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Aristotelian Elements of Tragedy in the FourthBook of the Aeneid

Timothy A. Curtin Loyola University Chicago

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ARISTOTELIAN ELEMENTS OF TRAGEDY

IN THE FOURTH BOOK OF THE

AENEID

BY

TIMOTHY A. CURTIN s.J.'

THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFII.L]fii!NT 01!1

THE REQUIRNMENT S FOR THE DEGREE

OF MASTER OE ARTS

AUGUST

1947



VITA .AUCTOB.IS

Timothy Curtin, S.J. was born May 26, 1920 in New York

C i t y ~ _ After 'his elementary education at St. Joseph's Parochial

School in New York and Presentation Sohool in Jamaica, Long

Island, he attended Regis High School in New York and graduated

in June, 1938. In July of the same year, he entered the.

Novitiate of the Society of Jesus at St. Andrew on Hudson,

Poughkeepsie, New York. During his fou:r years there he was

academically connected with Fordham University, New York.

After a brief stay at Woodstock, 1mxyland, he transferred to

West Baden College of Loyola University, from which inst i tut ion

he graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in June, 1943.

He was enrolled in the graduate school of Loyola University

in January, 1943, where he took courses in preparation for

a degree of ~ ~ s t e r of Arts in Latin. During the year of 1946-

1947, Mr. Curtin, S.J. taught the humanities at Fordham

Preparatory School in New York City.



TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER FAGE

INTRODUCTION • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1I . PLOT o:P THE DIDO EJ? ISODE ,. • • • • • • .. .. • .,

Definition. of plot---Story of Dido---Unityof V i r g i l ~ s story---Dido episode is an involved plot---Recognition and reversal--Tragic incident---Dramatic technique

• • 6

II . THE ROLE OF FATE • • • • • • • • • • • • . • • • • • 27

Conflict in the plot---Fatum and i t s mean

ing---Jupiter and Fate---Dramatic role ofFate---Kinship with Euripides and Sophocles

I I I . THE ROLE OF THE GODS. • • • • • .. •· • • • • • • • • 39

Virgil 's idea of the gods---Role of the godsin drama as limited by Stagirite---Unity ofplot does not need help of gods---Juno andVenus---Fama---Mercury---Iris

IV. THE CHARACTER OF DIDO • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 51.Aristotle • s re-quirements for tragic character

---Noble family---Goodness---Objections togoodness of Dido---Tragic flaw in Dido--Propriety in tragic character---Dido is trueto life---Weaknesses in the portrai t of Dido---Consistency in the character of Dido---Symbol of Carthage in Dido

v. THE CHARACTER OF AlllmAS • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 70

Ancestry of Aeneas---Unpopularity of Aeneas---Aristotle 's requirement of goodness---

Tragic flaw in Aeneas---Propriety in Aeneas---Aeneas is not entirely true to l i fe--

Consistency in character of Aeneas

CONCLUSION • •

BIBLIOGRA.PHY •

• • •

• • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • •

• • • • •

• • • • •

• 93

• 96



m!RODUO'!IOll

About the year 1896, a mosaic was discovered in Tunis,

Susa, which depicts the poet Virgil seated between two Httses.

he Muse on the lef t is Olio, who is the patron of history, and on

he right is Melpomene, the patron of tragedy. I t has been

that this mosaic dates back to at least the f i rs t centur

fact that ahows the long standing tradition associating Virgil

t rageq. l His dramatic powers have also been noted b7 JD8.llY

f the commentators on the Aeneid. WVergil's muse was more than

tragic in thought and i l l intention. "2 Of the Aeneid i tself ,

remarks that the "poem is not solely epic; in structure i t is

fusion of epic and Attic tragedy, which Virgil enriches b7

a new conception of fate.• 3 !he presence then of a tragi

in the genius of Virgil is too obvious to be overlooked.

!he purpose of the thesis will be to analyse this tragic

in the Fourth Book of the Aeneid, because the dramatic

of Virgil is here most evident and most highly developed.

in his Boman P,oetry simply says the book is a tragedy,4

J.llackail, !l!he .leneid of Virdl , Clarendon Press, OXford, 1930,Introduction;-x1vll, &rio H. Frieze, Virgil 's Aeneid, AmericanBook OompaDJ, New York, 1902, Introduction, 15.B,Oonwar, "Verg11 1 s Creative Art", Proceedings of the BritishAoade_,, Vol.l7 (1931), 26.E. Band, lfagioal Art 21.. Virfil , Harvard Universi t7 Press,Cambridge, i issachusitts ,931L 381, also W.Sellar, Roman Poetsof the Aufiistan ~ - Virf.il, ularendon Press, Oxford, 1897, !§6

oman PO'iiry, ie huen and Company, London, 1923, 185.



2

comments on Virgil 's great debt to drama in this book:

line unsohatzbare Hilfe hierbei bot1hm das Drama; hier konnte er lernen,seinen Stoff in erhabenem Stile zu

behan,.eln, u n ~ er 5hat diese Hilfenioht versohmaht.

Before taking up the subject in any detail however, i t

well to explain the presence of a dramatic element in an

poem. How does i t happen that drama can be so prominent in a

genre of poetry, and manifesti t sel f

so strongly that oneVirgil sa:s that in almost a ll the even

of the Aeneid, "the characteristics of the tragic

are clear and are almost too obvious to need demonstration.•6

answer to the question can be found in the Poetics of Aristotle

the relation between epic and tragic poetry is carefully set

Jor the sake of clearness and completeness, Aristotle 's

will be repeated briefly here.

I t is well to remember f i rs t that a ll the elements of ·an

poem are found in a tragedy, but not a ll the elements of a

are to be found in an epic. 7 The similarities and

of the two types of poetry may be demonstrated from the

definition of tragedy. !ragedy is an artistic imitatio

R.Heinse, Virsils epische tecknik, !eubner, Leipsig, 1903, 116.Oonwq, 26.Aristotle, Poetics, s.Butcher, :tlacmillan and Comparll', Ltd.,

1898, 1449B.



3

of an action that is serious, complete and of an adequate mag

nitude; - so mnch for the object which is imitated. As for the

medium, the imitation is produced in language that is embellished

in more than one w ~ . one kind of embelliShment being introduced

separately in one part, and another kind in another part of the

whole. As for the manner, the imitation is i tself in the form

of an action directly presented, not narrated.a f.ragedJ and

epic are entirely different with regard to the manner of present-

ation, for the tragedyis

directly presented while the epicis

narrated. With regard to the medium which is language, the two

are partly the same and partly different: they are the same

ecause both use verse, but they differ insofar as the verse of

tragedy is embellished in more than one way. Verse may be simply

this is had in epic poetry. Or i t may be recitative,

or song: these last are found only in tragic poetry. the third

and most important of the three elements of the definition concern

he object, and this includes plot and characters. With regard

o the characters, Aristotle postulates_various requirements.

These can be divided into two g e n e r a ~ groups. The f i rs t and less

are external to the character. Examples

f these are prosperity, fame and nobility of birth. 9 !he more

are intrinsic to the person. !hey are the

11?.!!· • 1449B..ru!·. 1453.1.



!he purpose of the thesis may now be explained in more

From a negative angle, i t can be said f i rs t , that i t s

is not to form the book into a tragedy by dividing i t into

he various parts of the Greek drama.13 Nor does the thesis intan

o put any emphasis on the medium or language. Rather, this stuiy

be confined to the most important parts of epic and trage¢J,

is , the plot and characters. ln the Poetics, Aristotle puts

a number of requirements for a good plot and true art ist ic

!hese will be taken up in turn and apllied to the

characters of the Dido episode in the Aeneid. This

will not however, be limited to points specifically

Aristotle, because some details are present in both

and tragedy and are not explicitly treated by Aristotle.

o suoh points are dramatic technique, which will be discussed

n the f i rs t chapter, where the plot of Virgil 's story is

and secondly, the general theme of the story with i t s

to the spir i t and theme of the great Greek

"!he Tragedy of Dido", Classical Journal, Vol. 8 (1912

144-145, casts Book IV of the Aeneid in the form of a Greek playusing three actors ~ d dividing the story into stasima.



CHAPTER I

PLOT OP THE DIDO EPISODE

Plot is , according to Aristotle, the f i rs t principle and

soul, as i t were, of tragedy.l He says that i t consists

n the proper organization of incidents so that they will have the

tragic effect. 2 Now to the end, just mentioned, the very

requirement laid down by Aristotle is that the plot have a

middle and end; this means that the f i rs t part does

ot oome after something else in a necessary sequence, but some

thing naturally comes after i t . Thi"s second part will be

e middle. The end must flow from the middle in the same natural

that the middle comes from the beginning. He thus requires

the plot be a kind of germinal growth from the opening

of the play.

This f i r s t requirement must now be applied to the Dido

in the Aeneid. Before this is done however, the main

Virgil 's plot will be outlined briefly, in order

they may be more easily analysed. Aeneas has been wandering

the sea for six years, when a storm caused by Juno throws

the shores of Africa in the terr i tory of Queen Dido. Into insure his welcome in this country, Venus, goddess mother

f Aeneas, resolves to make the queen fal l in love with her son.

Aristotle, Poetics, 1449BIbid.

6



a

depart when Dido learns of his intention. She t r ies to change

is decisiOn by prayers, tears and threats. ~ e n a ll fai l , she

him and his descendants and then resolves to ki l l herself.

book ends with Aeneas sailing from the harbor in the early

while Dido stabs herself on the ~ · of presents she had

from Aeneas.

Has this s t o ~ y the beginning, middle and end that Aristctl

for a good tragedy? I t seems that i t has. sinoe the plot

s a well constructed whole. Before showing the natural develop-

of the story however, we must make an exception which is

of separate treatment. This is the part played by the

in the story of Dido. As can be seen, Virgil 's use of them

s quite extensive, but whether this is a virtue or defeat will

ot be decided now. This chapter is concerned with the natural

of the plot apart from the intervention of the gods.

this point, most of the commentators agree that the plot has

natural development.

!he psychology of passion's progress

in the f i rs t book i s convincingly ex-presse4 for the f i rs t time in anr

l i terature. !he poet simply and natu-rally leads hero and heroine throughthe experience of admiration, generoussympathy and gratitude to an inevitableaffection, which, at the night 's banquet,through a soul stirring tale told withdignity and heard in rapture, cojld onlyripen into a very human passion.

Versil, - ! Biosrapb.y, Henry Holt, New York, 1922, 178.



also mentions the natural development of the love of

for Aeneas:

La passion de Didon nait et evoluesalon lea lois de la nature et i l ya la des etudes d 1 ime qui sont

v i v a n ~ e s et qui4

ont pour nous uninteret humain.

9

At f i rs t , then, we see in Dido only the interest of one

has met misfortune in the hardships of another - "non ignara

miseris succurrere disco."0 Her interest in Aeneas grows

of his striking appearance (made even more striking

the help of Venus) and also because of his past adventures.

interest naturally leads to a desire to seek his company,

desire which gives probability to the incident of the banquet

to the hunting partyon

the followingday. Heinze in part-

remarks on the gradual growth of the love of Dido for

saying that Virgil differs greatly in this from the story

f Apollonius Rhodius, whose Medea immediately falls in violent

with Jason:

Wir sahen, wie vial seelisoher Virgil

die Neigung vorbereitet, und dem ent-sprioht es dann auch, wenn er dem blos-sen Jnblioh die Kaoht nioht zusohreibt,den Brennstoff, mag er auch noch sosorgfaltig aufgehauft s e i n ~ zur lodern-den Flamme zu entzunden. zreilioh 1st

A.Oartault, L'art !! Virgile dans l 1Eneide, premiere partie,lea pressea universitalre de ~ e e , 1926, 308.Virgil, Aeneid, I , 630.



