Vergil, Aeneid, Book 4 (AP)

Unit 5 Overview: Vergil, Aeneid, Book 4

For Unit 5, students should concentrate on three main themes:

• Literary Style and Genre (LIT) – Understanding the structure and stylistic elements of the text.

• Roman Values (RMV) – Recognizing the values and ideals significant to Roman culture.

• Views of Non-Romans (VNR) – Examining how Romans perceived and interacted with other groups.

Literary Style and Genre (LIT)

• What formal and thematic elements can we anticipate in a Latin epic or commentarii?

• In what ways do the authors meet or defy these expectations?

• What are the intentions and impacts of Vergil's and Caesar's stylistic choices?

• From what perspectives do Vergil and Caesar narrate events?

• How do Vergil and Caesar present themselves, and what are their objectives in doing so?

• What techniques do the authors use to create and develop their characters?

• How are female characters depicted by the authors?

• How is characterization employed to emphasize central themes?

Roman Values (RMV)

• What values and ideals are presented as distinctly Roman?

• How do these values and ideals vary according to gender, ethnicity, or other factors?

• What personal strengths and weaknesses are demonstrated by characters in the works?

• In what ways do the texts affirm traditional Roman values?

• What challenges or critiques do the texts pose regarding Roman values?

Views of Non-Romans (VNR)

• How do the authors depict the different non-Roman peoples featured in the works?

• What standards or criteria do the authors use to assess these groups?

• To what degree do the authors uphold or question stereotypes about these groups?

• How are these portrayals utilized by the authors within their works?

Book IV: The Tragedy of Dido

Book IV pt. 1

Aeneas and Dido fall deeply in love. Despite Dido’s previous marriage to the now-deceased Sychaeus, her sister Anna encourages her to focus on the present rather than the past. As Dido guides Aeneas around Carthage, Juno seeks to reconcile her rivalry with Venus by proposing that Dido and Aeneas marry after their hunting expedition. News of this significant union begins to spread. Next, we’ll see how King Iarbas responds.

Breakdown of Lines 160-218

The Wedding Conspiracy:

• Venus and Juno scheme to unite Dido and Aeneas during a joint Carthaginian-Trojan hunt.

• A storm disrupts the hunt, forcing everyone, including Aeneas’s son Iulus, to seek shelter.

• Dido and Aeneas retreat to the same cave, where their "wedding" occurs, celebrated by Juno and the heavens, with nymphs howling from the mountains.

Dido's Perspective:

• Vergil foreshadows tragedy, describing the union as the beginning of Dido’s “death and misfortune.”

• Dido views the relationship as a legitimate marriage, ignoring concerns about reputation and her vow to her deceased husband, Sychaeus.

Fama's Role:

• Fama, the goddess of rumors, spreads word of Dido and Aeneas’s union across Libya and beyond.

• Depicted as a monstrous figure, Fama thrives on spreading information, blending truth and fiction, and invoking chaos.

• The rumor exaggerates the couple’s love, claiming they have abandoned their responsibilities to Carthage and Italy.

Iarbas’s Reaction:

• King Iarbas, a rejected suitor of Dido, becomes enraged upon hearing the rumor.

• Iarbas, son of Jupiter Ammon and a nymph, prays to his father, questioning Jupiter’s supremacy and accusing him of neglecting his duties.

• He criticizes Dido as a “wanderer” who established her city within his borders but refused his marriage proposal.

• Iarbas mocks Aeneas, calling him a weak and effeminate man, likening him to Paris of Troy.

• He concludes by demanding action from Jupiter, questioning the purpose of honoring the god if he won’t intervene.

Book IV pt. 2

After Iarbas insults Jupiter and demands action regarding the "marriage" of Dido and Aeneas, Jupiter acknowledges his plea. He sends Mercury, the messenger god, to deliver a message to Aeneas. Mercury is tasked with instructing Aeneas to leave Carthage. At this point, Mercury finds Aeneas overseeing the construction of the new city. Let’s see how their conversation unfolds.

Breakdown of Lines 259-295

Mercury Arrives:

• Mercury finds Aeneas at the builder’s huts, overseeing the construction of Carthage’s towers and houses.

• Aeneas wears a luxurious sword with a yellow jasper hilt and a Tyrian purple cloak, a gift from Dido, intricately woven with gold thread.

Mercury's Message:

• Mercury chastises Aeneas, questioning why he is building Carthage instead of fulfilling his destiny to establish Rome.

• He accuses Aeneas of forgetting his kingdom, fate, and responsibilities due to his “marriage” to Dido.

• Mercury relays Jupiter’s urgent command for Aeneas to leave Carthage immediately.

• Mercury reminds Aeneas of his duty to his son, Ascanius, who will inherit the kingdom of Italy and the Roman lands.

• After delivering the message, Mercury disappears into thin air.

Aeneas’s Reaction:

• Stunned by Mercury’s appearance and message, Aeneas is left speechless and visibly shaken.

• He contemplates his situation, debating how to break the news to Dido or whether to deceive her.

Aeneas’s Decision:

• Aeneas resolves to leave Carthage but keeps his plans secret initially.

• He calls his three trusted men—Mnestheus, Sergestus, and Serestus—and orders them to:

  • Prepare the fleet quietly.

  • Gather the men at the shore.

  • Ready the ships’ equipment.

  • Conceal the true reason for their preparations.

Trojans Respond:

• Aeneas plans to speak to Dido at an opportune moment.

• The Trojans obey his orders promptly and work in silence to execute his commands.

Book IV pt. 3

Dido confronts Aeneas after discovering his plans to leave Carthage. Overcome by grief and rage, she accuses him of betrayal. Aeneas defends his actions, stating that his divine mission to establish a new city in Italy takes precedence over personal desires. He claims their relationship was never a formal marriage and reaffirms his loyalty to fate. The tension between divine will and human emotions plays a central role in this tragic confrontation.

