Virgils Portrayal of Dido

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

love for Aeneas and fell for him whole-heartedly. The first instance of this is seen when Dido is thinking about how she is feeling after hearing Aeneas' story. Dido was deeply moved, and Virgil creates a tone implying longing and aching by using diction like, "Haunt, ate her away, and gave her no rest" (2. 5-6). Here Dido is thinking of her old husband Sychaeus who died. Not once after Sychaeus' death had she thought of a man until meeting Aeneas. This shows that Dido cannot help but fall in love with Aeneas from the very beginning. Meeting Aeneas causes her to think of Sychaeus and reopens her desire for someone in her life that would be a good husband. The clearest example of Dido's intense and immediate love for Aeneas, however, can be seen when Virgil compares her to a doe in an epic simile. He writes, "Unlucky Dido, burning, in her madness/ Roamed through all the city, like a doe/ Hit by an arrow shot from far away" (4. 95-7). It is clear that Virgil portrays Dido as ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

CITE THIS PAGE: