book 4 -DIDO

what is the overall plot of book 4?

aeneas' narration ends

dido gives in to her love for aeneas and thinks they will co-build a city together

jupiter sends mercury to remind aeneas of his mission

aeneas puts duty above love and human emotion and leaves carthage

dido kills herself

what is dido's backstory?

daughter of the king of tyre

her husband sychaeus was murdered by her brother pygmalion secretly and impiously at the altar

dido and her sister anna flee tyre with tyrian refugees with the help of her husband's ghost

dido swears a life of honour dedicated to her husband- destroyed by the gods love spell

how is dido characterised in book 1?

a strong leader, gracious, hospitable

shares sufferring with aeneas -> a great match for aeneas, similar in authority

"like diana"

a victim of trauma and the gods scheme

how does dido resonate with aeneas' recount of troy?

-he was forced out of troy and defeated

- he lost his spouse, driven by pietas and not family ties, she appearred to him as a ghost

-connects with aeneas' son as a symbol of hope

how is dido characterised in book 4?

helplessly driven by furor- in a state of raging madness

- abandons her leadership and strength - leaves both herself and the city of carthage vunerable

- becomes obsessed and infatuated with aeneas -> loses independence and becomes fixated especially when he's not there (clings to couch)

how does dido defer from normal epic conventions?

she undergos massive character development - characters are normally static and dependable

- presents her as an abnormal (progressive) character who's trajectory is doomed from divine influence

what are dido's initial characteristics?

strong, charismatic, powerful, commanding, captivating, driven by founding cities

- built a city from nothing

- resilient -> suffered through trauma and her character didn't suffer from it

- shared backstory with aeneas

- vunerable refugee to pygmalion and iarbas

how does anna influence the narrative?

-tells dido to accept the love that she feels in her heart in order to not waste away her youth in sadness and to form ties with a rival city to become stronger and prevent attacks from king iarbus

- unknowingly helps venus' plan , unsure of whether dido would have accepted the love (and spiralled into madness) if it wasn't for anna's human influence -> shows the limits of divine power

- dido initially remained strong willed

what does aeneas do after dido assented to her love?

-fed into her delusions -> led her on? fell in love with her also?

- brought his trojans to join the carthaginians and create a shared kingdom - started laying the founddations of the citadel of carthage -> would be preposterous to a roman reader

- went into the cave with dido but did not share the belief that it was a marriage -> illustrates different feeling and viewpoints

what is the significance of book 4 being told from the view of dido?

-illustrates the complexity of her emotions and internal conflict -> shows her helplessness and presents aeneas as a somewhat unflattering light as he sacrifices human feelings and emotions for pursuit of religious piety

-> seen as both heartless and powerless

- exaggerates the tragedy as the audience see the anguish and despair she feels as the entire foundations of her life she built are forsaken over artificially imposed feelings

how does aeneas present in book 4?

- momentarily indulges in dido's despair in pursuit of sexual favours and high status -> initially abandons his destiny for the dream of co-ruling the kingdom that his ancestors will hate and destroy

- his initial deference from "good" roman values is ultimately what kills dido as it gives her false hope as he took advantage of her weakened position and did not consider the moral implications

what is the effect of mercury having to remind him of his destiny?

- depicts his powerlessness and the difficulty between his destiny and his desires - shows him with questionable human characteristics and flaws

how is dido's love for aeneas described as?

a "wound" and a "growing flame"

- link to sappho as the first person to use fire as a metaphor for love ("burning with desire")

- illustrates destructive forces of love, foreshadows her death and the pyre imagery

- foreshadows tragic fate as she piously tries to resist the passion that was artificially created in her by trying to honour her husband

- the wound symbolises her furor which will ultimately bring her death

"misery and madness" -> negative display of emotions and dangerous kind of love

what is dido compared to?

a "wounded doe" with an arrow in her side which will unknowingly "bring her death"

what is the significance of the doe imagery?

does symbolise vunerability and innocence in comparison to deer and stag which represent power and protection -> exaggerates her feminine weakness and vunerability, all the more tragic, has lost all of her stag like traits

- link to book 1 when aeneas took down "three stags wandering about the shore with all their herd behind them" -> could be seen as foreshadowing and repesentitive of how aeneas destroyed the stag within dido, and destined for her to die and her followers to be lost ->> sacrafice for the good of the roman people as a product of pietas -> presents dido's death as necessary for the building of rome

what does the arrow represent?

the artificial love struck upon dido by cupid which leads to the wound of furor which will "bring her death"

what does venus and juno plan to do?

Venus wants to ensure aeneas' safety, thus enabling them to complete their mission. Juno, who loves Dido and carthage wants to delay aeneas reaching italy. juno suggests if they marry, they will create a glorious civilization. - counter to the will of the Fates, and Venus realizes that Juno is trying to subvert Aeneas's destiny. Thus, Venus double-crosses juno, she pretends to agree to Juno's proposal, when all along she plans for Aeneas to leave Carthage behind as soon as the time is right.

how does the "marriage" happen?

juno sends a storm while the carthaginians and trojans are out hunting, they are forced into a cave and make love with only nature and juno as their witnesses -> shows limitations of the gods as there were no human witnesses it was legitimate and aeneas didn't regard it as a marriage

why doesn't virgil describe the cave fumble as a marriage?

