First Impressions Of Dido In The Aeneid

In The Aeneid, Dido, the queen of Carthage, appears to be suffering the pain of love, yet strong-willed at the beginning of Book IV. Despite the fact that she is grieving the death of her husband, Sychaeus, Dido remains focused on her responsibilities of leading her people. Dido is very steadfast when it comes to her debating whether or not to succumb to her growing feelings for Aeneas. She wishes to never marry again after the death of her husband and prays that, “he [Sychaeus] hold it [her love] tight, safeguard it in his grave” (34). Dido honors her pietas to her husband. Aeneas, as we have seen throughout The Aeneid, is a strong Trojan leader who respects both what the gods want for him and his pietas to his family. We see this in Book II when Aeneas refuses to leave his father behind in Troy and would rather die than abandon …show more content…
My early impression of Dido is of a strong, faithful leader. Within Aeneas, I picture a man who is unwavering and loyal to both his family and the gods. After reading the last passage of Book IV, I would say that the characters seem consistent with my earlier impressions of them. Dido was still trying to stiffen her feelings for Aeneas and continue to revere the love for her late husband. She is described as acting, “like a wounded doe caught all off guard by a hunter” and as “veer[ing] in flight” (88, 91). This simile is characterizing Dido as an innocent female whom is shocked by a man actually swaying her heart and is trying to flee from her true feelings. She was respecting her pietas to her husband up until the moment when Juno ruined it. Juno destroyed Dido; Juno killed Dido. In the last passage, Juno caused Dido and Aeneas to be forced to be alone together in a cave, which inevitably, thanks