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The Aeneid is considered as the single most important poem ever written and has continuously guided and inspired billions of readers. Its popularity today remains the same as it was back in the time when it was published. Virgil, a Latin poet, devoted the final 11 years of his life to write this masterpiece book length poem. After completing it, but before revising it, Virgil left Italy for a trip to Greece. There, he fell mortally ill and returned to home to Italy.
Unable to complete his work, Virgil commanded his companions to burn the unedited Aeneid. Augustus, a close friend of Virgil, ordered Virgil's fellow poets not to burn the epic, but instead to edit and publish it. Upon its publication, the poem was labeled as a masterpiece, becoming extremely popular, a popularity the poem still has today. Virgil's masterpiece epic poem is divided into twelve books.
The books follow the legend of Aeneas from the last day at Troy, to Carthage to meet Dido, and to Aeneas' victory resulting in the fusion of Trojans and Latins. The fourth book of The Aeneid, The Passion of the Queen, begins immediately following the banquet after all the guests have departed. Aeneas has just completed telling the story of his journey from Troy to Carthage. Cupid has already put a spell on Dido, causing her to fall in love with Aeneas. The queen for her part, all that evening ached With longing that her hearts blood fed, a wound The manhood of the man, his pride of birth, Came home to her time and again; his looks, His words remained with her to haunt her mind, And desire for him gave her no rest. (IV 1 - 7) She confides these feelings to her sister Anna, telling her that Aeneas is the only man who has ever tempted her. While describing her feelings, Dido becomes confused.
She wishes to be loyal and faithful to the memory of her departed husband, yet she still has immense feelings for Aeneas. Anna senses this confusion and tells her sister to follow her feelings. What a great city youll see rising here, And what a kingdom, from this royal match! (IV 66 - 68) By saying this, Anna reassures Dido that the match would be good for the city, as well as for Dido. Dido decides to pursue her feelings, as the first 94 lines of book 4 come to an end. As the book four continues, Didos love deepens. She sees Aeneas frequently causing her to fall more madly in love with him.
She neglects the responsibilities of her city and the work slows down. Instead of taking care of her city, she accompanies Aeneas everywhere showing him the buildings and walls. Juno sees what is happening to her favorite queen, so she conspires with Venus to join Dido and Aeneas in eternal peace and formal marriage (IV 142). Venus suspects that Juno only wants to keep the Trojans from reaching Italy, but still she agrees for it is written in Aeneas fate to reach Italy. During a hunting expedition, Juno causes a violent thunderstorm and has both the queen and Aeneas take shelter in the same cave. Here Virgil does not say exactly what happened.
Instead he has his character, Dido, think, As to impressions given and set abroad; She [Dido] thought no longer of a secret love But called it marriage. Thus, under that name, She [Dido] hid her fault. (IV 235 - 238) After this joining in a natural marriage, rumors about what happened become rampant in Carthage. As Dido spends all her time with Aeneas, she forgets about her duties as queen. All the work in the city comes to halt. The rumors circulate in the city and eventually reach the ears of Zeus. Zeus decides to send Mercury to Aeneas to tell him, In your own fame and fortune count as nothing, Think of Ascanius at lease, whose kingdom In Italy, whose Roman land, are waiting. (IV 273 - 75) Mercury relayed Zeus speech to Aeneas, telling him that is was time to leave Carthage and continue towards Italy.
Terrified of Mercury's appearance, Aeneas tells his crew to silently and swiftly get the ships ready, while he thinks of a way to tell Dido. Before Aeneas decided what to tell the queen, Dido sees that the ships are being readied to leave. She approaches her husband in a mad frenzy and begs from him to stay. Without listening to him, she says that they have been married, but this Aeneas denies. He tells Dido that it is the gods will that he leave, but she does not agree. He tries to counsel her but she does not listen at all.
In a fit of rage, she curses Aeneas telling him that he will die lonely. She faints, but as a final wish she asks that Aeneas wait before leaving. Let him bestow one last gift on his mistress: This, to await fair winds and easier flight. (IV 595 - 596) Aeneas complies, but during the night he has a dream and decides to leave at the break of dawn. Dido is driven to madness by Aeneas early departure, and she decides to kill herself. She has her sister build a pyre and stack her bridal bed and Aeneas armor and clothes on it, so she can burn them. Instead, the next morning, Dido prays for an avenger to make Trojans suffer and vows that the people of Carthage will always hate the Trojans.
She then commits suicide by plunging a sword into her heart. Anna runs to her sisters side, as Juno has Iris cut the hair to set Didos soul free. With this tragedy, book 4 comes to a close. Who is to blame for this tragedy, except for Dido herself. The tragedy cannot be Aeneas fault because Dido brought her misfortunes onto herself. From the beginning of book 4, Dido is madly in love with Aeneas, but Aeneas is a married man and had no intentions to be unfaithful to his wife.
Had his wife not died in Troy, he would have her by his side in Carthage. He had no intent to land in Carthage; he knew his destiny was to get to Italy. Juno, Jupiter's wife, made Aeneas ship crash into northern Africa because she did not like Trojans. After seeing Aeneas, Dido looses all comprehension of reality and forgets about her oath of fidelity to her dead husband. She forgets her late husbands memories, filling her head with Aeneas thoughts. In the process, Dido becomes extremely dependent on Aeneas.
She takes no interest in her city; instead she wanders around thinking about him. Unlucky Dido, burning, in her madness Roamed through all the city, like a doe (IV 95 - 97) Thus, Dido does not fulfill the responsibilities of being queen. The queen must oversee all the doings of her city and make sure it prospers. Dido did nothing of the sort after the arrival of Aeneas. All the work in Carthage slows down and eventually comes to a stop, while Dido was in love with Aeneas. She knew that her doings in the cave were wrong, but to reassure herself she called it a marriage.
She did this to [hide] her fault (IV 238). This silent marriage caused many rumors in the city. These rumors would cause people to loose faith in the queen. This did happen, as people began praying the gods for help. The gods only showed Aeneas that his fate was calling him to Italy.
Didos rage when hearing about this showed her dependence as well. If she had been truly in love, she would have understood the departing of Aeneas. True love is when one partner understands the others needs and allows the other to fulfill them. In true love, the partners must be able to get through time apart.
Dido, on the other hand, was not in true love. She would not hear of Aeneas leaving. She went into a fit of rage, as she screamed and cursed at him. While being yelled at, Aeneas listened closely, not offering quick answers. This shows that his love was true and that he cared deeply for Dido. He wanted to completely hear what she had to say before responding.
When Dido was done speaking Aeneas said, I never shall deny all you can say, Your majesty, of what you meant to me. (IV 459 - 461) Didos love was nothing but a dependence and need to feel desired. She had been lonely since the demise of her husband, and she needed someone to love. She found this person in Aeneas. Aeneas had no intention to hurt Dido.
Had Dido not been so dependent on him, Dido would have understood and her death would not have occurred. By taking her own life, she shows the final proof that what happened was her fault. Aeneas was only fulfilling his duty as a military commander, as well as a father to his son. It was the gods will that he make it to Italy, and he was obligated to fulfill it. Dido had let her city down, as well as her dead husband. She had no way out, other then to kill herself, which she did.
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