Which scholar asserts that the end of Troy becomes the beginning of Rome, with the Phoenix of Rome rising from the ashes?

Which scholar asserts that the end of Troy becomes the beginning of Rome, with the Phoenix of Rome rising from the ashes?

• A. G.E. Duckworth - Structure of the Aeneid
• B. Denis Feeney - Plot
• C. Gerry Nusbaum - Structure of the Aeneid
• D. Gerry Nusbaum - Book 2

Answer: (D)

The idea being tested is how Virgilian epic criticism reads the fall of Troy as not an ending but the seed of Rome, with a rebirth motif that links Troy’s ashes to Rome’s emergence. Gerry Nusbaum’s analysis in Book 2 argues this connection most directly, showing how the early episodes of the Aeneid are arranged to frame Troy’s destruction as the origin moment of Roman destiny. The phoenix rising from the ashes serves as a powerful symbol for that continuity: the same energy of renewal that ends one world quietly begins another, guiding Aeneas toward the founding of Rome. This specific framing—Troy’s end becoming Rome’s beginning and the phoenix as emblem of that rebirth—is the precise focus attributed to Nusbaum in Book 2, distinguishing it from broader discussions of the epic’s structure or plot found in the other works.

The idea being tested is how Virgilian epic criticism reads the fall of Troy as not an ending but the seed of Rome, with a rebirth motif that links Troy’s ashes to Rome’s emergence. Gerry Nusbaum’s analysis in Book 2 argues this connection most directly, showing how the early episodes of the Aeneid are arranged to frame Troy’s destruction as the origin moment of Roman destiny. The phoenix rising from the ashes serves as a powerful symbol for that continuity: the same energy of renewal that ends one world quietly begins another, guiding Aeneas toward the founding of Rome. This specific framing—Troy’s end becoming Rome’s beginning and the phoenix as emblem of that rebirth—is the precise focus attributed to Nusbaum in Book 2, distinguishing it from broader discussions of the epic’s structure or plot found in the other works.