Breakdown of Lines 296-330

Dido’s Discovery:

• Dido is struck with disbelief and fury when she learns of Aeneas’s secret preparations to leave Carthage.

• Vergil describes her as "raging through the city like a Bacchante," drawing a parallel to the frenzied state of those worshipping Bacchus.

• She confronts Aeneas, accusing him of betrayal and questioning his loyalty and love for her.

Dido’s Accusations:

• Dido chastises Aeneas for abandoning her after she welcomed him and his people into her city.

• She pleads with him, citing her sacrifices and their union, which she perceives as a marriage blessed by the gods.

• She questions how he could leave her in such a vulnerable state, invoking the gods and her loyalty to him as arguments for him to stay.

Breakdown of Lines 331-361

Aeneas’s Justification:

• Aeneas remains composed but expresses deep sorrow over Dido’s distress.

• He asserts that he never intended their relationship to be seen as a formal marriage.

• He emphasizes his duty to the gods and his fate to establish a new city in Italy, which takes precedence over personal desires.

Aeneas’s Inner Conflict:

• Although Aeneas appears resolute, Vergil reveals his internal struggle and emotional pain in leaving Dido.

• He acknowledges Dido’s sacrifices and the bond they share but insists that his mission is divinely ordained.

Book IV pt. 4

Dido, consumed by despair over Aeneas’s departure, takes her own life, collapsing onto her sword in a tragic act of self-destruction. Her sister Anna, horrified and devastated, mourns Dido's choice, questioning why they couldn’t be together. The entire city of Carthage erupts in grief. Moved by pity, Juno sends Iris to release Dido’s spirit, cutting her sacred hair to free her soul. The passage underscores themes of unrequited love, divine intervention, and the irreversible consequences of Dido’s fate.

Breakdown of Lines 659-705

Dido’s Final Words:

• Dido speaks with resignation, accepting that she will die without revenge. She expresses that she is ready to die, desiring only to go under the shadows (the underworld). She wishes that Aeneas, whom she now sees as cruel, will suffer from the consequences of her death, feeling that her fate is now entwined with his.

• Her words convey profound despair, as she feels abandoned by Aeneas and destined to die without vengeance.

Dido's Death:

• Dido collapses onto her sword, a tragic and dramatic moment. She dies in a pool of blood, a powerful symbol of her heartbreak and betrayal.

• The scene is chaotic as her companions witness her fall and the tragic end she meets, with the sword foaming with blood.

• The wailing and mourning erupt throughout Carthage, with the entire city shaken by the news of Dido’s death. Vergil paints a vivid picture of sorrow and panic, emphasizing the horror of the event with imagery of the city groaning in grief, as if it were under attack.

Anna's Reaction:

• Anna, Dido's sister, is horrified by her sister’s death. She rushes to Dido’s side, filled with confusion and disbelief.

• She angrily questions why Dido did not share the same fate as her, accusing her of abandoning her to face this tragedy alone. Anna blames herself for not preventing her sister's suicide, as she believes she failed in offering the support Dido needed.

• Anna also expresses outrage over the unfulfilled promises, calling Dido’s death a betrayal of the family, the gods, and Carthage itself.

Anna's Lament:

• Anna continues to mourn, invoking the gods, and reflecting on the sorrow that has come upon them. She speaks to Dido, asking why her sister chose this path alone and why she didn't call on her to die together.

• She also notes that Dido’s death affects not just their family but the entire city of Carthage, which is left vulnerable in the wake of such loss.

Juno's Compassion:

• Juno, pitying Dido's prolonged suffering and untimely death, sends Iris down from Olympus to release Dido’s spirit. Juno acknowledges that Dido’s death is not due to fate but to her desperate actions, driven by madness and sorrow, indicating that Dido's fate was never truly sealed by the gods.

• Iris is tasked with freeing Dido’s soul, as her life had not been taken according to divine order, and she was not yet condemned by Proserpina to the underworld.

Iris’s Action:

• Iris, with her misty yellow wings, descends from the sky, symbolizing the release of Dido's spirit. She stands over Dido’s head and, in a solemn ritual, cuts Dido's hair as a way of releasing her soul from her body.

• As Iris cuts the sacred hair, Dido’s life is released, and her soul is freed from the body, joining the winds. The moment is described in poetic, ethereal terms, as her life vanishes with the cutting of the hair, symbolizing the finality of her death.

Themes and Literary Devices

• Tragic Irony:

  • Dido’s death is tragic not only because of the circumstances surrounding it but because she takes her own life as a result of love and betrayal—two forces that were once sources of great happiness for her. Her tragic end reveals the destructive power of unrequited love and the lack of control one has over their fate when consumed by emotion.

• Foreshadowing:

  • The passage foreshadows the downfall of Carthage, as Dido’s death will inevitably lead to the ruin of the city she worked so hard to build. The imagery of the city in mourning and groaning, like a dying entity, symbolizes the future loss of Carthage's power and prosperity.

• Divine Intervention and Fate:

  • The role of the gods, specifically Juno and Iris, in the release of Dido’s soul reflects the complex relationship between human suffering and divine influence. Though Dido’s death is not the fulfillment of a divine decree, the gods take action to facilitate her passage to the afterlife, signaling the gods’ power in shaping mortal destinies.

• Pathos and Emotion:

  • Vergil uses pathos to evoke deep sympathy for Dido, especially in her final moments, as her suffering is portrayed with vivid emotional intensity. Dido’s actions reflect her helplessness and inner turmoil, heightening the tragic nature of her death.