Vipsania Sickle was a female resident of the Capitol and a student of the Academy. She was one of 24 top-performing seniors at the Academy selected to be a mentor for the 10th Hunger Games. She was assigned the male tribute from District 7, Treech.[1]
Biography[]
Wanting a guitar for his tribute, Lucy Gray Baird, to use for a performance at her interview, Coriolanus Snow asked his classmates if they could lend one. The best result he got was a "maybe" from Vipsania. Coriolanus feared a trap, as Vipsania had inherited her aunt Agrippina's love of competition. He told her that she was a lifesaver, but secretly continued to search, finally securing a guitar from his neighbor Pluribus Bell.[2]
Her tribute, Treech, snatched two water bottles that were sent as sponsor gifts for another tribute, Dill, who had failed to claim them. Vipsania commented that this was good thinking, as it saved her money, and she didn't have much to work with.[3] She was the only mentor who thought to bring bedding to sleep overnight in Heavensbee Hall at the Academy and thus slept comfortably in it while her fellow mentors sat sleeping in padded chairs. After Lucy Gray Baird killed Treech with a snake mutt she'd hidden in her skirt, Vipsania was escorted away by Lepidus Malmsey of Capitol News. She thanked the Gamemakers through gritted teeth.[4]
Etymology[]
Vipsania is the feminine form of the name Vipsanius, which is the Roman clan of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. Its most prominent female members were his descendants, including the first wife of the emperor Tiberius; she was exiled with her son and died of starvation. Additionally, her surname, Sickle, refers to a tool used to harvest crops.
References[]
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 7
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 11
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 14
- ↑ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Chapter 20