Comparison Of Dido And Aeneas

After viewing the two operas, it is clear that there are many differences and similarities between the two performances. One of the biggest differences I noticed right away was the opera scenery that each of the shows had. L’Orfeo, written by Claudio Monteverdi had a much more theatrical vibe with elaborate scenery, props, and costumes used by the performers. The backdrop changed colors and had scenery images to help with representing the setting and time of day throughout the performance. Many props were used by all roles of the cast. The costumes were more elaborate and detailed compared to that of Dido and Aeneas, written by Henry Purcell. The costumes for L’Orfeo were geared to fitting into the Greek Mythology period since the opera

Throughout the beginning of the Aeneid Dido, the queen of Carthage, and Aeneas, son of Venus and leader of the Trojans have an intimate relationship that ends in death. The relationship begins in Book I when Venus, the goddess of love, has her other son Cupid fill Dido with passion for Aeneas, to ensure Aeneas's safety in this new land. "Meanwhile Venus/Plotted new stratagems, that Cupid, changed/ In form and feature, should appear instead/ Of young Ascanius, and by his gifts/ Inspire the queen to passion, with his fire/ Burning her very bones." (693) Venus did this to protect Aeneas and his son, in fear that Dido would have otherwise been cruel to them.

In the writing of Aeneid, Aeneas is described to exhibit pietas. Pietas refers to someone that demonstrates “selfless devotion to duty” (Lecture 2.2). We quickly realize that Aeneas is devoted to fulfilling his duties for his family, God and other individuals. In Aeneid, we see the many trials that Aeneas goes through to fulfill his mission. Throughout the story Aeneas is described to be someone that is “duty bound” (The Aeneid Line 500). One of the distractions that Aeneas is faced with is Dido, the Queen of Carthage. Aeneas remembers that “he was to be the ruler of Italy” (The Aeneid Line 297); therefore, he still continued on his mission. It was a hard decision for him to make and he was heartbroken, but he knew the decision had to be

In The Aeneid it goes through the story of Aeneas and Dido. Aeneas deals with his journey to find Rome due to his destiny and in the course of this meets Dido, the Queen of Carthage (Line 15-16 Virgil). Dido is so infatuated when she first sees Aeneas that she instantly wants to break her vow to her dead husband of never being with another man; “I recognize the signs of the old flame, of old desire. But O chaste life, before I break your laws, I pray that earth may open, gape for me….” (Line 31-34 Virgil). After Dido prayed to the gods and got their permission. The gods heard her wish and Juno along with Venus planed the event of the two becoming one; “Plan hunting in the forest…while beaters in excitement ring the glens my gift will be a black

Aeneas seems sad to see Dido, he also appears to pity her. He speaks to her “with tender love”(p. 90) and “wept as he watched her Disappear, and pitied her as she went.”(p.90) Dido seems unaffected by everything he says “As unmoved by his words...Finally she left, a stranger to him now, and fled Into a darkling grove, where her old husband, Sychaeus, comforted her and returned her love.” (p.90) H

To begin, Virgil depicts Queen Dido as an emotional person. When her lover Aeneas leaves her to build Rome, Dido curses him and prepares to burn all of his possessions, only to later kill herself. Before Dido ends her life in The Aeneid “Book IV: The Passion of the Queen,” she curses Aeneas by yelling,

Dido is the protagonist in Virgil’s The Aeneid. She is a powerful woman in the story as the Queen of Carthage. The relationship between Dido and Aeneas and their actions show what Virgil wants us to think about each character. Both possess many Roman virtues and values. How well each Dido and Aeneas live up to these values determine the outcome of their life, as Aeneas goes on to found Rome and Dido commits suicide due to Aeneas’ betrayal. The main point Virgil is trying to make in The Aeneid is that if you follow what is valued in Roman society that you will be rewarded in your life.

It is chiefly the duty to the gods, as well as to country and family, all of which Aeneas is shown to display throughout the story. As the purpose of writing the Aeneid was to give the roman empire an illustrious founding, it would make sense for the hero to be of a pious and dutiful nature, which all Romans should aspire to. Yet there are moments when Aeneas strays from this depiction, for example, when he sees Helen and longs to get revenge for the fall of his country despite knowing there is no honour or fame in punishing a woman [2.568-589]. There is divine intervention here when his mother appears to show him that there are more important things he needs to do than kill a woman. Nonetheless, a short while later, when he learns of his wife Creusa’s death, Aeneas says he ‘stormed and raged and blamed every god and man that ever was’ [746-7], which goes directly against the notion of pietas. And yet he displays it again when he has to give up Dido in book 4 to carry on his journey.

