Passage:
“These words of Anna fed the fire in Dido…
...Her towers rise no more; the young of Carthage no longer exercise at arms or build their harbors or sure battlements for war…” (p.81-82, ln 74-118).
By depicting Dido’s love for Aeneas as a tragedy, Vergil purposefully supports the dominant stoic philosophy of his society. According to the Stoics, individuals that succumb to their bodily desires will exercise poor judgment and thereby face destruction and misfortune. In the case of Vergil’s Aeneid, Dido pursues love with Aeneas while abandoning her role as the queen of Carthage. While she tends to her emotional desires, Carthage begins to fall: “the young of Carthage no longer exercise at arms or build their harbors…the works are idle…[all] lie neglected” (ln 113-116). In this excerpt Vergil defends stoic logic. Both Dido and the people of Carthage suffer because she chose to chase love rather than continue her duties as queen. The diction in this passage illustrates the warm and passionate love that she yearns for. Dido’s sister (Anna) stimulates the “fire” within her and “burned away her doubt”—the doubt Dido had in betraying her own vow against re-marrying (ln 74-75). The imagery of fire and wounds of beasts during her sacrifices supports her transformation into a romantic character rather than the responsible and honorable leader she was before. Yet these images also infer instability and possible danger. This foreshadows the eventual grief she endures after Aeneas leaves her to pursue his duty to establish Rome. Although she finds brief happiness during their romance, “unhappy Dido burns” (ln 90) before and after this love bond is formed. This supports stoic philosophy in that she suffers for the consequences of her prioritizing carnal desire over a rational mind. In contrast, Aeneas is victorious at the end of his long journey because he resists the temptation to stay with Dido in Africa and fulfills his duty in Italy. To reinforce this notion, Vergil labels Dido as illogical in her passion, comparing her to a “heedless hind hit by an arrow” (ln 92) that is “insane” (ln 91) and “wanders in her frenzy” (ln 102).
Steve, this is a good start, but I think needs to be developed further (which I gather you are planning to do post busy weekend). I do like the idea of "love as tragedy" and I'm wondering whether Antigone or even Gilgamesh can be read using that as a lens..
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