~ a dieses Paar auch nicht zu ver-gleichen ~ t ~ e n e n des E r ~ s un-kundigen Junglingen and Madchen,die der unbekannten Leidensohaft

wehrlos anheimfallen. Von denldebesgefUhlen des Aeneas zu spreehen,hat der Dichter sinzlioh vermieden:erst bei der !rennung horen wir lurchkUrze Aadeutungen ansdruokl1ch,

6wie

t ief ibn die Liebe gepaokt hat.

10

i t is maintained by some that even apart from the inter-

of Venus (who has Cupid enflame the heart of Dido), the

course of action might have come to pass, but only after aperiod. 7

!he storm is more d i r e ~ t l y due to the action of Juno.

not entirely improbable, i t is not so naturally con-

as the incidents that preceded. !he fact however, that

close to Dido and comes to the same cave is easily

naturally explained. !he consummation of their love also

the passionate nature of Dido as i t has been revealed

the poet.

At this point in the story, Virgil introduces Fsma, a

who spreads the report of the queen•s love for Aeneas.

reason for creating Fama can easily be explained. There

s always danger of monotony after the climax of a story. Since

e cave scene is the climax of this book, Virgil wiShes to avoid

Heinze, 120.Band, 353, 364.



11

prosy description of how the people heard of the queen•s in-

to the memory of her dead husband. But how can the use

f the goddess be reconciled with Aristotle's demand for a unifiedwhere each incident grows from some preceding event in the

I t must be admitted f i rs t that the creation of the goddess

s due to Virgil 's vivid imagination. But the fact that Dido had

to her love for Aeneas would certainly become known, and

e actual spreading of the rumor i s not at a l l improbable. As

result , Aristotle's canons are not violated in the actual fact

f what occurs, but in the manner in which the action takes place.

On hearing the rumor of Dido's passion for Aeneas, Iarbas

in conformity with his character as portr&¥ed by Virgil.

poet pictured him as a religious man devoted to the cult oftherefore i t is natural that he should turn to Jupiter

he feels he has been wronged. !.he actual intervention of

and his orders to Aeneas can be explained adequately only

thorough understanding of Virgil 's ideas on Fate and the

of Rome, - topics which seem to fal l outside the scope

f this subject. We can say however, that the interest of Jupiter

the Trojans has been mentioned before.e His sending of Mercury,

i s at least a probable event.

I , 258-260



12

On hearing the command of Mercury, Aeneas immediatel7

about fulfi l l ing what Jupiter wishes, although he is con

and startled atf i rs t

by the appearance of the god.9 His

is probable and natural since he is devoted to his

and to the gods. His confusion is also natural because

has fallen in love with Dido and the command to leave Carthage

him with a real problem. From this point almost to the

end of the episode, the part played by the gods is practical

As a result , the true dramatic ability of Virgil

seen most clearly in the denouement.

Aber er schnildert uns kein dumpfesungeregeltes Auf- und Abwogen derEmpfindungen, seine Dido wird nichtbin unt her geworfen in Widerstreitdar Leidenschaften; sondern in klarer

Gesetzmassigkeit schreitet die Ent-wicklung dem Ende zu. Soviel wiemoglich wird auch hier dramatischeWirkung angestrebt. O

thinks no other ending is possible to the story. l l Oartault

brings .out very clearly the dramatic development of the las t

of the Fourth Book:

Nous ;s arrivons [he is discussing IV 296]p,r ~ t ~ e s sucoe,sives: chaque p ~ o g r e sdes evenements developpe dans l ' a m ~ deDidon une si uatio; nouvelle, ~ · / etatpsychologique different des precedents,

9 Aeneid IV, 279.Heinze, 130.

364.



qui a son expression p r ~ ~ e ; touaa•enchainent sans ae repeter et /menant au terme inevitable et pren. l2

13

Aeneas resolves to leave, Dido is almost the f i rst to learn

f his intentions (quia tallere possit amantem),13 and she reacts

to her character. Sbe pleads with Aeneas, she storms at

yet he remains unmoved; curses on him and his descendants are

f no avail. Despair closes on her and she is taken to the palace

with emotion. She does not give up hope however: her

her pride; she begs him to st&J, i f not out ot

for her, then at least until more propitious weather will mak

e voyage less dangerous. Even this last plea is not successful.

then resolves on her suicide, with the hope that in this act

will find both reparation for her sin and revenge for the

of Aeneas. Truly, as Oartault remarks, "oette scene est

de tragedie; elle f e r a ~ t grand effet au theatre."l4 The

to commit suicide is almost forced on Dido, as Cartault

demonstrates. Be l is ts a number of alternate actions

to Dido, explaining why each is de-

Ji rs t , she could forget the past and take up the course

f her l ife again as though the episode had never taken place.

this material possibility is morally impossible tor a person

Cartaul!.t 31'1.LV, 291.

Oartault, 320.



14

Dido. Again, she might offer her hand ~ o one of the nomad

she has so often scorned, but she would then become an

of scorn and laughter. She oannot leave with the Trojans

they have shown themselves as ingrates and breakers of

word; they would not have her aboard their ship. To go

Aeneas on a separate ship would mean the abandonment of her

To persuade the whole nation to go to Italy would be

because she had great difficulty in bringing them to

Oartault concludes the passage:

Ainsi le parti qu'elle avait prisdans son desespoir lu i apparait oommele seul qui soit sage et raisonnable,comme le seul aboutissement logiquede la s i t u a t i o n . ~ o

the art ist ic standpoint, then, the suicide of Dido is amply

The poet has placed her in such a position that the

possible solution for a woman of her character is self de-

Heinze also gives a number of reasons drawn from the

of Dido which show why the suicide was a natural and

outcome of the plot 's action. He oites the loss of

er chastity and the consequent shame:l6

te propter eundemextinctus pudor et, qua sola sidera adibamfama prior.l7

Oartault,321.Heinze, 136

IV, 321.



15

in her dreams, she seems to hear the voice of her husband

her :

praeterea fui t in tectia de marmora templum

conjugis antiqui, miro quod honore colebathino exaudiri voces et verba voosntis Tisa Tiri .18

also quotes the passage in which Dido refuses to think of

of her former suitors:

Rursusne procos inrisa prioresexperiar, Nomadumque petam conubia supplex

19quos ego sim totiens ism dedignata maritos?

reasons are also given, as, for example, the loss of the

and trust of her subjects, 20 and the growing hosti l i ty of

e neighboring t r ibes. 21 I t can be seen from this how closely

the plot of the story is and how inevitably i t draws to the

given by Virgil. A study of the character of both

will make clearer the wonderful genius of Virgil

bringing about the denouement with which the Fourth Book closes

The analysis then, prescinding again from the part played

the gods, would seem to show not only that the Dido episode has

beginning, middle and end, but also that i t enjoys the organio

demanded by Aristotle. Jor he says that the tragedy must

an action that is organically unified, the structural

of the incidents being such that transposing or removing any

9 Ibid. ' 534

lbi'd., 321Ibid. ' 320



16

of them will dislocate and disorganize the whole. 22 In other

the unity of the plot here is not one that depends entirely

the characters so that unity of action is had only because the

are the same in successive incidents. Oartault brings

ut in a number of places the fact that there is a definite series

f stages or development in the plot. 23

ln speaking of the different kinds of plots, Aristotle

~ sthat the involves plot

isone in which the change of fortune

/ ' /

s attended by reversal (trt-e_ c 7T' (- rHo( ) or discovery ("" v o ~ - y v ""e.· q-, 5

r by both. 24 For the sake of clearness i t might be well to

these two terms. Reversal is a change by which a train of

produces the opposite of the effect intended, subject\

to the rule of necessity or probability. The reversal

plaoe when the character acts to effect one end and the re-

of his action is the opposite of what he intended. I t can be

clear by Aristotle's example. 25 In the Oedipus, the messen-

er comes to cheer Oedipus and free him from the alarms about his

but by revealing who he is , he produces the opposite

Discovery is a transit ion from ignorance to knowledge

passing into love or hate between the two persons

Aristotle, 1451A.Oartault, 302, 308, 317, 334.Aristotle, 1452A.~ . , 1452A.



17

by the poet for good or bad fortune. 26 The example given

Aristotle to i l lus tra te recognition or discovery is taken from

Among the Taurians, by Euripides. Iphigenia is revealed

Orestes by the sending of the let ter .27 The Dido episode

now be studied to see whether these two marks of an involved

are present.

With regard to the reversal, several commentators make

mention of i t when commenting on the dramatic character

f the plot./

L'aotion/atteint son point deoisif ,par la r e ~ l i s ~ t i o n de l 'union desiree.Suit la peripetie p ; e p a r e ~ par leaplaintes du/rival dedaignee, brusque-ment r e a l i s ~ s par l 'ordre imperieuxde Jupiter.

puts the reversal at the same part of the book:

••• Aeneas in Karthago dauernd verweilen:Hera arbeitet darauf hin, Didos Liebebaut fest darauf, Aeneas selbst scheintseine Bestimmung vollig vergessen zuhaben - da plotzlioh t r i t t mit :MeroursErsoheinen die Peripetie ein, und unauf-haltsam drangt die Erz6hlung nach entge-gengesetzter Riohtung, zur Abfahrt des Aeneas.29

is a true reversal for i t is the opposite effect of what

s intended by Dido. Moreover, i t r ises from the action.

Aristotle, 1452A.Ibid., 1452B.Cartault, 336.Heinze, 317.



18

her union with Aeneas in the cave, Dido wants to attain

happiness, but the spread of her rumored love for Aeneas

as the opposite effect , for Aeneas i s ordered to leave Carthage.i t is the turning point of the drama, as Heinze remarks:

••• Virgil hat den tragischen Gegensatzempfunden, der darin l iegt , Dido dass zumletzten Male im vollen Glucke strahlenduns sichtbar wird an dem Tage, der ihreSehnsucht zwar erfullen, aber zugleich'des Todes erster Tag' werden soll te.30

The recognition is not so smoothly handled, or at least ,

t is not brought about through human a::1 d natural agents. In the

of Aeneas especially, Virgil fal ls back on a direct revel-

of the god, Mercury, to bring his hero to the recollection

f his mission to found Rome. I t should be noted that some

interpret this appearance of Mercury as an external man-

of the conscience of Aeneas.31 The recognition could

be explained on natural grounds, with the theophany of

as a mere piece of epic machinery. 32 In defence of Virgil ,

t can also be maintained that the sending of 1\1:ercury develops

the story, since i t was the prayer of Iarbas that caused

despatch Mercury with his message. Virgil i s open to

criticism also, particularly because there is no external

Heinze, 128.A.Pease, Publi V e r ~ i l i Maronis Aeneidos Liber Quartus,University Press,ambridge, Massachusetts, 1935, 53.Cartault, 314.

