FREE ESSAY ON THE AENEID

THE AENEID

Dido and Aeneas
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 Latin's. 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 
Or inward fire eating her away.
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. 
Sister,
What a great city you'll 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, Dido's 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's 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's 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 Trojan's 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
sister's side, as Juno has Iris cut the hair to set Dido's 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 husband's
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.
Dido's 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,
As for myself, be sure
I never shall deny all you can say,
Your majesty, of what you meant to me. (IV 459-461) 
Dido's 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.