- presents it as less serious, one-sided, not true and genuine love and not genuinely consumated as it was god-orchestrates

-presents the love they both feel as being invalid and not attributing to a marriage

-means that by aeneas leaving he is not as severely impious as they were never truly married

how is rumour characterised?

personified - tells inhabitants dido and aeneas are "slaves of lust" - degrades their opinion as they become second class citizens

angers iarbus (who felt he was owed dido for him providing her with land) , calls aeneas "this second paris" -> wife stealer

how does aeneas react to mercury telling him to leave carthage and reminding him of his destiny?

" dumb and senseless" "struck him like a thunderbolt" " his hair stood on end with horror" -> becomes aware of the consequenses for his actions and realises he has been disobeying the will of the gods

-> not very heroic, different to odysseus

how does aeneas decide to leave

told his fleet to prepare the ships in secret -> could have warned dido and spoke of his destiny and what he was forced to do, could've taken her with him

how is dido seen when suspicious of aeneas' departure?

"knew in advance" - intellegent

"raged and raved around the whole city like a bacchant" -> follower of dionysus who are frenzied, are intoxicated and perform sacriligious sacrafices -> symbol of furor which scare the romans and evoke superstitio

what does dido tell aeneas in her speech upon realising his departure?

is extremely upset and emotional -> "utterly desolate and betrayed" , heartbroken

-tells him rationally to wait for winter to pass and when the seas are calmer

-explains how he is leaving her vunerable with no child and vunerable to attacks

how does aeneas respond to dido's speech?

selfish -> blames fate, puts pietas above all else and won't accept any blame

-doesn't apologise - no negotiation

-appears cold- hearted and unheroic- contrast to odysseus

-claims they were never married and he would've rather stayed in troy if it weren't for fate -> supresses his human emotions

what does dido threaten aeneas with?

calls him not a son of a goddess - vengeful

-threatens to haunt him from the land of the dead

- tries to separate his glory by separating him from his ancestry

-questions the emotions of aeneas and the gods

what metaphor does virgil compare aeneas to?

a tree- represents steady and unwavering piety who can follow only the logical path and is seen as a wise leader

- object of nature-> cannot feel emotions

how does virgil make dido's descent into madness even sadder?

she "had seen her destiny and was afraid" -> aware of her cascadance into madness

how does dido ask anna for help?

asks her to talk to aeneas and ask him to give dido time -manipulates her, "you are the only one the traitor respected"

how does dido decieve anna?

asks her to "rejoice" as she has "found a way to bring him back to me in love or else to free me from him" -> plans to build a funeral pyre following a priestess of magic arts' suggestion and burn aeneas' belongings

how does virgil exaggerate the inevitability of dido's despair and death?

"no, you must die. this is what you have deserved. let the sword be the cure for your sufferring"

what does dido do at the altar?

prays for death-> the water turns black and the wine turns to blood ->> she interprets it as the gods approval for her suicide but virgil never tells us if this is correct - suggests the gods only have the power to suggest fates rather than control them

how does dido die?

falls onto aeneas' sword, not by burning, not right away and with a lot of pain -> juno feels guilt for not fulfilling her duty of protecting carthage anf being the goddess of love and marriage, she sends iris to take a lock of her hair to the underworld so she can die quicker -> shows her death was morally mediated, unexpected from the gods

what does dido wish for in her dying speech?

wants aeneas to suffer in war and be torn from his son

wants aeneas to die before his time and die unburied

for there to be "war between the nations and their sons forever"

what does dido's dying wish mirror?

-prayer in the odessey to poisidon to have odysseus face troubles

- foreshadows the punic wars, anger of hannibal and the fall of carthage

why could dido's death be seen as necessary?

-sacrafice needed in order for aeneas to fulfil his fate and find a new life/ wife in lavinum

-evokes the war between troy and carthage - should not have joined forces

- gives aeneas human characteristics which challenge the heroic code

- shows the gods as uncaring and unjust- too forceful in the narrative

-would have struggled if left alone

why could dido's death be seen as unneccessary?

-she has survived many traumas and losing a husband

-virgil tells the story of aeneas - his destinyy isn't affected whether dido dies or not

-the gods didn't expect her to die - was a human decision rather than predetermined - evokes sympathy

- rome still gets founded

how is aeneas presented after the "marriage"?

worse than dido -> abandons his entire destiny, was not enchanted or coerced into anything, his own choice, he becomes irresponsible and a "slave of lust"

what does aeneas and dido's marriage mirror?

-cleopatra and mark antony's affair -> augustian propagands as he defeated antony and cleo's relationship in order to save rome from the threat of foreign rule

what is the symbolism behind dido's death?

