The Portrayal Of Women In Virgil's The Aeneid

Differently to the way Homer portrays women in The Iliad Virgil’s Aeneid portrayal of female characters allows Virgil to give women a stand in the war and in society. But to Virgil, a great leader must be able to control their temperance on both the throne and the on the battlefield. It is not very popular to see women have control over a land or be apart of a war because stereotypically women are seen to be sensitive and weak. However, in the epic Virgil does a good job to show how powerful a woman can be but then later the reader does notice that a women’s emotions do take over her state of mind and dominate her actions whether it be a woman be in love or for lust. Dido, the emotional Carthaginian; Camilla, the fierce warrior. In The Aeneid, two important female characters, Queen Dido, blinded by her love for Aeneas and Camilla blinded by the lust of being on the battlefield demonstrate to be strong women in the epic but quickly become overpowered by their emotions which leads them to their death. Virgil had a unique way of depicting females characters in the story; Virgil shows how Dido and Camilla are strong leaders. One of the first female characters that Virgil introduces to the story is Queen Dido, she is …show more content…
Dido became the first Queen of Carthage, while Camilla was a great warrior girl. However, both became obsessed with their passions whether it be the love of a man or the love of fighting; both becoming tragic victims of their own love for things. Dido and Camilla demonstrate how they are unfit to rule and control their temperance which ultimately brings them to their death. It can be said, perhaps Virgil believed that women allow their emotions and their passions to intervene which make women irrational and loses herself to