Who is the Sibyl of Cumae, and what is her function in the epic?

• A. She is a minor goddess of war
• B. She is Dido's sister
• C. She is Aeneas's prophetic guide who helps him reach the underworld and articulates the destiny of Rome
• D. She is a muse of music

Answer: (C)

In Virgil’s epic, the Sibyl of Cumae functions as a prophetic guide who leads Aeneas to the underworld and reveals the fate of Rome. She is a mortal seer and priestess of Apollo, whose authority to foretell helps anchor Aeneas’s personal journey in a larger national destiny. She accompanies him to the gates of the underworld, facilitates the descent by guiding him through the rite and the required token (the golden bough), and then presents visions that spell out Rome’s future and the lineage through which Aeneas’s mission will bear fruit. This combination of navigation into the realm of the dead and articulation of Rome’s destined greatness makes her role essential to the epic’s overarching theme of fate and national founding. She is not a war goddess, nor Dido’s sister, nor a muse of music.