This paper examines the curse that Dido lays on Aeneas; as well as the intense sense of hatred and revenge found throughout the poem. (4+ pages; 1 source; MLA citation style)
IIntroduction
Virgil’s Aeneid is usually “lumped” with Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey as one of the three major works of classical antiquity. Many of the same characters are found in all three poems, giving them a feeling of being a sort of set. Virgil’s work, however, differs from Homer’s in that it is less direct; things are not always what they seem. It is also, first, last and always, a work about hatred and a desire for revenge. It is possible to read the Odyssey as nothing more than a terrific adventure story, but the relentless anger that moves through the Aeneid delves deeply into human motivation. Dido’s curse, which she employs when she realizes Aeneas is leaving her, really rings true. But, like many such things, it has unexpected consequences.
In addition, there are many events that seem to refer back to themselves; it’s a multi-layered work.
IIDido’s Curse
Dido’s curse has echoes throughout the entire poem. Her hatred of Aeneas seems to mirror Juno’s hatred of him that begins the work. Both gods and men seem to hate with a vengeance.
Dido meets Aeneas when he is blown off course by a terrible storm. He’s a Trojan, on his way from the fall of Troy to Italy, where he is destined to found the city of Rome, and incidentally, the civilization that will surpass the Greeks. Thus, although Odysseus (I suppose I should call him Ulysses) and his men have defeated the Trojans and destroyed their city, they have merely delayed the inevitable.
The Essay on Dido Aeneas Relationship Love Passion Venus
DIDO AND AENEAS RELATIONSHIP Throughout the beginning of the Aeneid Dido, the queen of Carthage, and Aeneas, son of Venus and leader of the Trojans have an intimate relationship that ends in death. The relationship begins in Book I when Venus, the goddess of love, has her other son Cupid fill Dido with passion for Aeneas, to ensure Aeneas's safety in this new land. 'Meanwhile Venus/Plotted new ...
Dido is Queen of Carthage, a city in Africa; Carthage is beloved of Juno, Queen of the Gods. Because she is an all-seeing goddess, Juno knows that Aeneas will be instrumental in founding Rome, and destroying her favorite city. It is her hatred that begins the work, as Virgil tells us that Aeneas was “buffeted cruelly on land as on the sea”, by “baleful Juno in her sleepless rage.” (P. 1).
Set against her is Venus, Goddess of Love, who sends her son Amor (Cupid) to impersonate Ascanius, Aeneas’s son. In the disguise of the boy, the god is able to get close to Dido and “fire” her with love for Aeneas. She asks him to tell the story of how he came to Carthage, and he relates the tale of the Trojan Horse, and the ordeal he’s been through. She falls deeply in love with him.
Her love is a sort of insanity, though: she is consumed by it. “Unlucky Dido, burning, in her madness roamed through all the city, like a doe hit by an arrow shot from far away…” (Pp. 97-98).
She literally doesn’t know what’s come over her, and the reference to the arrow brings us back to Amor. She has been alone since the death of her husband, and is a wise and respected ruler. Now she throws it all away on an imprudent liaison with Aeneas; they become lovers and “reveled all winter long unmindful of the realm, prisoners of lust.” (P. 102).
That is, Dido is neglecting her duties as Queen while she and Aeneas are together. She begins to lose the respect and trust of her subjects.
Jove sees that Aeneas is “stalled” on his way to Italy, and sends Mercury to remind him that he is on a mission, and that he must leave Carthage. He tries to gather his men in secret, but Dido knows instinctively that something’s wrong. He finally tells her that he’s leaving, and that is when she curses him. She begs the gods to hear her dying breath (she commits suicide), and that they will let Aeneas come to Italy. But she wants his landing to be miserable: she wants him to be parted from his son; to see the “unmerited deaths of those around and with him,” and “fall in battle before his time and lie unburied on the sand!” (P. 128).
The Essay on Aeneas Dido Carthage Love
... find the city newly built by Dido, who is the queen of Carthage. When he arrives in Carthage Dido and Aeneas quickly fall in love. This is ... by the gods to create the city ... a hero by Virgil, Aeneas had lost the war of Troy. He showed signs of imperfection in his character. Aeneas was sent out ...
Finally, she says:
“Then, O my Tyrians, besiege with hate
His progeny and all his race to come:
Make this your offering to my dust. No love,
No pact must be between our peoples; No,
…
In conflict I implore, and sea with sea,
And arms with arms: may they content in war,
Themselves and all the children of their children!” (Pp. 118-119)
This is the heart of Dido’s curse: that there should be everlasting war between her race and Aeneas’s; that is, between Carthage and Rome; and that the hatred should continue for generations. (“His progeny and all his race to come.”) And this is indeed what comes to pass. Aeneas finally lands in Italy and succeeds in establishing the beginnings of what will be the people known as Romans (though Rome itself will be founded by Romulus, son of the great God of War, Mars), but the Romans will also fight three disastrous wars (the Punic Wars) with Carthage; they will span the years 264-146 BC. Though the third Punic War will end in the complete defeat of Carthage, the conflicts will cost countless lives.
IIIConclusion
The Aeneid is interesting for many reasons, not least of which is the way events keep turning back on themselves; they seem to come full circle. Dido curses Aeneas, and Rome is doomed to three disastrous wars, but in the end, it is Carthage that is completely destroyed. This takes us back to the very beginning, and Juno’s fury over the destruction of her favorite city. Although she can foresee it, she cannot stop it. Thus Virgil gives us a sense of the implacable movement of fate, and in large part, it is Dido’s curse that sets it in motion.
IVReference
Virgil. The Aeneid. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Random House, 1983.
(Please note: I can’t understand the way the lines are numbered, and there is no explanation of the numbering method. That’s why I’ve had to use page numbers instead.)