Harvard



19

involved. If the theophany is merely epic machinery and

he poet wished to make the voice of Mercury the voice of conscienc

the action is internal and not suited to drama. If the

is taken as such, then Aristotle 's demands on the use

f the ~ ~ machina seem to suffer.33

In the case of Dido also, the recognition is not

handled. Virgil here fal ls back on the intuition of a

in love, thus explaining Dido's discovery of the departure

f Aeneas:

At regina dolos (quis fal lere possit amantem?)P.raesensit, m o t u s q ~ i excepit prima futurosomnia tuta timens.

speaking, then, the knowledge of Dido does not come from

external event in the plot which causes i t , but is attr ibuted

o her intui t ion. This i s not the kind of recognition given by

in his examples. Here, then, Virgil fai ls to fu l f i l l

the requirements of true tragedy.

At the close of the twelfth chapter of the Poetics,

says, that besides reversal and recognition, a thirdof the plot is the tragic incident. He describes this as a

or painful action, such as death on the stage, bodily

the l ike. 35 Very clearly we have this require-

Aristotle, 1454B.Aeneid, IV, 296-298.Aristotle, 1452B.



20

fulf i l led in the suicide of Dido. I t is hard to conceive a

effective use of this dramatic incident .since i t grows

from the plot and is a f i t t ing ending to the tragic love

f Dido.

/

Virgile, qui, suivant lee preceptes de1' ar t classique, n' abandonne une source

/ ' /de developpement qu'apres en avoir t i ret ~ u t ce q ~ ' e l l e contient, a longuement/decrit l 'evolution de la situation creeepar la rupture. Maintenant rien ne peutplus retarder le ~ e n o u e m e n t ; Didon n 'a

plus qu'a mourir. 6

Another division of the tragedies is made by Aristotle

he says that they differ according to motive, the tragedy

pathetic where the motive is passion and ethical where the

are ethical .31

The Dido incident will of course fal l

the pathetic tragedy or tragedy of suffering, for i t con-

the passion of a man for a woman and his consequent forget-

mission imposed on him by the gods.

Aristotle also requires a chorus which should be regarded

s one of the actorst i t should be an integral part of the whole

share in the action. Here of course, Virgil is unable to

any f i t t ing substitute. But i t must be recalled that

found a tragic element in Homer, who is also without

Cartault, 334.Aristotle, 1455B-1456A.



21

y chorus. Virgil compensates in part for the lack of a chorus.

No chorus can well find a place in epic,yet i t s part , as expressing the reflectionsof the poet, is taken by occasional subjective

intrusions into the narrative (IV,65, 2 ~ § >and by passages of almost lyrical tone.

the statement i s true, i t hardly seems adequate. I t is

evident that such parenthetical intrusions do not form

essential.part of the plot. Pease maintains that the function

in the story, l ike that of Fama, is to set forth public

like the chorus in a Greek tragedy. 39 Something might

said in defence of this view of Fama, but i t seems better to

both Iarbas and the goddess just as they are represented

Virgil - Iarbas, because he is a person with his own proper

and personal reasons for acting as he did, Fama, because

to be another manifestation of Virgil 's f idelity to the

tradit ion.

In summing up what has been treated so far , Cartault finds

general requirements for tragedy in the story of Dido.

Pease, 10.

~ · t 51.

L' r ~ de Virgile doi t beauooup a ~ I

tragedie. I1 lu ie m p r u ~ t e

sea precedes,le contraste, la p 6 r i ~ e t i e , l ' inattendu,pour dramatiser son reci t . Le livreiVeest une tragedie veritable. Le premiera.cte ,c'est l'amour qui s'empare de Didon,

m a l g r ~ el le , la rende, consentante ma.lgrelea resistances de sa conscience. L'action



/ /atteint son point d e c i s i ~ par la real-

i s ~ t i O J . l de l ' u n i ~ desiree. Suit lap e r i p e t ~ e preparee par lys p l ~ i n t e s du r ivaldedaigne, brusquement realisee par l 'ordre

i ~ e r i e u x de Jupiter. Enfin vient ledenouement et c 'est ce denouement queVirgile a particulierement developpe,n'amenant Didon au bucher qu'apres l 'avoirfai t p a s s e ~ p a r tous lea degree de ladouleur, menageant la situation de faconqu'elle lu i porte des coups toujoursnouveaux et de plus en plus violents.La composition,/la progression de ce dern!aracte de la tragedie est un chef-d'oeuvre.

22

Besides these more general characteristics of the drama,

also employs a great deal of tragic technique in his

of presentation, and i t would be interesting to put a few

f these down because they bring out very strongly the influence

drama on the writing of the Aeneid. There is , of course,

intention of proving that Virgil deliberately used these means

o heighten the resemblance to Greek tragedy.

In an article in the Classical Journal, to which several

will be made, DeWitt mentions a few of the tragic or

means that are employed by Virgil. He points out f i rs t

most of the scene is laid in the palace, a frequent center of

for the Greek tragedians. 41 Further, with regard to the

of the actors, there are only two persons together

i f the servants are not included) in such important scenes as

Cartault, 336.N.DeWitt, "Dido Episode as Tragedy", Classical Journal, 2, 284.



23

he conversation of Dido and her sister , Anna, at the beginning

f the fourth book (11. 9-53}, and also in the last scene between

{11. 304-387). The scene between Dido and Aeneas

304-387) takes the form of a debate such as Euripides used

n his Medea,(ll. 446-626).42 Again, we notice that the death of

suicide is not without precedent in the tragedies of

Ajax, Deianeira and Phaedra a l l commit suicide. Virgil

s faithful to the custom of the best tragedians by having the

take place within the palace and not before i t . The death

s made known to us by i t s effect on Anna and the servants,(ll .672

43Finally, DeWitt mentions that the parts of Anna and the

of the story are those of stock characters of tragedy and

occur in the plays of the Greek tragedians. 44 The

that Virgil has given to this episode in 11. 693-705, is

worthy of note. As Pease remarks: "That there comes after

he storm of passion a calmer ending, brightened by the rainbow

I r i s , i s more in keeping with the best Greek traditions."4

Duckworth shows how Virgil uses suspense to keep up

in the plot. He was helped in this by the existence of

different versions of this episode.

Ibid. t 287.!'biT.Pease, 11.



Virgil heightens the suspense at theclimax of the action with great success.The reader knows that Aeneas• desertionof Dido will lead to her death and Virgilrepeatedly refers to Dido's own determ

ination to ~ d i e (Aeneid IV, 415, 436, 450,474, 508, 519). At the las t minute however,Virgil, insti l l ing an element of doubt inthe reader's mind by means of the uncertaintyof a character, makes Dido less certain of herfate; she debates with herself whether toseek marriage with one of her former suitorsor to accompany Aeneas, and she considers thepossibil i ty of pursuing the Trojans (AeneidIV, 5 3 4 - i ~ G ) . Her waverings are artist ically

natural.

24

Cartault says that i t is characteristic of the drama to

the length of time and to unite and shorten events in

l i fe down to a more narrow soope. This device is also

in the Dido episode.

/

I"art classique resume dans une~ " E m e unique, olaire, logiq..ue, /e m o u ~ a n t e ce qui dans la real i tese repand et !lotte dans le tempset dans l 'espace. La passion deD i ~ o n passe par un certain nombre

d ~ e t a t s ~ u o c e s s i f s , qui n ~ t t e m e n tdetermines, sont concentres dansuna e ~ o ~ i t i o n i?ensemble ett rai tes a fond.

A final important tragic technique that is used by Virgil

n this book is tragic irony, of which there are several out-

G.Duckworth, Foreshadowing and Suspense i n ~ Epios 2f Homer,Apollonius and Vergil, Harvard University Press, Princeton,l933, 98.

Cartault, 302.



25

instances that may be used as examples. In the opening

of the fourth book (11. 9-53), when Dido and Anna are con

reader discovers from the l ips of Dido herself that

has made a vow of f ideli ty to Sychaeus (11.20-27). I t is

very vow however, which she then renews, that is to bring

er to ruin. Again, in a much clearer instance, Anna is being

as 'soror unanima' (line 8), as one who loves her sister

•o luce magis dilecta soror• (line 31). Yet i t is due in

part to her persuasive arguments (11. 31-53) that Dido weake

n her resolve and finally yields to Anna's pleas to betray the

of Sychaeus by obtaining Aeneas as her husband.

His dict is , impenso animum flammavit amore.Spemque dedit dubiae menti, solvitque pudorem.48

are the words that immediately follow the conversation

Anna and Dido. And i t is of course through this consent

Dido starts the tragic train of events that will lead to the

ruin of her l i fe .

A final instance of the same tragic irony may be noticed

the actions of the two sisters after their conversation (11.66-6

In the true spir i t of tragic irony,Virgil represents Dido and her sisteras sacrificing to win the favor ofheaven from which she has just invokeda curse on her faithlessness; and towhat goddesses does she sacrifice? To

Aeneid, IV, 54-56.



Ceres, Apollo and ~ a e u s , the godspresiding over the foundations ofoities and the giving of laws, whenshe is forgetting her duty as a queen;to Juno, the goddess of marriage, when

she is f ~ ~ g e t t i n g her duty to herhusband.

26

This concludes the treatment of the similarit ies between

he plot of the Dido episode and Aristotle 's requirements for a

tragic plot. In i ts main outlines the Dido episode verifies

l l the important requirements. I t has organic unity in the

of incidents that follow eaoh other in probable

is , moreover, a complication and denouement, and

easily recognized reversal and discovery. Before going on

o discuss the role of the various charaoters however, something

said about the spir i t of Greek tragedy and the relation

t bears to the tale of Virgil. This is the subjeot of the

chapter.

H.Nettleship, Suggestions Introductory to a Stugy of the Aeneid

Appleton and Company, New York, 1875, 12'1'.- - -



28

of good with good, the division of the spir i t against

2 Many authors show that oonfliot i s present in the Dido

as an important element of the complication. Sellar, forsays that the tragio nature of the situation arises from

he clashing between natural feeling and the great consideration

f state by which the divine actors in the drama were influenced.3

interprets the real subject of the drama as the conflict

rival claims - the claims of a woman and the claims of

The tragedy l ies in the ruin b r o u ~ t upon a great

and her work by the shipwreck of her love.4 Glover is a

more vague when he remarks that the collision of the two

and the wreckage are of the essence of tragedy.5 Sikes is

more general in stating that the fourth book is a tragedy,

the essenoe of tragedy is not only conflict of wills but of

6 Rand is the most definite in his statement of the nature

plot.

The inner plot i s of the essenoe oftragedy. I t brings us face to facewith the ancient motive of the Greek

T.Glover, Virgil, Methuen and Co. Ltd., London, 1923, 175.Sellar, 321.

New Studies o f ~ Great Inheritance, John Murray,London, 1921, 158.Glover, 206Sikes, 185



drama, the conflict between human willand an overruling fate ••• Tragedy l i es

in the bit ter conclusion that the actors,though pursuing r ight or at least naturalpaths, run into disaster despite themselves.7

29

Whether or not this idea of conflict is found in the PoeticJ

Aristotle as constituting the essence of tragedy, the consensus

so many authors on the necessity of conflict for the essence of

leaves l i t t l e room for doubt. Tragedy requires conflict

in the Dido episode thereis

definite conflict . The interpretof Rand that the conflict in the Dido episode i s between

will and an overruling Fate seems to be confirmed in several

of the fourth book of the Aeneid. 8 Since then, the role

the fate that is being vainly opposed i s so prominent in the

some idea of Virgil 's understanding of the word should be had.

