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Subjects · Leaving Cert Classical Studies

Leaving Cert Classical Studies: Women in epic & in society

How often Women in epic & in society comes up on the Classical Studies papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.

HL Asked on 2 of the last 3 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025. most years

OL Asked on 3 of the last 3 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2025. banker

Women in epic & in society, Higher Level(6 marks)

Quick ones on Women in epic & in society.

(a)In classical Athens, a citizen wife's life centred on what?
  1. Voting and speaking in the Assembly
  2. The oikos: household, weaving and children
  3. Public life: the Assembly, juries and office
(b)Penelope stays faithful to an absent husband. To whom does Dido break a vow?
  1. Her suitor Iarbas
  2. Her brother Pygmalion
  3. Her dead husband Sychaeus
(c)How does Penelope put off the suitors for three years?
  1. She unpicks by night the shroud she weaves by day
  2. She hides in the temple of Athena
  3. She pretends Odysseus has written to her
Show the answers

(a) The oikos: household, weaving and children

(b) Her dead husband Sychaeus

(c) She unpicks by night the shroud she weaves by day

Your turn: Higher Level questions on Women in epic & in society.

Higher Level

Asked on 2 of the last 3 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025. most years

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Q9
2024Not asked
2023Q6

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Women in epic & in society questions

Women in epic & in society, 2 marks

What does Creusa's ghost ask of Aeneas in her last words?

  1. To avenge her death
  2. To bury her in Troy
  3. To keep loving their son
Show the answer

To keep loving their son

Creusa comforts Aeneas: her loss is the gods' will and she will not be a Greek slave. She asks him to guard their shared love for Ascanius, then vanishes as he tries three times to hold her.

Ordinary Level

Asked on 3 of the last 3 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2025. banker

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Q4, Q5
2024Q5, Q7, Q13
2023Q3

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Women in epic & in society questions

Women in epic & in society, 2 marks

Which princess finds Odysseus washed up on the shore of Phaeacia?

  1. Arete
  2. Circe
  3. Nausicaa
Show the answer

Nausicaa

Athena sends Nausicaa a dream to wash clothes at the river. She gives Odysseus clothes and directions, and tells him to appeal to her mother, Queen Arete.

Women in epic & in society, 2 marks

Penelope, Calypso and Circe are all shown doing which typical woman's task?

  1. Sailing
  2. Weaving
  3. Hunting
Show the answer

Weaving

Weaving cloth was seen as the model of female work and virtue, for real Greek women and for heroines in epic. Penelope even uses her loom to trick the suitors.

Women in epic & in society, 2 marks

Who is Dido's sister and confidante in Aeneid 4?

  1. Anna
  2. Iris
  3. Creusa
Show the answer

Anna

Anna encourages Dido to give in to her love for Aeneas, saying it would make Carthage stronger. Later Dido sends her to beg Aeneas to stay.

Other Classical Studies topics

All of Leaving Cert Classical Studies