To what extent was Aeneas to blame for Dido’s death Essay Example

line of book four says 'But the Queen had long since been suffering from love's deadly wound', suggesting that the intervention of the Gods only sped things up a little. However, would Dido have been so consumed with love to forget the prophecies that Aeneas tells her about?

Virgil directly address's Dido, strongly emphasising his sympathy for her, so she is definitely a victim of Aeneas. Vigil's narrative also blames Aeneas, as he desribes the punishments he would like to give Aeneas for breaking Dido's heart.

Virgil wants his audience to blame Aeneas for Dido's death. Dido must die for several reasons, and some of these are to punish Aeneas, it is not enough that he should be punished for forgetting his fate. The plot insists he must be severely punished. Dido must die so that Aeneas can be punished by not founding Rome himself, only Lavinium, nor does his son found it. Dido cursing Lavinium with eternal war with Carthage and Rome and Carthage punishes Aeneas and explains the wars Rome has encountered. Each city that Aeneas and his crew leave, he leaves in flames, with the death of a female, Dido's death simply continues this theme, Troy and Creusa, Carthage and Dido.

Dido herself obviously blames Aeneas as she burns his things. She says she 'loved [Aeneas] while the Gods and Fates allowed it' and this past tense, along with her suddenly remembering the prophecies, suggests the divine intervention of Venus being overcome by Aeneas's fate, therefore this control Venus had, was not that strong - Dido had been too willing to love Aeneas. Often, Virgil uses intertextuality to suggest Dido as a witch, references to

Circe, and especially as Aeneas leaves, Calypso, plant an idea that Dido forces him to stay, making him forget as Circe did in the Odyssey through magic. This would explain why Aeneas is so quick to dismiss their love and marriage in favour of fate, as a greater power than Dido's reminds him.

In book six, Dido is in the Mourning Plains with Sychaeus. Therefore, her unhappiness in love outshines the fact she killed herself, because she would be in Limbo for suicide, and yet is not. This shows that Aeneas was to blame, as it is considered not her fault, Aeneas caused her unhappiness in love.