The original meaning of fatum i s something that is spoken;

early came to mean destiny, because i t was appliei to what was

a seer or god.9 The general Latin word found various

in Greek; ,_)A o 7 __o.. , of which the :root notion seems to(._ /

the destiny of an individual or race, and {c l?< ~ - e J < ~ v n . ,

orT l)

£- rr c c.v.u {-vo -v , the destiny which guides the whole world.

Some of the confusion present in Virgil r ises from the

363.Aeneid, IV, 340-343, 361, also 331-332, i f Jupiter is Fate.

C.Bailey, Religion !a Virgil , Clarendon Press, OXford, 1935, 207.



30

use of fatum to designate both of these ideas. Thel / I /

t-r,LAf-e.ut;vrr was connected with .,.._-vv-.. YKvr by scientif ic writers,

d therefore with a principle of determiniSm. The Latin Stoics

the same word, fa um, for their ~ ' e C : v o , o ~ - - or providence of the

spir i t . With regard to the p o 7 e ~ or individual destiny,

believes10 that there can be conflict between one and

and that such a destiny may be postponed or even avoided,

the free act of an individual. As an example of this

quotes IV, 696, where Dido, 1misera ante diem', goes to her

avoiding her allot ted destiny. However these individual

are always subordinated to the world destiny or

gods and men being forced to bow to th is overruling fate .

is of this opinion also as can be seen from his comment

I , 31 of the Aeneid. He asks how can the Trojans be driven by

i f Juno i s the one who is really responsible for their

He answers by saying: "Hoc ipsum odium Junonis

est ."

A much more d i f f i o u ~ t question i s the sone that seeks the

between Jupiter and Fate. The question seems in-

precisely because Virgil wavers in different parts of the

Various texts for proving either side have been advanced

Bailey, 213.



31

the different commentators. To prove that they are identical,

11cites Aeneid I , 257, IV, 614, XII, 726. In opposition,

12quotes Aeneid I , 261, IX, 97, X, 112. Therefore, i t seems

adhere to the opinion of Sellar who says that the original

of Jupiter and Fate i s le f t undefined.13 Glover, too,

that the general relation of the two is uncertain.l4

The relation of Fate to the plot must now be considered.

isthe dramatic role of Fate in the Dido episode? Whathas i t , i f any, to the concept of Fate that is found in

he Greek tragedians? The question comes up very prominently in

for he makes two statements that have been contested by

in his Magical ~ 2t Virgil. Sellar maintains f i r s t of a ll

the Fate which rules the fourth book is not a righteous one:

The fatum of Virgil can scarcely besaid to act with the purpose of estab-l ishing right in the world or of punishingwrong. Their (fates ') action is purelypol i t ical , neither ethical, though i tsultimate !gndency is beneficial, norpersonal.

calls this the doctrine of predestination in i t s hardest form,

statement which he confirms by saying that this concept of fate

Bailey, 228, 229.

2 Frank 185.3 Sellar , 337.

Glover, 298.5 Ibid. t 344.



32

s much inferior both in intellectual subtlety and in ethical

to the Fate of the Greek tragedy in conflict with human will .

Rand however, presents a strong case to show that this

of Fate as presented by Virgil is ethical, noble and al'so

true spring of tragedy.

Virgil has infused into the idea offate an ethical content that i t didnot display in previous drama. Heidentifies i t with a l l that is best

and sacred in the Roman ideal and inthe fulfillment of ti't ideal in pastand present history.

is a strong confirmation of this statement in the conclusion

o Bailey's treatment of fate, for he sums up by saying:

And i f i t be asked what is the contentof this divine purpose, to what practicalend is i t guiding events, there can be nodoubt as to the answer. I t is the fu l f i l l -ment of Aeneas• destiny, his arrival inI taly, the establishment of his power, andbeyond that the foundation of Rome and the

18expansion of Rome's empire over the world.

Bailey prove their views by references to the

book, especially 11. 724 f f , 847-853, where Virgil most

expresses his own religious thoughts.

By identifYing then, the idea of Fate with that of the

Rome, Virgil makes i t a righteous thing and one that is

6 Sellar, 344.

Bailey, 233.



33

for good. Sellar himself admits the Romans were con-

in the continued existence of the empire, a confidence

connected with religious belief; they believed they were

the world by the ordination of the gods.l9 This idea is

confirmed by the Romans themselves.

Quam volumus l ioet , patres oonsoripti,ipsi nos amemus, tamen nee numero His-panos nee robore Galloa neo caL l id i atePoenos nee artibus G.raecos nee deniquehoc ipso hujus gentis ao terrae domestioo

nativoque sensu Italos ipsos ac Latinos,sed pietate ao religione atque hac unasapientia quod deorum numine omnia regigubernarique perspeximus

2amnis gentes

nationesque superavimus.

statement of Horace, more commonly known, attributes the

empire to submisSion to the gods. "Dis te minorem quod

imperas.n2l

I t might be well to mention that this identification

the empire and destiny of Rome was not ih any way

idea that degraded the Providence of the world.

This identification of fate and thedestiny of Rome may seem to be a

narrowing conception to us, but i twas not so to the Roman of Augustus'time, because for him. there was noother real power, no other civilizing

9 Sellar ,336.Cicero, M.Tulli Ciceronis Scripta quae 1 ~ n s e r u n t Omnia, c.Mueller, Iri Aedibus Teubner!, Lipsiae, 1896, De HaruspicumResponsis Oratio, IX, 19.

Horace, Odes and Epodes, C.Bennett, W. Heinemann, London,1929, Odes I I I , 6.



influence in the world but Rome, andthe greatest blessing that could befa l l other peoples was to be broughtwithin the sphere of Rome's influence. 22

34

Since, then the fatum of the tragedy is a power for g o o d ~i s a l l the more reason for the tragic element in the episode

f Dido. The clash of human wills with this righteous power is as

as i t was before, but now a reason for the clash must be

I t i s found in human error and weakness. Rand therefore

the f inal solution of the conflict is in the vindication

f the moral law. 23St i l l , i t should be added that the retr ibut io

fair - in th is i t is l ike Greek tragedy.24

With reference to the second statement that Virgil ' s

of fate is inferior in intel lectual subtlety and moral

to the Fate of Greek tragedy, Rand is again prepared to

the conclusion of Sellar. He maintains, moreover, that the

of the Greek drama has no moral development.25 His proof

or this statement i s by no means conclusive, as he contents

with the following:

In Aeschylus i t is the accumulation ofguil t which involves the partly innocent;

Bailey, 234.Rand, 372.H.Nettleship-., Vergil, Appleton and Co., Hew York, 1880, 61.Rand, 369.



hence ••• pity and fear for those who aredoomed to defeat ••• In Sophocles, mostclearly in his Oedipus, righteous humanityi s brought to ruin through conflict withdivine law. One cannot repress the inquiryhovering on the Poet's l ips , i t would seem,whether this law can be just . The querygrows more urgent s t i l l for Euripides: i ti s no righteous d i v i ~ ~ t y that sends Hip-polytus to his doom.

35

I t i s necessary to pause here for a few moments and try

o reconstruct the rel igious beliefs of Virgil in the l ight of

has been said. Fate is closely connected with the destiny

f Rome·and with the will of the gods. Fate is also endowed with

ethical content; therefore i t punishes wrong and rewards

actions. I t is this Fate which punishes Dido with death

suicide. She dies because she violated her vow to the memory

dead husband. For the part Aeneas plays in the episode,

is both rewarded and punished. Because he forgot the wishes

f the gods and lingered at Carthage, he is punished by being

to leave the one he loves and also by the consciousness

his departure will break the heart of the Carthaginian

But his decision to depart shows f idel i ty to the will ofhe gods; for this he i s to be rewarded. This reward consists

founding of Rome, - a reward that is foreshadowed and

to the wandering hero in the sixth book.27

This proves

Rand, 369.

Aeneid, VI,724ff.



36

for Virgil, the most tragic thing man could do, is disobey

he will of the gods.28 I t also confirms the reason given by

to explain why the episode was introduced into the Aeneid.

The poet adopted his version of thestory of Dido not simpl¥ as an affectingand pathetic episode, but to emphasizethe great lesson of the poem by showingthat the growth and glory of the Romandominion are due, under Providence, toRoman virtues and pietas - that sense ofduty to family, State and gods, which

r ises, in spite of t r ia ls and dangers,~ u p e r i o r to the enticements of ~ i a i v idual passion and selfish ease.2

Is there any similarity between the tragic spi r i t of Virgi

the older Greek dramatists? Glover finds a great kinship

the tragedy of Euripides and Virgil, saying that i f

is the most tragic of poets, a t i t le conferred on him

less an authority than Aristotle,30 then there is more

in the Aeneid than in a ll the rest of Latin l i terature.31

In reading the Dido episode, Glover further thinks that

he Greek drama is presupposed, and above a l l , the knowledge of

his reason is that i t is concerned with the conflict

f character and the coincident conflict of destiny, a theme that

L.Matthaei, The Fates, the Gods, and the Freedom of Man's Willin the A e n e i a : - C l a s s i c a ~ a r t e r l ~ O ! : 11, 1911:-22. - - - -W.Fowler, Religious Experience of the Roman People, Macmillanand Co., London, 1922, 416.

Aristotle, 1453A.Glover, 54.



interested Euripides and is prominent in his plays:

We see the unfolding of a woman'soharaoter; we see how what is bestin her gives i t s opportunity to

what i s worst; we see the triumph of herlove become her ruin. Behind a llthis we see somedark divine powerforwarding a design, for which we

find i t hard to see an adequatereason, and yet for whioh the in-st inct and passion of a human creatureare saorifioed, a l i fe is §2ushed•••by the act of one beloved.

37

problem is thesame

one that is found in the Troades ofwhen Hecuba is the one who suffers, and also in the

of Phaedra. Because of this reappearing problem, ex

in a very similar way, Glover feels a great kinship

the Greek and Latin poet.

Rand, however, finds in Sophocles a closer counterpart

or Virgil; he says that in both his art and theology, Virgil i s

far closer t ies to Sophocles. Both pursue the same

truth in their poetry - the ideal of f inal purification

reconcilement of a noble human nature with the divine nature.3

is not so close to Euripides in spir i t , although "he isto Euripides in his pathos and far reaching humanitarian

They differ in spir i t because Virgil i s not in

to oast soorn on the gods. Rather, his fates are a moral

2 Glover, 54.

371, also Sellar, 344.Rand 370.



38

as has been said, and they do consider r ight and wrong. For

must be remembered that both Aeneas and Dido were guilty of some

doing; therefore they violated the moral law. Because of

retribution follows as inexorably as i t would in AescAylean

There is , however, even in Virgil , some protest , or at

"touches of protest"36 against the fates of some characters

the Aeneid. Rand points out some examples in Book I I .

The influence of the spir i t of the Greek tragedians one spir i t of the Virgilian epic is undoubtedly present, but i t

a l i t t le more diff icul t to analyse than the actual imitations,

of technique or subject matter which were noted in the

chapter. But at least i t can be said that there i s

of spi r i t between Virgil and the greatest Greek

particularly in their general oonept of Fate. I t i s

as a righteous thing, a ll powerful and inexorable,

punishes wrong. Virgil has added something to i t s nature

i t more nationalist ic and identifying i t with the

and greatness of the Roman Empire.

