Lavinia by Ursula K.

Le Guin
ISBN:9780156033688

About the book:
In The Aeneid, Vergils hero fights to claim the kings daughter,
Lavinia, with whom he is destined to found an empire. Lavinia herself
never speaks a word. Now, Ursula K. Le Guin gives Lavinia a voice in
a novel that takes us to the half-wild world of ancient Italy, when Rome
was a muddy village near seven hills.
Lavinia grows up knowing nothing but peace and freedom, until suitors
come. Her mother wants her to marry handsome, ambitious Turnus. But
omens and prophecies spoken by the sacred springs say she must marry
a foreignerthat she will be the cause of a bitter warand that her
husband will not live long. When a fleet of Trojan ships sails up the
Tiber, Lavinia decides to take her destiny into her own hands. And so
she tells us what Vergil did not: the story of her life, and of the love of
her life.
Lavinia is a book of passion and war, generous and austerely beautiful, from a writer working at
the height of her powers.
About the author:
URSULA K. LE GUIN is the author of numerous short stories, essays, volumes of poetry,
books for children, and novels. Among her honors are a National Book Award, five Hugo and
five Nebula Awards, the Kafka Award, a Pushcart Prize, and the Howard Vursell Award of the
American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
Discussion Questions:
Q. On page 3, Lavinia says that "as far as I know, it was my poet who gave me any reality at all.
Before he wrote, I was the mistiest of figures, scarcely more than a name in genealogy." How
does Le Guin address the concept of immortalityand the role of poetry in creating it
throughout the novel?
Q. Lavinia says that, like the farmers who lay their bodies against the hard earth of Gaia, the
Earth Mother, she, too, knows what its like to have a hard mother. What other examples of
"mother" imagery can you identify throughout the book? Compare and contrast the various
parent-child relationships found between these characters.
Q. When Lavinia describes herself as meek and silent, do you think she has a low opinion of
herself, or is she just being humble? Or is she being ironic? What finally enables her to speak
strongly and without fear, to her mother and to others?
Q. What did you already know about the Greeks, early Romans, or Etruscans, and what did you
learn about them through Lavinia? Identify and discuss some of their practices and beliefs. Do
you think these cultures are more similar than they are different? Do you think the characters of
the novel would agree with you? Why or why not?
Q. Lavinia makes use of a very fluid notion of time and materiality, especially with regard to the
early Latins views on death and rebirth, the material world and the Underworld. How does this
worldview influence the actions of the characters of the novel? Did it alter your own way of
thinking at all? Why or why not?
Q. The Latins, Trojans, and other people of the ancient world believe strongly in the meaning of
omens. What omens are received throughout the course of this story and what do they signify to
the people who read them?
Q. Like Janus, the two-faced god, the ancient world is experienced as an expression of duality.
Identify some of the dichotomies described throughout the novel and how they influence the plot
of the novel. As a technique, how do they influence the telling of the story?
Q. On page 103, Lavinia says, "Things were going as they should go, and in going with them I
was free." Using examples from the novel, describe how a belief in Fate can be freeing. Do you
agree or disagree with the concept that a predetermined life provides more freedom than one in
which nothing is set? Why?
Q. Similarly, how does a belief in Fate affect the characters ability to make choices or to
determine which of their actions are right or wrong? How does this issue affect Aeneas in
particular?
Q. Lavinia as narrator often tells of what is yet to happen, moving into the future of her life with
Aeneas, then returning to the most prominent thread of the story as a linear narrative of her past.
What effect does this moving backward and forward in time achieve? How does it affect your
reading experience?
Q. How do the roles of men and women differ from each other in the Latin culture? If arranged
marriage was the norm in your culture, would you say that a self-respecting woman should resist
it or not?
Q. Despite Latinuss reign of peace, the young Latins manage to instigate a bloody war against
the Trojans by inflaming their countrymens fear of the foreigners. How do you see this "fear of
the other" perpetrated in modern cultures? When the poet recites a long list of deaths, what is the
purpose of the speech and what does it have to do with the book as a whole?
Q. The people of ancient Italy are ruled by kings and queens of many types. Compare and
contrast the styles of leadership exemplified by Kings Latinus, Turnus, Aeneas, and Ascanius;
also compare and contrast the models of queenship portrayed by Amata and Lavinia.
Q. As Le Guin notes in her afterword, Lavinia takes place in the world of Vergils Aeneid. We
scarcely meet the familiar classical gods in this book. When Aeneas refers to the goddess Venus,
for instance, Lavinia doesnt know what he is talking about, since she knows Venus only as a
star. Yet Lavinias people are deeply religious, worshipping daily, and seeking guidance from
powers greater than humans. If the early Latins did not believe in gods as people, what did they
believe in and why did they worship?