When I was reading through Virgil's The Aeneid, the one dynamic that really interested me the most was the relationship between Aeneas and Dido. With the help of Aeneas' mother (Venus) and Cupid, disguised as Aeneas' son, the two Roman "love" gods helped Dido fall head over heals for Aeneas of Troy. Much like Penelope and Odysseus, I can't help but think that Dido and Aeneas were almost "perfect" for one another. Both Aeneas and Dido had similar life experiences that make them balance out one another in their interactions together.Back in Tyre, Dido's husband was killed by her brother, causing her to flee to, what is now, Carthage, to save her life. Aeneas tried to get his wife, son, and father out of war-torn Troy, but, unfortunately, Aeneas' wife perished and returned to Aeneas as a ghost, telling him to flee from Troy, hence, leads to Aeneas' and his men's ships washing up at the shores of Carthage. In other words, Dido and Aeneas both had to flee their home-lands, lost their significant others, and had to start all over with their lives by moving their kingdoms. Dido developed her own kingdom, while it is Aeneas' destiny to move Troy to Italy.
Part of me wishes that Aeneas would have stayed with Dido, since I think they had such a good connection, due to their similar unfortunate circumstances. However, The Aeneid wouldn't be The Aeneid if Aeneas didn't obey the gods and followed his destiny; to move the new Troy to Italy. I swear, someone needs to make a re-telling of a different ending of The Aeneid if Aeneas didn't listen to Mercury to leave Dido. I would have liked to see what would have happened if Aeneas stayed and married Dido, because Aeneas seemed to have fallen for Dido, even though Dido was under the spell of Venus and Cupid.
Here are some questions to consider:
1.) Is it all a coincidence that Dido and Aeneas had similar misfortunes, or do you think Virgil did this on purpose so that we (the readers) can relate or understand why Dido would be attracted to Aeneas?
2.) Do you think Aeneas and Dido would have been a great couple? Explain. I would love to know you guys' opinions.
3.) What would you think would have happened if Aeneas had stayed with Dido?
I believe that the author made Dido and Aeneas similar on purpose. This creates adds some depth to his decision to complete the journey. It also allows the reader to wonder that maybe he will stay with her and live happily ever after? It could also help the reader sympathize with Dido when he leaves her because the match was so perfect.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how their relationship is destined to end from the beginning though. First, as you noted, Venus is manipulating all of it. It makes their relationship a bit fake and surface-level because she is under a spell. It also makes me wonder what could have happened if Venus had not intervened. But, at the end of the first book, Virgil strongly foreshadows that this relationship will be bad for Dido. When Cupid comes to Dido in the form of a young boy, the narrator says that she "loved [him] and held him to her, unaware what power to hurt lay there" (573-574). Soon afterwards, Dido "prolong[s] the night with talk and to her sorrow [drinks] long draughts of love" (574). It is evident that this will not be good for Dido right from the start. It causes us to pity her because she is tricked into it and it leads to a painful ending.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate how you have looked into what might have happened if they were able to stay together. As a reader, I sympathize with her because she was deceived. Rather than have the relationship pan out between the two, I almost wish, based on the circumstances, that it hadn't been instigated.
Excellent analysis, Alice!
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2QKLemuiik
ReplyDeleteYes! That's exactly what I was thinking of when thinking of a title for Dido and Aeneas.
DeleteI was just bummed that the comment window wouldn't let me actually embed the video so you could play it.
DeleteTo answer your questions:
ReplyDelete1.) I definitely believe Virgil intended for them to be similar. It is such a genius story, I do not think it was coincidental.
2.) I do not think so. Though I do think they truly loved one another, sometimes things simply just do not work out, and I do not think a relationship would have been healthy for them.
3.) I think it would have ended. There was too much pinned against them for it to successfully pan out; though in an alternate universe, it would be fascinating (maybe heartbreaking) to see how it truly would have played out.
I feel like all of these authors definitely wrote what they did for a reason. I also feel like they understood their audience so well that the concoctions and different plot twist were calculated to have the reader engaged the whole way through the epic. I would like to think that Cupid and Venus were just a catalyst to what was already seeded in this duo. I think that if things were to have progressed naturally, the story would have had a much prettier ending, a much happier ending. I think that they would have made a great couple due to how compatible they were. I agree with you that Aeneais and Dido would have been the Roman version of the epitome of "couple goals" just as Odysseus and Penelope are the Greek equivalent.
ReplyDeleteVery nice post, Cali, and your questions were just begging to be answered.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the consensus here that the parallelism between Dido and Aeneas is highly deliberate, and the foreshadowing of disaster makes for enormous pathos for poor Dido...
1: I believe that Virgil purposely gave Aeneas, and Dido misfortune because it did help me relate better, and I'd assume it helped other readers relate better as well. 2: I don't really know to be completely honest. There are sides to both argument, but in the end without the interference from virgil I think they would have been. 3: Its hard to say exactly. I think honestly that they could have maybe made it work, but that's a big maybe.
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