370.



CHA.PTER I I I

THE ROLE OF THE GODS

References have been made frequently in the previous

to the part that i s played by the gods in the tragedy of

In taking up this subject now in more detai l , i t should be

that definite conclusions are almost impossible.

The Vergilian gods were for Vergila convenient dumping ground for a llthose degrading notions of anthropo-morphic weakness, from which he was

struggling to free his conception ofthe ruling power in things. The systemof the Olympian gods intrudes hope-lessly on the mystic Vergilian Stoico-Epicurean philosophy, and makes - there

1is no denying i t - one glorious muddle.

also agree that the part of the gods in the Aeneid is not

to appraise.2 Yet the gods cannot be ignored, because

speaks of the role of the supernatural in a tragedy and

as definite ideas on how the gods should be used in the plot .

here, more than in any other aspect of th is study, the

between tragedy and epic manifests i t se l f . Epic

goes directly contrary to the norms that are set down

Aristotle for the function and use of the gods in tragedy.

would have them introduced rarely, or at leas t , for a

purpose,3 epic wants them used frequently in a variety of

The reason for the divergence in use of gods r ises from two

Ma.tthaei, 14.Pease, 51.Aristotle, 1454B.

39



40

factors. The f i r s t and more fundamental of these i s

of which Aristotle says: "The wonderful depends for i t s

effect on the irrational."4 Now epic and tragedy differ

this point because the scope of the i r rat ional is greatly

in tragedy. The reason l i es in the manner of presentation

brings up the second factor to explain the divergence be-

epic and tragedy. When a story is directly presented there

s less opportunity to introduce irrational elements.

The i r rat ional •••has wider scope inepic poetry, because there the personacting is not seen. Thus the pursuitof Hector would be ludicrous i f placedupon the stage - ..the Greeks standings t i l l and not joining in the pursuit ,and Achilles waving them back. But inthe epic pgem the absurdity passesunnoticed.

What has this to do with the role of the gods in the

Aristotle wishes to avoid any use of the gods where the

and continuity of the plot suffers by their introduction

s i r rat ional factors.

I t i s evident that the unravelling of

the plot , no less than the complicationmust r ise out of the plot i t se l f ; i tmust not be brought about by the deusex maohina••• Within the agtion theremust be nothing i r ra t ional .

Aristotle, 1460A.Ibid. , 1454A-l454B.Ib id .



41

the l imits set by Aristotle to the action of the gods

s more narrow than the actual part given them by Virgil , there

re some grounds for effecting a reconciliation between Aristot le 's

and Virgil 's practice. From the context, i t can be seen

the prime purpose of Aristotle in l i ~ i t i n g the scope of the

of the gods is to prevent the entrance of the i r rat ional

the plot , either in the complication or the unravelling.

of the very nature of tragedy, such a demand l imits the

of the gods to the parts that are set down by Aristotle.

The deus ex machina should beemployed only for events externalto the drama - for antecedent orsubsequent events, which l ie be-yond the range of human knowledge,and which require to be foretoldor reported: for to the gods we

ascribe the power of see,ng al l .7

Whether or not Virgil could have written the episode of

without the help of the theophanies i s , then, not a mere

question, but one which will determine the role of the

The f i rs t chapter of this thesis tends to prove that this

have been comparatively easy.To

stress this unity of theconsidered in i t se l f and apart from the action of the gods,

s very important, because the passage just quoted from Aristotle

s directed against a prevailing abuse - the i r rat ional solution

f a complication in plot by the introduction of gods.

Aristotle, 1454B.



42

The f i r s t point to be noticed then, i s that Virgil is

ot forced to use the gods because the plot needs some external

for i t s unravelling, but rather because epic tradition

their frequent introduction into the narrative. Here,

s in so many other places, the influence of Homer's example

s fel t by Virgil .

The next problem i s concerned with Virgil 's use of the

How are the gods employed in the plot of the Dido story?

views of the commentators fa l l into thr·ee general categories.

e commentators either admit that the gods play an active part

n the unravelling of the plot as necessary and essential

or the commentators believe that the function and

of the gods in this book is merely that of epic machinery,

r f inal ly some modification between these views is defended.

Those who hold the f i r s t position seem to be fewest in

only one author of those consulted maintaining i t explici t

is Norwood, who thinks that the gods, as characters, are

more real than Dido, that i t is as a consequence of Virgi l ' sto make them appear real , that the character of Aeneas

in th is book. 8 He even maintains that the human characte

re passive instruments and therefore Aeneas i s free of blame. 9

G. Norwood, "Vergiliail.a", Classical Quarterly, Vol.XIl, 1918, 147

Ibid. , 146.



43

ConwRy might also be mentioned as defending this view, although

he i s not overexplici t in his affirmation, but :nerely says the

cave scene was directly engineered by Juno.lO

By far the most common view is that the gods are mere

epic machinery. A number of ouotations from the authors will

best bring this out. 1'Eve}:ything in the story could have been

done without a god l i f t ing a f inger .nl l This statement of

Pease, strong as i t i s , finds confirmation in the words of Glove •

I t is ouite clear that the godsare not the supreme rulers of theuniverse. . . Set in the Aeneid,the Olympian gods are found to bedead beyond disguise - the t ruthcannot be f ~ d . They Bre mere epicmachinery.

And in speaking of the intervention of Cupid to arouse the loveof Dido for Aeneas, CartBult SAys:

I l n 'es t ou'une machine mythologiauequ ' i l a o:ru devoir employer paroequ ' i l ne concevait pas l 'epopee quedans les formes t radi t ionel les , maisdont il aurai t pu se passer, s ' i lava.i t e te hardi et novateur .13

Evans thinks that the gods are mere epic machinery because human

elements would be los t entirely i f Dido were merely the victim

of a plot of the gods. This alternative i s rejected, because

10 Conway, New Studies, 159.11 Pease, 5r:-note 398.12 Glover, 302.13 Cartault , 302.



44

i s pictured in her f i r s t conversation with Anna as one who

resis t her love for the Trojan successfully i f she wished.l4

also follows this opinion.l6

A good example of the modified view between these extremes

s seen in Rand who speaks of the gods, not as the supreme rulers

f the l ives of men, and yet not as mere puppets or epic machinery.

Virgil 's gods are not merely humanpassions writ large, adding nothing

to the plot but epic mechanism andthe contrast of shifted scenes; theyare large, human actors, more powerful,but submissive, l ike men, to the fates .Their action has interest in i t se l f andtheir characters have personality. Theydescend to the human plane, help or retard, and withdraw.l6

too, i s close to this i iea. 17

From what has been said, i t is clear that there is wide

of opinion as to the exact nature of the role of the

Pease does not defend any of these positions, yet he in

finally to a position similar to that of Rand and Sellar.

seems to have t r ied by the actions of the gods to connect

e actions of men with the higher and more universal plans of

This las t interpretation ·appears the best of the thre

4 M.Evans, "A Study of Dido and Aeneas", Classical Journal,Vol. XXXIII, 100.Matthaei, 20·

364.

Sellar , 337.Pease, 51-52.



45

The position of Norwood is weak because i t robs the poem

of human interest , and does not agree with the inner

which t e l l s man he is free. ~ h i s malces the

of Norwood poetically weak also, for i t does not move

n a convincing manner, but goes against human nature.

The second interpretat ion, insofar as i t is taken l i t e ra l l

that the role of the gods is limited str ic t ly to that of epic

and adornment, also seems to be false for several

I t cannot be denied that the gods help and retard the

in the manner indicated by Rand.l9 They also externalize

manifest actions and developments, particularly those that

the emotional r e a c ~ i o n s of characters. By using the

to externalize these reactions, Virgil avoids the use of

or monologue, which he reserves, as Heinze has r e m a r ~ e d ,or more solemn and important occasions. 20 An example of this

se is in the fourth book where Juno and Venus meet to plan the

of Dido and Aeneas (11. 90-128). Here the conversation

two deit ies reveals the state of heart of Dido and shows

much she loved Aeneas. 21 Another function for which the poet

the gods, is to typify and externalize conscience. There

re examples of th is in the two theophanies of Mercury. 22

364.Heinze, 124.

Aeneid, IV, 95, 101.Aeneid, IV, 238-278, 556-570.



46

also t rue, as Rand says, 23 that Virgil employs the gods to

change of scene, arouse interest and lend rel ief to the

t ragic scenes of the story. Examples of these are found in

he conversation of Juno and Venus (11. 90-128), the description

f Fama (11. 173-195) and the appearance of I r is {11. 693-705).

Does the part played by the gods, as interpreted by Rand,

and Pease, violate in any way the precepts laid down by

govern the actions of deit ies in tragedy? This

will be answered by considering the scenes where the

appear in the story. The discussion will be directed

to this point: how i s the action of the gods related

o the plot?

The f i r s t theophany that concerns us is that where Cupid,

the form of Ascanius, arouses Dido's love for Aeneas, in

to insure a kindly welcome for the l a t ter at Oarthage. 24

25has already been quoted on this point, where he says

this substitution of Cupid i s merely a mythological mechanism

by Virgil as a t radi t ional form of forwarding the plot.adds that the love of the queen develops according to the

of human psychology, so that the role of the god is not

Rand, 366.Aeneid, I , 717 f f .Oartault, 302.



47

n essential thing, but an epic device. 26

At the beginning of the fourth book, there is a dialogue

Juno and Venus, 27 during which Juno shows her intention

f marrying Dido and Aeneas, i f Venus will give her consent. This

has, of course, secondary purposes. I t shifts the attention

while at the same t i ~ e i t reveals the state of her

In i t s relation to the plot of the story however, i t

be noted that even without this scene between Juno andthe following incidents of the plot would have unfolded in

sequence. There is nothing i rrat ional or improbable in

growing love, her arrangement of the hunting party, the

and the soene in the cave. But, on the other hand, i t is

that the divine actors give more credibili ty to the scenes

by Virgil . I t might have taken a l ~ n g e r time for the

of the queen to rise to so high a state . But even i f

be admitted, the unity of the story does not depend essential

their intervention. I t is in fact a dramatic device which help

the time element into a shorter period, in order that the

might progress more rapidly.

With regard to Fama, the only one of the goddesses who

6 Cartault, 301.Aeneid, IV, 90-128.



48

not a t radi t ional Olympian, the epic motive in using her seems

clear. The climax of the action in the book has just been

To prevent a fal l ing of interest , Virgil does not

in prosy style how the rumor of Dido's love reaches Iarba

ut he personifies the rumor that f l ies through the cit ies.(l73-19

i t would have been a very natural thing for the native

to cownent on the position of Aeneas. Through them

could discover what happened. But here again, Virgil

the device of a goddess for the double advantage of interes

epic coloring.

The intervention of Jupiter comes under one of the few

per1mtted by Aristotle. He sanctions the intervention

f a god for events that fa l l outside human knowledge and which

therefore be foretold or reported by a god, - for to the gods

ascribed the power of seeing a l l things. 28 Whether or not the

of Iarbaa was to be answered (11.206-218), was something

only to the gods.

Cartault best expresses the theophany of Mercury as far

i t s relation to the plot is concerned.

