing Greek and Roman heroism, or present a distinct angle that doesn’t amount to labeling the Aeneid as a sequel to the Iliad. So the best answer is the scholar who explicitly foregrounds the Aeneid as a continuation of the Iliad’s epic lineage.