Book 4 Summary Flashcards
How does Dido’s passion for Aeneas develop as he tells his story?
- The flame of love for Aeneas that Cupid has lit in Dido’s heart only grows while she listens to his sorrowful tale,
- even though she had sworn never to remarry after her husband Sychaeus’s death
What role does Dido’s sister, Anna, play in the development of Dido’s relationship with Aeneas?
- Anna persuades Dido that marrying Aeneas would strengthen Carthage,
- even though it means neglecting her city-building responsibilities
How does Juno manipulate events regarding Dido and Aeneas?
- Juno, aiming to divert Aeneas from his destiny, convinces Venus to let her orchestrate situations that force Dido and Aeneas into private, intimate encounter
How does Venus convince Juno to let them marry
- Juno sees Dido’s love for Aeneas as a way to keep Aeneas from going to Italy
- Pretending to make a peace offering, Juno suggests to Venus that they find a way to get Dido and Aeneas alone together
- If they marry, Juno suggests, the Trojans and the Tyrians would be at peace, and she and Venus would end their feud
- Venus knows Juno is just trying to keep the Trojans from Italy but allows Juno to go ahead anyway
What event forces Dido and Aeneas to spend time together in isolation?
- During a hunting trip, Juno summons a storm that sends the group seeking shelter, resulting in Dido and Aeneas being stranded together in a cave
After their cave interaction, what is Aeneas’ relationship like with Dido
- They make love in the cave and live openly as lovers when they return to Carthage
- Dido considers them to be married though the union has yet to be consecrated in ceremony
How is the union between Dido and Aeneas perceived in Carthage?
- Although they live openly as lovers, rumors spread that they have completely surrendered to passion & lust and are neglecting their ruling duties
What divine intervention forces Aeneas to reconsider his relationship with Dido?
- Mercury, acting on Jupiter’s orders who learns of Aenea’s & Didos affair, reminds Aeneas that his destiny lies in Italy, urging him to leave Carthage
how does Aeneas react to the message from Mercury regarding his destiny?
- He is shocked and conflicted as he has yielded to temptation with Dido,
- knowing he must obey the gods despite his feelings for Dido to not jeopardise the mission further,
- and he tries to secretly prepare his fleet for departure
What is Dido’s reaction when she confronts Aeneas about his secretive behavior?
- She becomes enraged, insults him by accusing him of dishonor, and desperately pleads with him not to leave
What drastic measure does Dido take in an attempt to rid herself of Aeneas from her thoughts?
- Dido instructs Anna to build a huge fire so that all of Aeneas’s belongings, including the bed they slept on, can be burned to erase his memory
- she is actually instructing Anna to build her funeral pyre
What does Dido’s final act of despair entail?
- After watching Aeneas’s fleet sail away, Dido climbs onto the fire’s pyre, unsheathes Aeneas’s sword, and uses it to take her own life while cursing him
How does divine intervention affect Dido’s final moments?
- Juno takes pity on Dido, ending her suffering as she dies, which underscores the tragic interplay of fate and divine will in her story
What overarching themes are highlighted by Dido’s and Aeneas’s tragic relationship?
- The narrative explores themes of doomed love, the conflict between personal desire and divine destiny, and the tragic consequences of abandoning duty
What does Dido curse Aeneas when she dies
- calls upon her cartheginians to wage war against his people & die in the flames
How does Aeneas react to Dido’s pleas
- While Aeneas pities her, he maintains that he has no choice but to follow the will of the gods: “I sail for Italy not of my own free will”
As a last effort, Dido sends Anna to try to….
persuade the Trojan hero to stay, but to no avail
How does Mercury have to intervene again
- Mercury visits aeneas again, this time in his sleep to tell him that he has delayed too long already and must leave at once
- Aeneas awakens and calls his men to the ships, and they set sail
How much times does Aeneas spend with Dido
after 7 years of travelling, he spends the winter months with Dido
What is Aeneas’ take on leaving Dido
- He piously carries out the duties allotted him by fate; though he feels emotions and experiences desires, he is powerless to act on them.
- From Virgil’s perspective, Aeneas is not heartless, as Dido thinks him, but merely capable of subordinating matters of the heart to the demands of duty.
- Aeneas’s reminder to Dido that they were never officially married suggests, somewhat dubiously, that had they entered into such an ordained commitment he would not leave
- But, he argues, without a true marriage, he is sacrificing only his own desires by leaving Dido.
give the iconic Aeneas leaving Dido quotes
- ‘But Aeneas was faithful to his duty. Much as he longed to soothe her …
- ’ This personal sacrifice is a great one for Aeneas - He is compared to an oak tree, buffeted by the winds, yet his ‘mind remained unmoved.’
