Fate and Destiny 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

Something common in the two epics about their journey is that both Odysseus and Aeneas are distracted from what they are destined for; by the lust and arousal of women obsessed by love. In the Odyssey, Odysseus is first encountered by Circe’s love and then by the over obsession of Calypso. Circe is an immortal goddess and enchantress who is extremely beautiful and sexy. In the Aeneid, Aeneas after reaching Carthage meets Dido who is a mortal woman and queen of Carthage. She is foreign, exotic, mysterious, sexually and politically potent. Talking about Odysseus, we see that Odysseus is approached by Hermes who warns him against Circe. She offers Odysseus to have sex with her and it happens. Odysseus now distracted, lives with her on her island for a year until his comrades remind him of Ithaca. The longest delay in Odysseus’ journey is at the island of Calypso. Calypso lives alone on an exotic and beautiful island. After Odysseus crash lands here, he is rescued by her and held captive for seven years. Calypso loves Odysseus unconditionally and offers him immortality. Calypso could never impress Odysseus like Circe did. But in the Aeneid, we see that Aeneas loses sight of his mission of founding Rome in Italy. Dido makes Aeneas forget about what he is destined for as they fall in love. Both Dido and Circe keep men away from their

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

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

In The Aeneid, Virgil uses many prophecies. They begin in the first few lines and last throughout the poem. Many are directed toward Aeneas, but some are to his relatives and friends. The prophecies shown allow the reader to better understand the situation and also provide insight about Rome. Prophecies are an important key to The Aeneid.

While the mortals were unable to make decisions without the input of the gods, they also had to deal with the consequences. While the goddesses attempted to arrange a marriage, a line was written that shows more than one might think. “If by collision of two gods one mortal woman is brought low” (128-129). The gods coming together brought pain to mortals. Queen Dido suffered from the consequences of the gods’ actions. So heart broken after Aeneas was forced to leave, Dido went mad and killed herself. The gods’ effects ultimately caused her

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.

Although Juno already knows about Aeneas’s fate and that it is determined for him to find Rome regardless of anyone’s involvement, she still continues with her childish actions and irrationally tries to stop his fate even though she knows she cannot change the end result. For example, she sends the goddess Iris to stir up discontent among the Trojan women, who are tired of traveling and would like to settle permanently in Drepanum because ‘’her old resentment still unsatisfied’’(Book V, line 801-802). By constantly delaying the Trojans’ journey, she hopes that they will not to be able to get to their destination. Virgil portrays Juno as an impulsive, fickle, and selfish character who acts irrationally and by her selfish desires. She acts contrary to her knowledge and takes her grudge against Troy upon Aeneas. By displaying her negative characteristics, Virgil tells the audience that women should not be involved in politics because they act emotionally and see their own desires as priorities. A leader who acts impulsively and does not care about the consequences of his or her actions can have a tremendously negative effect on the nation. Similarly, Goddess Venus, who is also the mother of Aeneas, behaves just like Juno. Although her actions are all intended to aid

Throughout the epic The Aeneid, the main character Aeneas is trying to get to Italy to found Rome. He encounters many different obstacles along the way though. There are a few different occasions where it seems as though Aeneas may not be able to continue on and make it to Italy. However, it is his fate to do so. Reading through the first 3 books, you may began to wonder if Aeneas is able to make it to Italy on his own or if he has to have a little push along the way.

The concept of fate and the influence of gods on mortals’ lives are prominent aspects of Greek mythology. While the gods of Olympus are commonly presented as the primary manipulators of human lives, the Fates are the true creators of destiny. Gods may be able to affect human lives in monumental ways, but predetermined destiny and the Fates’ intentions ultimately reign. The gods have respect for this authority, as well, as they’re aware that a limit on their ability to intervene is necessary to maintain the order of the universe. This leaves one to question the amount of knowledge that the gods themselves have of fate, and whether they have their own free will to refrain from intervening or if they truly must submit to the authority of the Fates and their plans. The gods do have some knowledge of the Fates’ plan, but they are also wise enough to avoid too much interference and therefore don’t necessarily need to be commanded; they sometimes help guide mortals by sending them messages and symbols—and sometimes even influencing them for their own advantage—but ultimate fate cannot be avoided.

Most people would agree that a lot of pain and suffering endured by many people in the story could have been avoided if they had not fell in love. When Aeneas finally hears that Dido killed herself, he is distraught. The rest of his crew would have also felt the pain of her death because she was so kind and hospitable towards them. The people of Carthage would have felt an enormous loss at the death of their queen. Especially, Dido’s sister, who would have been very distraught. The gods were upset that their plans were failing due to Aeneas being distracted by his time with Dido. This causes them to influence Aeneas to do things he does not want to do, like leave Dido, which poses the question of the gods having too much power in fate and mortals lives.