"climbed the high pyre in a frenzy"

- surrounded by aeneas' possessions burning and the crumbling walls of carthage

-> symbolises a fallen city surrounded by enemies and foreshadows the fall of carthage

- thinks rationally and reflects on her heroic life she led and her achievements -> can finally think clearly when not with a man

- mirrors' cleopatra's suicide as a sacrifice and end of the ptomely rulership for the betterment of rome

what is the effect of connecting dido's death to historical evens?

-gives brutal wars which are shrouded in glory and victory, human perspective and sufferring and the brutality of sacrafice

- praises augustus' defeat of egyptian rule while subtly presenting him as emotionless and cold-hearted who is focused only on the expansion of the empire-> the beginning of the aeneid shows the hope that cathage and trojans had for co-ruling a successful flourishing city

how does hannibal influence book 4?

-born from dido's dying curse ->the villainous outcome of their affair and furor

-results in the punic wars

-results in rome conquering carthage - a moral enemy of rome -> augustian propaganda

-lessens sympathy for dido as she created a threat to rome, romans hated hannibal

how does mark antony influence book 4?

presented through aeneas' less heroic traits-> illustrates effects of indulging in pleasure with a foreign enemy queen and the disregard for their kingdom

-represents the potential aeneas had to diminish as he likewise forgot his duty but he was steered back on track after the god's interference ->shows importance and praise of gods

who is hannibal?

carthaginian general who swore hostility against rome for his entire life, led the punic wars, used battle elephants, fought against scipio

who was mark antony?

Caesar's military right hand man, politician and roman general. after caesars' death he claimed his will (heir), had an affair on octavians sister (his wife) with cleopatra -> declared as a foreign threat to the roman empire and committed suicide after losing actium war against octavian

who was cleopatra? (VII)

last pharaoh of egypt, powerful eastern queen who was seen as a great threat toromans due to her beauty, intelligence and power

-married to caesar until his death and then married mark antony-> was seen as a villain as she seduced him away from his duty to rome

how did cleopatra influence dido's storyline?

-mirrors the blame cleopatra got for "distracting" mark antony away from his duty to rome

-mirrors dido's harmatia of indulging in love and how it made her weak-> caused her legacy to die with her just like cleopatra

who was caesarion?

-child of caesar and cleopatra (caesar's only son and rightful heir)

-threatened octavian's empire as he had foreign blood - wasn't seen as pure

-complicated the roman empire and directly threatened octavians rule (claimed to be adopted by caesar)

how does caesarion influence book 4?

- influences dido's conspiracy and obsession with having aeneas' child to keep her carthaginian legacy alive -> this not coming true acts as what could've happened in octavians rule as it would have been much less complicated and the lack of competition would've made him seem even more powerful and incomparible

who claimed to be caesar's heir?

octavian (great nephew and adopted son)

caesarion (caesar and cleopatra's child)

mark antony (claimed caesar's will for himselfand didn't let anyone read it)

what is the function of dido's death?

- foreshadows fall of carthage and rise of roman empire

- illustrates cost and sacrafice required for founding rome

- warning against furor, foreign enemies, and indulging in love (distraction from pietas)

-injustice of the gods using women as pawns

- evokes sympathy and disgust towards dido

- explanation of the punic wars

-virgil showing off knowledge of tragic models and heroines (engages with both homer and greek tradegy)

-shows reality of human sufferring and gives aeneas unlikable human traits (fluctuates between antony and augustus) - shows that octavian's mistakes were all part of a plan for the greater good of rome

-tethers aeneas' ties to carthage

what agreeable quote did du quesnay say about dido?

"dido is certainly a victim of circumstances and the gods"

what disagreeable quote did du quesnay say about dido?

"it is too easy to focus on the sufferings of dido and to ignore those of aeneas or even blame him for dido's death"

what does hardie say concerning dido?

"as MODERN reader, Dido evokes our sincerest sympathy"

what does James say about dido?

"she is the poem's most compelling character"

what does James say about dido concerning cleopatra?

"like cleopatra, she is powerful, attractive and dangerous"

what does Nelis say about dido?

"book 4 seems to give us the story of Dido where Aeneas has a secondary role"

what does Tarrant say about Dido?

" aeneas is temped to play the part of a reckless Antony, but he is at last made to see that his destiny is as a DUTIFUL Octavian"

what does ritchard jenkins say concerning book 4?

" virgil has concieved the story of dido and aeneas as a sort of self-contained tragedy within the larger poem of the aeneid "

what does ritchard jenkins say about blame?

" it just isn't humanly right to try and allocate blame in some sort of nice or particular way "

what does Llewlyn Morgan say about virgil's viewpoint of aeneas in book 4?

"there's some level in virgil's thinking which makes Aeneas responsible for the punic wars

LLewlyn Morgan quote about punic wars

" Aeneid four is an explanation for the punic wars between rome and carthage. The explanation of these wars that left such a mark on the roman psyche"

Llewlyn Morgan on roman view of book 4

"the roman reader might be inclined to respond pretty much as mercury and jupiter do (in response to aeneas building carthage), with ABSOLUTE OUTRAGE"

"imagine ourselves in the mental headspace of Romans and see what they would bring to it"