Essay on Fate and Human Responsibility in the Aeneid

Dido first falls in love with Aeneas after being infected by Cupid at Venus’ command. When Cupid first arrives in Carthage, disguised as Ascanius, Dido watches him from afar as he interacts with deceived Aeneas. As she watches, she becomes entranced with the sight and “the more she looks the more the fire grows,” signaling that Cupid’s hold over her has grown stronger (853,71). Aeneas’ tale of woe only strengthens her adoration of him until she is “consumed by the fire buried in her heart” (3, 127). Tentative thoughts of remarrying after her husband Sychaeus’ death begin to cross her mind and she finally recognizes the “old flame” that is slowly consuming her, suddenly marrying Aeneas one night (30, 128). Yet this fire is short lived and, ultimately, Dido’s downfall. Jove grows anxious for Aeneas to continue on his journey and commands Mercury to pass along the message that Aeneas and the Trojans must leave Carthage. Aeneas pleads with Dido that he leaves not of his own volition and that he must obey the gods’ wishes, but Dido is furious, alternating between pleading with him to stay and cursing him should he go. Firm in his decision, Aeneas returns to his ships while Dido is brought to her chambers. Grief stricken and “fixed on dying,” Dido begins to construct a funeral pyre in her courtyard (595, 144). As she stands before her creation, she laments her choice to trust Aeneas and the Trojans when

From the dawning of modern human thought, humans have questioned the nature of life and its passing. One of the most fundamental questions to arise from this train of thought is the ideas of fate and duty. We humans desire to know whether the path of our lives is preordained and unalterable or if it is just a series of consequences from our past actions. If we live by fate and believe our path is already set in stone, then is it our obligation to fulfill that destiny to the best of our abilities or can we resist and hope to forge our own story? It is quite obvious in the epics of both Aeneus and Odysseus that the idea of fate and duty plays a huge role. The difference we see between the two is which is more important and how each epic

He cried over Dido’s death because he was moved in his heart for her loss; a death brought about by her love and loss of Aeneas. Augustine had

A particular instance of self-indulgence shows Aeneas involved in a love affair with Dido, the queen of Carthage. Since Aeneas is distracted by this activity, he catches himself off guard when the gods intervene to direct him back on track toward his fate. "Then Aeneas was truly overwhelmed by the vision, stunned, his hackles bristle with fear, his voice chokes in his throat" once he is suddenly issued this urgent message. This detail perfectly describes Aeneas ' situation of being frozen in place and unable to make any progress on his fate. The gods ' reminder comes as a shock to Aeneas, thereby forcing him to acknowledge the consequences of his actions. His alarmed reaction

This curse to Aeneas and then her suicide prove just how overdramatic Dido is. Even before she goes into a great depression, Dido is exceedingly more emotional compared to Aeneas. Virgil compares Dido to an injured deer in The Aeneid “Book IV” by saying, “Unlucky Dido, burning in her madness

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

Additionally, as an oriental queen, we must remember how Dido along with the other women from the old world, held little to no place in the vision of the new Rome. I believe the way in which Aeneas treats those who are not directly included in his prophecy; particularly in this scene, raises interesting ideas about Aeneas character. It is easy for the reader to forget that he is not born a hero like the epic heroes who came before him like Odysseus, rather he becomes one as the story progresses. He is therefore forgiven any human errors of judgement, including deserting Dido in favour of fulfilling his

Dido has infamously been labeled the tragic literary love interest to Aeneas in Virgil's The Aeneid. Her suicide was a vital plot point in Virgil's work and he emphasizes the people who influenced her decision to eventually take her own life in order to gain sympathy for this flawed yet tragic character. There are numerous people who could in fact be held responsible for Dido's death, some of the people were completely out her control and Virgil attempts to have the reader pity her unfortunate circumstances. Dido''s suicide is classic literary trope that makes us question the way others actions fully affect the lives of others. The situations that surrounded the life of Dido appeals to the readers pathos and aids in the question as to why unseen forces can affect life so drastically in these Greek tragedies.

Many people seem to be under the impression that the Aeneid is a celebration of Roman glory, led by the hero of fate Aeneas. I find these preconceived ideas hard to reconcile with my actual reading of the text. For starters, I have a hard time viewing Aeneas as a hero at all. Almost any other main characters in the epic, from Dido to Camilla to Turnus, have more heroic qualities than Aeneas. This is especially noteworthy because many of these characters are his enemies. In addition, Aeneas is presented as a man with no free will. He is not so much bound to duty as he is shielded by it. It offers a convenient way for hum to dodge crucial moral questions. Although this doesn’t necessarily make

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).

After she falls in love with Aeneas, Dido disregards the vow that she made to her suitors. While Aeneas and Dido go hunting, Juno sends down a storm that forces the two into a cave. In the cave, Dido makes love to Aeneas and calls the affair a marriage. Shortly after this incident, news spreads beyond her kingdom that the Carthaginian leader has abandoned her obligations as a ruler. When the news reaches Iarbas, one of Dido’s suitors, the African king expresses his anger (IV 264-274). Dido’s love for Aeneas has caused her to ignore basic agreements that she has established. Not only did Dido lie to Iarbas, but she has also forgotten to keep the promise that she made to herself to not marry another man (IV 19-35). Dido has abandoned her own reputation. Instead of taking responsibility for the choices she has made, Dido continues her pursuit of the Trojan hero.

Dido has a passionate desire and lust for Aeneas. Cupid has lit a flame in her heart, and it continually grows and desires to be with Aeneas. Dido is hesitant to pursue a meaningful relationship with Aeneas because she had vowed to never remarry upon the death of Sychaeus. Dido becomes consumed with herself and her lust for Aeneas. In her splendor, she begins to forego many of her duties, and the city of Carthage begins to see the effects. Juno sees this as an opportune time to toy with the fates. She proposes, to Venus, that they work together in order

Once Dido’s and Aeneas’ “love” has been set on its course, he receives word from the god Mercury to return to his duties for Troy, “Blind to your own realm, oblivious to your fate!” (Virgil, p.136) Aeneas desires the love of Dido, but recognizes his obligation to found Rome. This is where a complication arises regarding fate. Aeneas strayed from his destiny, moving alongside his desires rather than uniting his aspirations with his obligations, thus creating conflict within his life and difficulties weighing the importance of his obligations and desires. The pressures of fate and the gods were not in Aeneas’ control; however, it was his own decision to fall in love with Dido and ignore his mission, even if momentarily. As humans we are obligated to one another regardless of desire.

From now on dido…no longer kept her love a secret…but called it marriage…‘ [4.170-174]. It take the angry prayers of a king from another land for Jupiter to intervene ‘…this is not the man promised us by his mother…it was not for this she twice rescued him from the swords of the greeks’ [4.227-230] he sends mercury to tell aeneas ‘so now you are layign foundations for the high towers of carthage and builign a a splendid city to please your wife? Have you entirely forgotten your own kingdom and your own destiny?’ [4.267-270] Aeneas is described as ‘dumb and senseless’ at the sight of mercury [280] but it reminds him of his duty and makes the decision to leave dido and carthage despite reasoning with her that ‘it is not by my own will that I search for italy’ [361]