Dido's Passion In The Aeneid

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In Virgil’s Aeneid, Nisus asks the question, “Do the gods / Put this fire in our hearts, Euryalus, / Or do our passions become our gods?” (Aeneid 9.244-226). Nisus is asking whether passions motivate human actions, or whether the gods make humans do what they do. While examining the cause of Dido’s death, Nisus’ question arises: Did Dido kill herself because her own passion drove herself to death, or because the gods instilled that passion in her? Distinguishing between her own passion and the gods’ passions are impossible. Dido possesses a passion for love and fear of humiliation, which cause her death; but it is impossible in distinguishing if her passion for love is her own or placed in her by the gods. For one cannot fully separate the passions of the gods from Dido’s own passions.
The gods are apart of the reason Dido holds her passion for love, a passion which drives her to kill herself. Venus sends Cupid down to “enflame [Dido’s] heart / And infiltrate her bones with fire” (Aen 1.805-806) in order to ensure Dido “will be bound to [Venus], / By her great love for my Aeneas” (Aen 1.823-825). Venus evokes a sort of spark in Dido, one that makes Dido fall in love with Aeneas. Prior to this point, Dido is a kingless queen. Ever since her brother, Pygmalion, murders her husband, Sychaeus, Dido vows to remain …show more content…
Her passion for love causes her passion for death. After emptying the house, “Dido trembled, panicked at the enormity / Of what she had begun…” for she realizes there is no going back now, and is somewhat fearful of facing her death (Aen. 4.745-746). While climbing into the pyre, Dido declares, “I have lived, and I have completed the course / Assigned by Fortune...” (Aen.4.757-758). Through her death, Dido is also causing the death of Carthage as Anna angrily points out to her as she’s dying (Aen.4.795). Dido ultimately kills herself, but cannot fully be blamed for her

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