Dido In 'The Aeneid'

In the beginning of The Aeneid Book IV, Dido is troubled because she feels herself falling in love with Aeneas. She is troubled because she promised herself she would never love or marry another man after the death of her first husband, Sychaeus. She confesses this to her sister, Anna, and tells her that she does not know what to do. Anna tells her sister that if she is to marry Aeneas that it will strength Carthage by having Aeneas and his Trojan soldiers that follow him. In the second section of Book IV, now having confidence thanks to her sister’s encouragement, Dido begins to fall more in love with Aeneas. She begins to present offerings to the gods to beg for grace in her new romance with Aeneas. As Dido became more obsessed with her love of Aeneas, the building projects and the

Juno suggests to the goddess Venus that Dido and Aeneas should marry and this would resolve the argument between the two goddesses; Venus agrees but knows the real reason of Juno’s suggestions but agrees anyway. One day during a hunt that is interrupted by a thunderstorm created by Juno, Dido and Aeneas are trapped in a cave and make love there. After this Dido considers them to be married even though there was not a ceremony. When Jupiter learns of the love between Dido and Aeneas, he sends Mercury to Carthage to remind Aeneas that his true destiny is not in Carthage and that he must leave for Italy. This message shocks Aeneas, but he knows he must obey the message however he does not know how to tell Dido. He tries to prepare his men to set sail without letting Dido know, but Dido suspects his ploy and confronts him. In a rage, she insults Aeneas and accuses him of stealing her honor. Aeneas admits that he is leaving, but claims that they are truly not married as there was not a ceremony, and he must go found a city in Italy and it is not his