Heroes (poem) Quizzes

Heroes (poem) Quiz

By John Melendez · Edited by James Cooper · Last reviewed May 30, 2022

1 What type of stanzas is the poem made up of?

Octaves

Couplets

Sestets

Quatrains
2 What was Hercules's final labor?

Kill the Nemean lion

Fight Apollo

Catch and return Cerberus

Journey to the underworld
3 Who is the speaker of the poem?

Virgil

Robert Creeley

Aeneas

Hercules
4 What scene from the Aeneid does Creeley depict?

Achilles's battle with Hector

Aeneas's journey to the Underworld

The destruction of Troy

Ulysses' return home
5 Who wrote the Aeneid?

Homer

Virgil

Shakespeare

Dante
6 What is the meter of the poem?

Dactylic hexameter

Iambic tetrameter

Iambic trimeter

Free verse
7 Which of the following is a main theme of the poem?

History

Animal cruelty

Heroism

War
8 What does the Latin quote "hoc opus, hic labor est" mean?

"Deeds, not words"

"Therein lies the difficulty"

"Nothing comes from nothing"

"That is the task, that is the labor"
9 What quality does Creeley prize in hero narratives?

Humanness

Determination

Strength

Valor
10 How many labors was Hercules assigned?

Five

Twelve

Two

Ten
11 When was the poem published?

1965

1975

1960

1950
12 What literary movement was Robert Creeley associated with?

The New York School

The Black Mountain poets

The Beat Generation

The Imagists
13 How does Creeley subtly criticize Virgil?

By saying he has never read his work

By saying he is long dead

By mocking Aeneas

By saying his poetry is bad
14 Who is Aeneas trying to see in the underworld?

Hercules

Virgil

His father

Achilles
15 What best characterizes the tone of the poem?

Solemn

Reverent

Thoughtful but harsh

Respectful but critical
16 What is the meaning of the line "death also / can still propose the old labors" in the poem?

Mortality can push heroes into action

Poets should write about death more often

Mortality forces people into dull labor

Hercules died after completing his tasks
17 Who is Aeneas's guide into the underworld?

Sibyl

Charon

Dido

Cerberus
18 What is the genre of the poem?

Sea shanty

Ekphrasis

Pastoral poetry

Heroic poetry
19 What does Aeneas's father have a vision of?

Aeneas' death

The city of Rome

The destruction of Troy

Hercules' capture of Cerberus
20 Why does Creeley single out Aeneas's trip to the underworld as the moment of "humanness" in the Aeneid?

Because it shows him being lost

Because it shows him missing his father

Because it shows him being afraid

Because it shows him being vulnerable and mortal
21 Who is the guardian of the underworld?

Apollo

The king of Mycanae

The Nimean lion

Cerberus
22 Which of the following figures is NOT referenced in the poem?

Hercules

Aeneas

Ulysses

Sibyl
23 Why does Creeley say he is the speaker of the poem and then mention Virgil?

To mock himself

To challenge Virgil's authority over hero narratives

To place his own work in the same category as Virgil's

To align himself with a certain poetic tradition
24 What collection was the poem first published in?

For Love

5 Numbers

The Island

If You
25 Which of the following poets was a noted contemporary of Creeley's?

Dante

Emily Dickinson

Charles Olson

Virgil

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Study Guide for Heroes (poem)

Heroes (poem) study guide contains a biography of Robert Creeley, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

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