S' i l intercale ic i ce hors-d'oeuv1·e,c 'es t qu ' i l veut nous presenter uneimitatian homerique etant a ses yeux

/ /

un element essential de son ar t , e t,comme cette imitation retarde inut i le-

Aristotle, 1454B.



ment la marche de l 'act ion, on peut' /supposer que, s ' i l la i n s e r ~ e , c ' e s ~ /

pour nous rappeler que le sejour d'Eneea Carthage a pour prototype c e l ~ gd'Ulysse dans l ' ! l e de Kalypeo.

49

t can be seen that the elaborate description of Mercury (238-261)

d his message to Aeneas (265-276} is another bow on the part of

to epic t radit ion. This is made a l l the more clear by

e com'nents of some of the authors who maintain that Mercury i s

e external manifestation of the cohscience of Aeneas, wakened

t l as t to a sense of his inf ideli ty and duty. Therefore, the

of Mercury cannot be classified as mere poetic

epic machinery, because he helps forward the plot .

i t i s important to notice that the same result could have been

through the natural intervention of conscience, especiall

Aeneas has been represented as a man devoted to duty and

e will of the gods.

The vision of Mercury i s not merelymythological machinery - a deus exmachina to give the action an onwardpush. I t externalizes two things:the workings of Aeneas' conscienseand the intervention of Heaven.3

The same view can be taken with reference to the dream

which Mercury appears and te l l s Aeneas to leave Carthage (560ff

action of the gods is the reflection in outward nature of the

Cartault, 314.

R.Henle,S.J., F o u r t h ~ Latin, Loyola University Press,Chicago, 1941, 239.



50

of the man's mind, the divine actions and dreams merely

to a focus feelings already latent.n31 Pease also agrees

both the appearance and the dream in which Mercury takes part

very definitely parts which we should assign to the sudden

of oonsoience.n32

The f inal theophany of Ir is (11.693-705) i s a clear case

f the dea ex machina. But Ir is is not introduced to solve the

problem of the play and bring about a denouement; Virgil

her merely to end the episode and the book in a manner

in conformity with that of Greek drama. The theophany of

makes i t possible for the poet t ~ strike a peaceful note

t the end and soften somewhat the tragedy of Dido's suicide.

the plot of the story is complete without resorting to this

of the goddess.

I t therefore seems just to say that Aristotle 's canons

use of the gods have not been disregarded by Virgil . He

s used the gods extensively; - this has provided an epic

He has introduced them skilfully; - this has made

real characters. not puppets. Finally he has so cleverly

that the unity of his story, particularly when i t

considered from a dramatic point of view, has not suffered.

J.Macinnes, "The Conception of Fata in the Aeneid", Classical

Review, Vol. XXIV, 174.Pease, 53.



CHAPTER !V

CHARACTER OF DIDO

Characters rank next to plot as the most important element

f trageay. 1 Aristotle speaks most commonly not of the characters

personae, but more of the two elements which make

the individual character, moral bent and intel lectual insight.

"";\ 1\

Y l t: / o \ or moral bent of the agent i s considered the more

of these two elements, the cf ( _ v o 'd- . or intel lectual

isthe less important. In various places of the Poetics,

l i s t s different requirements which apply to character

some one of the three senses named above. The purpose of

part of the thesis is to e x a m i ~ e the two most important

of the ~ i d o episode and try to verify in them A r i s t o t l e 'for tragio character. This chapter will ,;consider

e character of Dido, the next, the character of Aeneas.

The f i r s t requirement is one that is mentioned by Aristotle

passing: "He must be one who is highly renowned and prosperous,

person l ike Oedipus, Thyestes, or other i l lustr ious men of such

observes this rule throughout the Aeneid:The class from which the personagesof the Aeneid are taken is almost ex-clusively that of the most elevatedclasses in dignity and influence •••

Aristotle, 1450A.Ibid. , 1453A.

51



The actors moreover, who play theirparts in these cr i t ica l events arenot considered common or mean••• Didoor Elissa was a name f a ~ u s inPhoenecian legend and a s s o o ~ a t e d withthe ancient renown of Tyre.

52

is also explici t in referring to Dido as a member of the

social classes.

De cet etre humain si magnifiquementorganisee Virgile a fa i t hommage al ' a r i s tocra t ie . Didon est aristoorate;el le a l a puissance, l 'opulence,/elle

joui t de tout ce qui donne de l ' ec la ta la vie , el le en jouit comme d'unechose qui lu i est due; elle regne, ellea une existence fasteuse.4

However, this i s a requirement that is more or less

and not characterist ic of the poet 's inner representatioh

f quali t ies of mind and heart . Aristotle is more interested

n these la t te r quali t ies .

In respect to character there arefour things to be aimed a t . Firstand most important, i t must be good.Now any speech or action that manifestsmoral purpose of any kind will be ex-pressive of character: the character

5will be good i f the purpose i s good.

t i s necessary therefore to prove f i r s t the goodness of the

of Dido from her words and actions. This i s easily

for Virgil has given numerous clues of the goodness of Dido.

Sellar , 357, also DeWitt, 284.Oartault, 337.

Aristotle, 1454A.



53

f i r s t presents her as going to the temple, nor is this the

she is shown as God-fearing and rel igious.6 She is a

capable ruler of her people, she passes laws and dis

justice to her subjects.7 Other obvious signs of good-

of character are seen in her f idel i ty to the memory of her

Sychaeus, 8 her kindness to the shipwrecked Trojans,9

for her s i s ter , Anna and her devotion to the gods:

Her character as i t is represented

before the disturbing influence ofthis new passion produced by supernatural means, is that of a brave andloyal , a great and queenly, a puretrusting and compassionate nature.10

In order to anticipate objections, a few remarks will be

on certain aspects of the character of Dido which have been

First , her suicide at the end of the book, does

t destroy the essent ial goodness of Dido as portrayed by Virgil .

is well known that the Stoics permitted suicide as an escape

suffering. Beyond that , Virgil ' s words acquit her of gui l t :

nee fate, merita nee morte per ibat , l l

i f i t be admitted that "Dido dies in defiance of her fate;

is against the volit ion of the gods, an act of her own

Aeneid, I , 496, rr, 56, 457.Aeneid, I , 507-508.Aeneid, IV, 15-17, 457Aeneid, I , 562, 630.

~ e 1 l a r , 405.Aeneid, IV, 696.



54

running counter to a l l the wise orderings of higher powers"l2

i s s t i l l one that is not merited in the eyes of Virgi l .

is one instance where the desires of Virgil pulled him one

ay and his theological conceptions of fate and the gods pulled

im another. He wished to reserve free will to men although the

of an overruling fate seemed to deny i t . He seems to com-

f inal ly however, since he does not permit the death of

unt i l Juno sends I r is to cut a lock of her hair . This act

to sanction the death of the Carthaginian queen, subordin-

her act of rebell ion into conformity with the world fate . 13

The nobil i ty and goodness of Dido i s admitted by some

up to a certain point, but they maintain th is quali ty is

when she turns and curses Aeneas and his nation. 14 To th is ,

e answer of Heinze seems adequate: "Der gedanke, Aeneas, fur

Untreue leibhaf t ig zu strafen, kommt ihr ers t in den

des Wahnsinns."l5 Glover agrees that Dido became insane,

that i t was her despair which achieved the descent into

while contributing factors were her Oriental super-

Pease explains her sudden insanity by the violence

f her emotions: " ••• her unrestrained love turns to an equally

2 Matthaei, 25.3 Ibid. t 26.4 EVBiis, 99.

Heinze, 134.

Glover, 147.



55

hatred, either of these extremes of passion being des-

of the normal mental balance of i t s victim.nl7

A f inal objection that might be mentioned is that Dido

s merely an adventuress and temptress in the path of Aeneas,l8

charge that would be a real blot on the character of the queen,

f i t were t rue. But i t i s hardly consonant with Virgil ' s re-

of Dido throughout the f i rs t four books of the Aeneid

has shown her as a woman whois

devoted to the memory of her

one who is religiously inclined and devoted to the

gods. No hint is given anywhere that the love

f Dido for Aeneas i s anything but good and sincere.

\

Car elle est femme, entierement femme,el le a un coeur fa i t pour l 'amour: maisl'amour chez elle est noble et pur

comme tout le rest : el le ne le concoitque comme une affection loyale immut-

/ 'ablement attachee a celui qui en estdigne, qui embellit toute la vie, quiest la flamme douce ! ~ rechauffantequi suff i t au coeur.

The essential goodness, therefore, of the character of

to be proved. But Aristotle does not want theof a tragedy to be perfect. He remarks, that i f a

man is brought from prosperity to adversity, i t does not

pity or fear, but merely shocks. His ideal i s rather:

Pease, 34.

of ~ A e n e i d , Blackwell, OXford, 1920, 62.Cartault , 337.



The character between these two extremes, -that of a man who is not eminently goodand jus t , yet whose misfortune is broughtabout not by vice or de8ravity, but bysome error or fra i l ty .2

The t ragic flaw in the character of Dido is revealed

56

in the fourth book, when she f i rs t te l ls Anna the effect

Aeneas has had on her. The flaw does not arise from ignoranc

seems to realize the peri ls of an attachment to

In the opening scene with Anna, (11. 8-53), Dido weighs

in her own mind and definitely says what her better

prompts her to - an oath that she would rather suffer

e horrors of the underworld, than in any way violate her honor. 2

In spite of arguments, Dido's conscienceis s t i l l on the side of this inst inct ofhers, and she knows that she is actingagainst her bet ter inst incts and her vowof loyalty to Sychaeus; she has thereforenot yet lost the tudor which she has vowedherself to lose s ould she prove unfaithfulto Sychaeus, but this is the f i r s t step inthe downfall; the endiis the outcome of thebeginning. To resolve to win the love ofAeneas is no wrong thought or action, butto attempt i t against her c o n ~ ~ i e n c e isthe f i r s t step towards shame.

e very protest and resistance to the natural inclination of her

shows that her sin is not due to ignorance, but deliberate

Aristotle, 1453A.Evans, 102.Glover, 190.



57

Rand also place the tragic flaw at this point in the story.

e poet believed the sin was complete at the moment of decision

Aeneas is s t i l l unknowing, but Dido, by mentally consentin

hope to her wavering heart , and loosed her chastity.n23

rei terates tAe necessity of a fault for the sake of poetic

While placing i t at the same part of the story:

Damit Didos Tod poetisch geregfertigterscheine, musse sie eine Schuld be-steht darin, das sie die Phlict derTreue, die sie als bindend anerkennt,wissenlicht verletzt .24

I t is well to remember however, that the faul t of Dido,

deliberate, is s t i l l lessened in view of the facts.

Both Aeneas and Dido are fai thlessto an absolute moral standard and

their own ideals, but their infidel i tyi s so natural , - almost i r res is t ib le ,that we are ready to condone: "si fui terrandum, causas habet error honestas.n25

e faul t , then, is not a wanton violation of the will of the gods

ut one that is lessened by Dido's affectionate nature and the

of Venus.

How does i t happen that the t ragic character of Dido

the sympathy of the reader to such an extent, that Aeneas

in a very unsatisfactory l ight? I t is because Virgil has

so completely the spir i t of the Greek tragedy. There i s

Aeneid, IV, 93, also Rand, 353.Heinze, 122.



