Literature.
Week 3. Semester 1.
Could
Dido have avoided falling in love with Aeneas? Do not say, ‘in
some ways yes, but in some ways no.’ Give proof.
Where
fate and gods are considered, who could tell the end of Dido’s
passion for the heart of Aeneas would be anything but suicide. Until
Aeneas had arrived in Carthage, Dido’s thoughts and feelings were
focused only on the building of her triumphant city. Since the death
of her first husband, she had refrained from a marriage with any man,
showing her self-control and loyalty to her fair city.
But when a man like Aeneas
arrived on the scene as though he had been dropped from the sky by
the gods, what woman could have restrained her emotions upon seeing
such a warrior? Combined with the power of Juno and the love of Venus
working upon the heart of Dido, it is no wonder the poor woman was
driven mad with love for the Trojan warrior. Even her sister, Anna,
was swayed into confirming Dido’s greatest fear and rekindling the
fire of love within her bosom. All those years Dido spent without
the company of a king came back to haunt her. It was either Aeneas’
love or death.
Dido could have
remembered Aeneas’ god-given duty to found Italy. She might
have resisted her sister and found strength in the memory of her
deceased husband.
To
her credit, She did appeal to the gods by visiting and sacrificing
upon many altars. She tried studying the moving entrails of
newly sacrificed sheep, trying to discern her future. Dido would lead
Aeneas through the city, displaying the wealth of Sidon, all the
while biting her tongue to keep from baring her heart. However, when
Aeneas would leave his couch at the end of the day, Dido would be
overcome by her emotions, fling herself upon the deserted couch and
see her warrior in her dreams. The years Dido spent with no king at
her side only added to the confusion of Dido’s conscience. Her
city went unguarded and the walls were not raised any higher because
Dido had lost all sense of direction.
The
hunting party, the day which Juno and Venus had planned so carefully
in the clouds, was the queen’s eventual downfall. Aeneas led his
retinue with all the glory his mother had bestowed on his golden
features. Dido, robed in purple, her hair clasped with gold came
riding with her party of soldiers, looking every bit of the queen she
was.
I
think Aeneas could have payed more attention to his son when the
storm came up. After all, Ascanius was his flesh and blood.
Instead, Aeneas fled to the nearest cave in the company of the queen.
There, they were joined by Venus and Juno, while nymphs wailed on
the mountain tops(Book 4, verse
169).
A
once coercive
queen, Dido
chose her own fate by letting her actions be ruled by her emotions.
Her love was self-destructive and later, destroyed her whole kingdom.
Marriage should not primarily be for the satisfaction of our
desires. Dido shows so vividly that marriage needs three people.
God, Woman, and Man.
Aeneas
was not ready to join into a union at
the time. Dido gave herself
up to the feelings of the moment, and the two goddesses Juno and
Venus were only concerned with a) the usurping of a city more
powerful than Carthage; and b) the
safety of Venus’ son, Aeneas.
We
usually think of divinities as being sources of peace and security.
In Book 4, we see how Juno and Venus are only after their own desires
and are only to willing to create chaos and be the reason for
suicide. Would Dido have given in to her admiration for Aeneas if
the gods were not in the equation?