Dido is one of the many characters who are responsible for her own death. Before the appearance of Aeneas in Carthage, Dido was married to another man, Sychaeus. However, Sychaeus was murdered by Dido’s brother who was jealous of his power and money leaving Dido a widow (Aen, 4.23-25). As a widow, Dido made a vow “Never to pledge [herself] in marriage again” showing her commitment to her first and only husband who she passionately loved (Aen,4.19). The importance of this to Dido’s death is that she broke her vow on account that Aeneas was the first man that she has loved since Sychaeus. However, this love is artificial because it is not her love but love created by Venus. Even though she has this passion for Aeneas flowing through her veins, she questions herself and whether it will be worthy to love this man and break the vow. Dido is responsible for her own death because she was unable to clear her mind and see the dangers of falling in love with Aeneas and the greater the danger of breaking her vow to Sychaeus. One reason that she decides

In every great epic, love plays a key role in bringing people together but also destroying plenty in its way. Even though Dido is characterized as this powerful leader, she slowly starts to fall as her passion for Aeneas starts to grow. As Aeneas tells his story to all the people, Dido slowly starts falling more and more in love with Aeneas. Throughout this Book you slowly start to see the demise of Queen Dido. "Towers, half-built, rose no farther; men no longer trained in arms... Projects were broken off, laid over, and the menacing huge walls with cranes unmoving stood against the sky". Virgil provides images of how Carthage is being affected by the downfall of Queen Dido. Dido is so infatuated with love that she cannot see how she is running Carthage to the ground for the love of Aeneas. The goddess Juno, the queen of gods, saw this as an opportunity to keep Aeneas from reaching Italy. Dido even broke her vow of chastity and surrenders to her desires for Aeneas. “Dido had no further qualms as to impressions given and set abroad; She thought no longer of a secret love but called it marriage”. This statement demonstrates how she is becoming

She confronts him asking, “Can our love/Not hold you…?” (Virgil 983). She says that if Aeneas leaves her, then she is a “dying woman” (Virgil 984). When Aeneas persists in his decision to leave, she insults him and angrily sends him away. She calls him a “liar and cheat” (Virgil 985). Dido’s heart is broken at Virgil’s forsaking of her. She becomes inflicted by a “fatal madness” and is “resolved to die” (Virgil 988). After praying for enmity between her descendants and Aeneas’, she climbs atop a pyre of Aeneas’ belongings and stabs herself. Love becomes an obsessive passion to Dido; her life is empty without it. She does not have the will to live forsaken by her lover. She kills herself for love. The poet exclaims, “Unconscionable Love,/To what extremes will you not drive our hearts!” (Virgil 986).

On the other hand, Virgil notes that Dido’s love for Aeneas has caused her to suffer. Dido’s emotions have caused her to act like a wounded animal, not thinking about the consequences of her own actions. By being reduced to an animal, Dido has lost all rational thought. Consequently, Dido’s lack of rational thought causes her to begin to ignore other duties she has to fulfill.

After finishing and rereading the paper, I realized that the first thing I think I did well is I found a lot of text materials that supports my argument and associates different part of my paper into a whole. Second, I feel that I completed with satisfaction would be the way that I attribute various information and text into different categories, grouping related point and fit them into paragraphs. I would continue to use evidence to back up my point by delving into the texts and examine them carefully. The last thing that I completed with satisfaction would my overall theme and argument. I believe that my topic passed the “so what” and “how and why” test, as I connect the analysis of how Dido and Aeneas negotiate with their public and private

After receiving this message, Aeneas grows restless, “Revolving in his mind the stern command, he longs to fly, and loathes the charming land,” (Book 4). This is all just another step towards Aeneas’ greater destiny; He flees, and Dido is driven into a suicidal rage; she throws herself upon a sword in view of all of her subjects, ending her existence, as well as her kingdoms. Despite the fact that Dido felt love for Aeneas before Juno attempted to cause their wedding, Aeneas did not, and the love he returned as a result is arguably what drove Dido into the throes of her maddened passion. Thus, without Juno’s forced nuptials, Dido would have acted more rationally in response to Aeneas’ leave, and probably would have lived. In this way, Juno is responsible for the very fall of Carthage she struggled to prevent. With his potential wife no longer living, Aeneas is free to take on an Italian wife, a union that leads to the foundation of Rome. The manipulation of Dido by Venus, in an attempt to make the way for Aeneas easier by motivating the queen to assist him with quarter and goods, shows again how even the Gods must obey the dictates of the Fates.

He perceived it more as a romantic fling; Aeneas only engaged in a relationship with Dido out of lust. Although Aeneas acts like Dido’s husband by building walls for Carthage, he never explicitly accepts the position. He only stays in Carthage because of the benefits made available to him: Dido’s love and her luxurious gifts. When he is about to leave, Dido berates him for deceiving her in their “marriage.” Adamant that he never entered upon a marriage, Aeneas replies, “Do not think/I meant to be deceitful and slip away./I never held the torches of a bridegroom,/Never entered upon the pact of marriage” (IV, 465-8). His response to Dido reveals Aeneas’s ignorance in their relationship; he never realizes her deep obsession with him. When he leaves, he wants to console her, but does not act upon it because he feels he has committed no wrong and he has obligations to fulfill. Even when he visits the underworld, he still does not understand how Dido felt or how much he was at fault for her death. He asks her, “Was I, was I the cause?” (VI, 616). His ignorance as to how she felt and what she wanted shows his inability to be cognizant of others’ feelings, which makes him look stupid. The least Aeneas could have done was to have said goodbye, but instead he excuses himself by claiming the gods forced him to leave her.