58

in the fate of Dido and her unhappiness, but i t is not a

just ice:

!he powers at work are not commensuratewith our ideas of the powers of r ightand wrong, and the righteous issue aswe understand i t , is but d i m l ~ discerned,i f at a l l , by the straining eye. Onthese l ines, Virgil has drawn his pictureof the catastrophe of Dido. Brought byVenus to the breaking of her vow, shesuffers the ful l curse which she hasinvoked on herself i f she should do so.26

this qualification, then, that the punishment does not seem

to the faul t of which she i s guil ty, the well known

of Glover best sums up the si tuation. He says that

i s with Dido, but not our judgment.27 Like the

tragic hero of Aristotle, she fal ls from a ne.ight of

and the disaster that wrecks her l i fe may be traced

a deliberate faul t , but not to deliberate wickedness. Her

is due to a fai lure of will; when Aeneas was accidentally

into her l i f e , he became a temptation to which she yielded

Aristotle 's next requirement is stated by him very/ r' , ( /

fl toJCt-e_o V d ~ l:tl- ""-e_ J.t oT'n:> 1 / ~ t - the SeCOnd

to aim at is propriety.28 In explaining th is term he remark

there is a type of manly valor, but for a woman to be valiant

H.Nettleship, Vergil, 63.Glover, 202.

Aristotle, 1454A.



59

ter r ible , would be inappropriate. I t remains then to prove

the character o ~ Dido, as painted by Virgil , is appropriate

her, or true to type.

First , there are two dist inct characterist ics in Dido,

r womanliness and her queenliness. In these, or in the com

of them, there is most danger of Virgil ' s fail ing to

Dido and her character appropriate.

Dido i s at once a woman and a queen,a woman in the large and ample sense,in inst inct , feeling and sympathy,and a queen in her ideals and in herachievements. Dido is a woman becauseshe notices the size and manliness ofAeneas; she i s imaginative and ~ ~ e r -stands his melancholy character.

some objection to the picture of Dido that is drawn

Virgil because he says that the poet did not make any attempt

portray her as a more convincing character. He maintains that

l the materials for a more convincing drawing of Dido was

from her past history, - from her actions after the death

husband, when she showed herself a practical and vigorous

whobrought her people to Carthage to found a

newnation.30

The answer to this objection seems to l ie in the question

which of the two tendencies in the character of Dido was the

Glover, 185.Heinze, 135.



60

and more forceful. Without doubt, from what was

by Virgil , her womanliness must be accepted as the dom-

"Dido should be treated primarily as a woman, though

queen, to whom love was absolute and overpowering."31 From

e speeches that Dido makes, she i s shown as a highly emotional

deeply, particularly after she learns of Aeneas' intention

desert her, in love. 32Therefore, Virgil chose to emphasize

different aspect of the character of Dido than the one manifeste

her in earl ier l i fe . Certainly., this emphasis seems more in

with the desire of Aristotle than the emphasis of her

abi l i t ies . Yet Virgil i s careful not to make Dido

colorless and spineless creature in the face of Aeneas' desertio

Virgil ' s conception is at once morepassioned than that of Sophocles'Deianeira, and more womanly than theMedea and Phaedra of Euripides •••No weakness nor womanly ferocitymingles with the reproaches she utterson f i r s t awakening to the betrayal ofher t rust ••• Her passion goes on deep-ening in alterations of indignation andrecurring tenderness. I t reaches i t s

sublimest ~ ~ e v a t i o n in the prayer forvengeance.

This seems to prove that there i s propriety in Virgil ' s

of Dido; he does not develop the queenly aspects

Evans, 99.357.

Sellar, 406.



61

f E[do'a soul very much, but he shows her imperious nature and

er spir i t in the f inal scene of the book where she manifests by

er words, her beautifully executed deception of her s is ter , Anna,

to her intention of kill ing herself , and finally by

er suicide, the q u a l ~ t i e s that made i t possible for her to

the queen and ruler of a new and prosperous city.

I t might be objected that such a person, especially i f

he be so tender of heart and so womanly, would not possess the

of character that Aristotle demands in such speeches

s the one where she prays for vengeance on Aeneas. In answer,

t might be denied that such an objection has any value because

t i s not inconsistent with so strong a character as Dido to

deeply when she has been so grievously ~ T o n g e d . There i s

more justif ication i f i t i s recalled that She was insane

hatred and despair. But even beyo.nd that , Cartault cal ls

to the fact that a l l these ideas of vengeance are ex-

in the form of classical remembrances and allusions.

I l ne faut point etre aurpris que

ces idees de vengeance retrospectiveet maintenant i r real isable se pres-entant a ella sous la forme de sou-venirs classiques; Virgile a voulula representer comme una femme dehaute culture l i te ra i re et en memetemps cas horreurs sur lesquelleselle promenes son i m a ~ i n a t i o n sonttellement etrangeres a sa naturequ 1 elle ne peut les concevoir que



62

comme des reminiscences de ses lectures.34

too, in reference to classical allusions, shows that a ll

he questions in Dido's impassioned speech to Aeneas are taken

the Medea. 35 Thus , with regard to propriety, in the case

f Dido, Virgil has presented a woman completely human and

feminine.36

For his third quality of character Aristotle demands

v.> ; ~ o r ~ > v,

- thati t

be true tol i fe .

37 That Didothis requirement can be proved, fj.r s t from the effect

he had on Virgil , himself, secondly from the effect she has had

the readers of the episode.

A number of writers agree that Dido f i r s t won a place

n the heart of Virgil himself. 38 Sikes, for example, believes

Dido was f i r s t conceived as an obstacle in the path of

founding of Rome and that her character was merely to

that of a rebel a g a i n ~ t fate, a woman who had broken her vow

her husband, Sychaeus. But when the poet came to a detailed

of her, she grew under his hands, and "the touching ofe chord of love and passion responded more deeply than he ex

Heinze emphasizes the fact that Dido is not an in-

Cartault, 332.Heinze, 130, note.Pease, 32.

Aristotle, 1454A.Sikes, 189, also Conway, ! ! ! St.dies, 140



different subjects whom the poet could use as he wished:

Sie weist weder real ist iche Eortratzugeauf, die an ein lebendes Modell denkenl ieben, noch auch typische Eigenart; aber

sie i s t doch auch keineswegs nur d ~ . s ansich ganz indifferente Instrument, dem derDichter pathetische Tone entlockte.40

63

I f , then, she became a real character for the poet, i t is clear

he endowed her with some of the quality demanded by Aristot le .

The favorable reactions of a l l readers to the episode

of Dido oan be proved by what two great writers have said of

th is book of Virgil . St. Augustine writes in his Confessions:

"Quid miserius flente Didonis mortem quae f iebat amando Aeneam,

non aut em flente morterr. meam, quae f ie bat non amando Te .n41 And

Ovid t e l l s how popular the story was even in ancient times.42

Some cr i t i cs doubt whether Dido's determination to

commit suicide is a natural reaction and naturally portrayed.

Pease answers th is diff icul ty well.

40 Heinze, 134

The decision has been gradually reached,and even after i t is formed, her passionatepurpose vaci l la tes , in a manner psycholo-

gically accurate in one whose emotionscannot be ruled by logic. These Virgiltwice compares to the ebbing and flowingt ides of the sea.43

41 F. Sheed, Confessions of St. Augustine, Sheed and Ward, Irew

York, 1943, I , 13.42 R.Ehw8.ld, P.OVidius ~ ' Yeubner, Lipsiae, 1915, Trist ia ,

I I , 533.43 Pease, 35.



64

But there are some weaknesses in the portrai t of Dido

should be pointed out. A defect that i s more common in

characters of Virgil seems present in some degree a t least ,n the character of Dido.

The personages of Virgil are revealedpartly in his account of what they doand partly through the med4lum of setspeeches expressive of some particularatt i tude of mind. Virgil 's imaginationis that of an orator rather than adramatist. I t i s not a complete and

complex man, l iable to various moodsand standing in various relations toother men, but i t is some powerfulthumos in the man, that the oratoricalimagination is best fi t ted to express.44

to l ive most fully in the final scenes of the book

is st irred to the depths of her SDUl with a passionate

toward Aeneas that takes the nature of tenderness andin turn. The effectiveness of the portar i t of Dido,

i s , in a sense, accidental, because she was a type of

more fitted. to the imagination of Virgil . Because of

fail ing Virgil has not been able to give l i fe to the minor

of the Aeneid, to the men who are mere names, such

s ~ a s , Mnestheus and others.

Yet even i f i t be granted that Dido escapes the fate of

of Virgil 's characters in this regard, she is s t i l l not

true to l i fe . Heinze elaborates on the point when he

Sellar 396.



65

that Dido has Qualities that draw the reader but that she

Eigenart", a personal and proper quality in

er character. He also adds that she i s negative in portrayal:

So i s t sie denn zu charakterisierenvor allem negativ; es i s t ferngehaltenvon ihrer Person al les madchenhaftNaive, Zaghafte, al les Niedrige, al lesTUoksiche, Gehassige und barbarischeRohe: aber auch das Klagen und Jammern,das sentimentale Sohwelgen im eigenenUngluok, unnutzes Bedauern, dass es sound nicht anders gekommen, a ll diese

Inventarstucke der tragischenI.!on0?!.ien

and hellenistischen Ruhrzenen sind aufsauberste sparsam verwendet.45

From these cri t icisms, i t is clear that Dido cannot be

to l i fe without qualification. She has much in her

draws our sympathy but she is not completely f i l led out as

i t i s only because of the strong scenes in which

he plays that she makes so strong an impression.

/ ' ' c /AriStOtle demandS r l - ro (e_<:OV J r ~ Op<f. ~ o V or consistency

s the fourth element in a good t ragic character. He adds that

though the subject, suggesting the type be inconsistent,

he must be consistently inconsistent.46 Virgil keeps

e picture of Dido's character consistent in a number of ways.

Heinze, 134.

Dido i s a woman of action, not ofref lection, and therefore in this

Aristotle, 1454A.



time of t r i a l and doubt when shei s s p e ~ i n g with Anna in the f i r s tpart _of the episode she i s unequalto the occasion and yields to inclinat ion. H i t h e r t o ,

4~ e r s has been

an •unexamined l i f e ' .

66

characteristic i s prominent throughout the book. She goes

after th is scene to offer sacrif ice as a kind of

from the pressure of thought and reflect ion. She is

engaged in external action, - the banquet, revis i t ing

e hal l at night, showing Aeneas through the city andro

forth.soon as she discovers the intention of Aeneas to abandon her,

he goes to him. As Cartault , following the dramatic course of

e action, remarks, Virgi l has concentrated the las t part of

e episode in one decisive scene which f i t s the character of

Tf• • • elle ne tolere pas l ' incer t i tude; elle vaido perfectly:

au but et tout s'ecroule."48 She i s , then, warmly emotional

d affectionate throughout the book, not given to calm thought.

There is a great deal of the Epicurean in the character

f Dido, which is also presented consistently throughout the book.

Pleasure loving, craving friendship,prone to emotion and to individualself e ~ p r e s s i o n , skeptical of theintervention of divine beings inhuman concerns and emphasizing thepower of fortune, Vido exhibits not afew characteristics of the Epicurean.49

Glover, 189.

Cartault , 317.Pease, 36. Cf. Aeneid, IV, 379-380.



