Epic Characters

This character-matching worksheet is designed for students in Grades 7 and 8 to strengthen comprehension, recall, and analytical reading through focused study of The Aeneid. Learners match ten major figures-such as Aeneas, Dido, Turnus, Jupiter, and Venus-to descriptive blurbs that summarize their roles, traits, motivations, or fates, reinforcing understanding of character function, mythological relationships, and how individuals drive conflict and theme within the epic.

Learning Goals

• Character Recognition & Recall (Grades 7-8)
  Students identify key figures and distinguish between similar mythological roles.
• Character Motivation & Function
  Learners analyze how each character’s actions, alliances, or destiny influence the plot.
• Mythological & Epic Understanding
  Activities reinforce knowledge of divine intervention, fate, rivalry, and heroic duty.
• Close Reading & Inference
  Students interpret descriptive clues and connect them to textual evidence from the epic.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource
  Designed by educators to align with middle school ELA and world literature standards.
• Puzzle-Style Matching Format
  Encourages engagement while supporting test-taking strategies like process of elimination.
• Builds a Clear Character Map
  Helps students organize complex relationships common in epic literature.
• Flexible Classroom Use
  Ideal for pre-reading support, review, comprehension checks, or assessment prep.
• Printable & No-Prep
  Easy to implement in classroom or homeschool settings.

This Epic Characters worksheet helps students develop a stronger grasp of The Aeneid by clarifying who each major figure is and why they matter. By matching characters to meaningful descriptions, learners strengthen recall, inference, and understanding of how individuals and gods shape epic conflict and theme. Whether used in a world literature classroom or a homeschool humanities program, this printable resource provides focused, effective practice with character analysis in classical literature.

This worksheet is part of our Aeneid collection.