67

This consistency of character i s also present, logically

psychologically, in Virgil ' s presentation of Dido.

Jede neue Phase der ausseren Hand-lung fuhrt auch eine neue Phase derinneren Entwicklung herbei; und jededieser P.hasen reprasentiert moglichst

r e i ~ und unvermischt einen bestinuntenGemutszustand.50

believes that the psychological representation of Dido's

of emotion and vacil lat ion with regard to her decision

ki l l herself is t ruly drawn and consistent with her nature.51

Dido, therefore, fu l f i l l s the requirements of Aristotle

or a truly drawn tragic character, particularly in the more

points of goodness, consistency and tragic flaw. She

s undoubtedly the dominant character of the episode, which makes

e love story, especially a tragic one such as th is , a dangerous

in an epic. In this book, at least , the destiny of Aeneas

as ceased to be the center of interest ; i t is entirely obscured

the tragedy of Dido.52 This happened against the will of

Heinze, 130.Pease, 35.

Thet ragic story of the love of Didoand Aeneas had, beyond his f i rs t in

tention and almost against his willtaken hold of him, expanded to a greatness and deepened to an intensity un-

Q! the Aeneid, 62, also Crump, Epyllion from

Theocritus to ~ O v i d , 248.



68

surpassed in ancient or modern poetry.This episode has eclipsed in some sensethe res t , by. i t s fusion of delicate psy-chological insight with human sympathy,of splendid eloquence with burning passion.53

I t i s t rue, however, that the t r a g e ~ may not have been so

fe l t by the ancient Roman as by the modern reader. The

Dido would not have attracted them so strongly because

f her possible allegorical significance. She was the represent-

of Carthage, the arch enemy of Rome. Fowler believes this

the reason for i t s introduction into the Aeneid. 54 The Roman

feel that the death of Dido provided poetical just if ication

r the deadly enmity which animated the struggle between Rome

d Carthage.55

All this would tend to make Dido less a person

with consequent loss of t ragic effect .

But even granting the allegorical significance that might

to Dido, Virgil undoubtedly drew her with great care:

Passion i s exhibited in Dido in a fatalbut not ignoble struggle with the purposesand chosen instruments of Omnipotence. Thet ragic interest of this antagonism stimulatesthe imagination of the poet to a m o ~ ~energetic delineation of character.

J.Mackail, Virgil and His Meaning to the World of Today,Longmans, Green andl!ompany, New York, 1927, 91.

Religious Experience o f ~ Roman People, Macmillanand Company, London, 1922, 416.Sellar , 321.Ibid.



69

t t might almost be said that Dido helped the poet picture her

convincingly by reason of the role she played. Therefore,

there are defects in Virgi l 's portrai t , and even though

have said that the Aeneid is an epic concerned with conflict

f principles rather than characters,57 what ~ m c k a i l has said of

is s t i l l t rue:

Dido i s perhaps Virgil ' s greatestcreation, and certainly one of thegreatest in a l l poetry. While shei s there she f i l l s the whole canvasand beside her Aeneas fades andchil ls . Into her Virgil pours a ll

his insight into the human heart and hissense of purely human tragedy•. He givesher immortal l i fe .58

Pease, 32, also Nettleship, Suggestions!£

Stud¥ of Aeneid, 36.Mackail, 107.



CHA.PrER V

THE CHARACTER OF AENEAS

The same general requirements that were taken from the

to determine the tragic character of Dido will be used

the treatment of the character of Aeneas. First , then, the

of Aeneas should be considered.

Aeneas as the son of a mightiergoddess i s distinguished by thehonor of a higher lineage thanAchilles in the I l iad. To Anchisesis attached the sanctity of oneenjoying a closer communion withthe immortals, of one at once favoredand affl icted above others, andelevated, l ike Oedipus, into h o ~ o rand influence beyond the grave.

thus has a mother who is a goddess and a father who enjoys

e honor of the gods after his death. Aeneas ful f i l l s the re-

of ~ t t i s t o t l e for i l lustr ious persons.

The treatment of the other requirements will present more

for cownentators have disagreed violently in appraising

e character of Aeneas •• On the one hand we find such statements

: "After reading the fourth book of the Aeneid, Charles Fox

to a friend, •can you bear this? 1, adding that Aeneas

always either insidious or odious."2 The calmer judgment of

is also unfavorable: "That Dido has ruined the character

Sellgr, 356.Harvard Lectures Qa the Vergilian ~ ' ' H a r v a r d Universi

Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1928, 67.

70



71

f Aeneas with nine tenths of his reac.er s is the admission of one

f Virgil 's most sympathetic critics.(J.R.Green)"3 This reaction

balanced by statements at the opposite extreme.

I f i t be true that i t i s heroism tosacrifice one's a l l in following acal l one believes divine, that i t isa nobler thing to conquer self thanto conquer Latium, then Aeneas iscleared of cowardice and unmanliness.4

Norwood, speaking of the Dido episode says: "No blame

attaches toAeneas."5

Whatis

the truth?I t

will be theof this chapter to appraise Aeneas accurately.

Aristotle f i r s t requires goodness in his tragic characters.

t is quite easy to find evidence for believing in the essent ial

and sincerity of Aeneas. He is the hero of a Roman epic.

truly says,6 the Roman would be unable to distinguish the

of the epic from the character of the hero; i f then, the

were to be bad and i ~ o r a l , the epic would necessarily be

in the same l ight . As a resul t , the nature of the poem

d the role played by Aeneas demand goodness in his character.

Glover, 172.

To understandAeneas,

we mustf i r s t

picture a man whose whole soul i sf i l led by a reverent regard for

"Aeneas, Epic Hero, True or False", Classical Bulletin,IX, 3, December, 1932, 18.

146.Sikes, 185.



destiny and submission to Jove,who represents destiny on i t spersonal side. He can thereforenever play the part of the heroin revolt ; but at the same time he

i s human, and l iable to weaknesses.7

72

Aeneas is primarilya man who revered the will of the gods,

point that strongly proves his goodness. A hint of what Aristot l

goodness is found in his statement that the character

be good i f the purpose is good. 8If this means, that the

acts with good intention and to the best of his knowledge,

proof of the goodness of Aeneas is found in his reverence

gods.

I l est plein de respect pour tousI Iles dieux, meme pour ceux qui le .maltrai tent . Jamais i l ne lu iarrive de se plaindre de Junon, qui

le poursuit d ' ~ n e haine implacable,et au moment meme ou elle vient desoulever les enfers centre lu i , i limmole en son honneur la

9laie blanche

avec ses t rentes pet i t s .

hero should have some outstanding quality; that of Aeneas

undoubtedly his pietas, that devotion to kinsmen, race, nation

of which he has almost become a symbol. This submissionwill of the gods lays him open to the charge of being a

instrument of Fate, but this point will be considered la ter

W.A:rnold, Roman Stoicism, University Press, Manchester, 1906, 391Aristotle, l454A. .G.Boissier, La Religion Romaine, 2 vola. , Libraire Haohette,

Paris, 1874, I , 243.



73

commentators agree to this quality of pietas in the sense

above;1°and this seems sufficient proof for call ing

in the sense explained by Aristotle. Confirmation

f their opinion can be found in the Aeneid. The frequent use of

he epithet pius shows i t ,1

the high opinion of Aeneas expressed

12his followers when they f i rs t meet Dido, his f idel i ty to the

of the gods even when he finds these cowaands diff icul t

o obey,13a ll bring out clearly that he had goodness as a

moral t ra i t .

This does not imply that Aeneas' part in the episod."e i s

Thlost commentators agree on the presence of a tragic

in his character.

But even the Stoic may have his

occasional and human lapse fromvir tue, and every t ragic hero musthave his moral flaw. This, inAeneas, is his deviation, even fora moment, from the task imposed onhim by fate. Indeed the fourthbook is a tragedy of forsakenloyalt ies, that of Dido to thememory of SWchaeus and that ofAeneas 1 ~ the high destiny of his

nation.

0 Pease, 42, also Nettleship, Vergil, 61, also Grant, 18.Characters and Epithets, Ya1e University Press,

IJmu Haven, 1926.2 Aeneid, I , 515.

IV, 281, 576-577.4 Pease, 44.



74

also admits that "••• defence of Aeneas is impoasible.nl5

i t is not so much a question of finding a moral flaw in

as of l imiting i t within bounds that will save his

of character. The moral flaw would not be l imited to

of his destiny i f he had really married Dido and then

her, - and such an interpretat ion has i t s defenders.

speaks strongly in favor of making the marriage a

one, asking what more could possibly be required

Juno Pronuba, the goddess of marriage solemnized the

16 However, i t is hard to find just if ication for this

in the text of Virgil; indeed, refutat ion of the

is found especially in the l ines:

nec jam furtivum Dido meditatur amorem;oonjugium vocat; hoc praetexit nomine culpam.l7

passage that presents diff icul t ies , i f the legitimacy of

he marriage is defended is the direct denial of Aeneas:

nee conjugis umquampraetendi taedas aut haec in foedera veni.l8

would hardly put a direct l ie into his hero's mouth on

a point and Cartault does not refute these passages.

Even i f there is not a tragic flaw in the marriage, Aeneas

5 Mackail, Virgil ~ His Meaning to the World of Today, 106.Cartault, 310. He might have been influenced by the fact thatthe marriage of Jason in Apollonius' tale was a legitimate one.

IV, 1 7 1 ~ 1 7 2 .Ibid. , 339-340.



75

not escape entirely without blame. Some, at leas t , have

to reduce the real guil t of Aeneas down to the dis-

point. Rand in part icular , while admitting that Aeneas

s at faul t , t r ies to show that he should not be blamed:

A very natural temptation i t is forAeneas, coming at the moment of ex-treme despair and after so many attemptsto raise the walls of a new Troy. I ~ g h tnot Carthage fu l f i l l at once the oracleand the dream?l9

reasoning does not seem just if ied. I f Aeneas thought

fulf i l led the oracle and the dream, there was no reason

or his not marrying Dido. I t would have been against his

not to have done so. Granting that he couli not act

his conscience, Aeneas either completely forgot his

and destiny or else he deliberately yielded to the tempt-

to linger at Carthage.

In trying to determine which of the two reasons named

kept Aeneas at Carthage, these thoughts suggest themselves

the likelihood of the f i r s t . I t i s impossible for a man

a mission and destiny that has kept him wandering forix years. Therefore, he must have realized that Carthage was not

he city he was destined to found. This seems to be the only

reason for not marrying Dido. The tragic flaw in the

of Aeneas is now clear. I t l ies in his delaying at

9 Rand, 353.



so long, - a s in which Virgil undoubtedly considers

than his abandonment of Dido.

76

Is i t not, however, a greater flaw in the character of

to expose the l i fe and happiness of Dido to ruin, i f he

i t seems he must, that he would have to leave

Conway answers the diff icul ty by recall ing the

in moral standards of Christian and pagan times. 20

blames no one except perhaps Dido for the tragedy. The posit io

f women in the ti'ne of Augustus was s t i l l that of pawns used by

he men to further thei r own schemes. The example of Augustus,

juggled the women of his family into a variety of marriages

d all iances for pol i t ical purposes, set the norm for others .

that the connection of love and marriage seems natural

d inevitable in our own day, but at the time in which the Aeneid

written, no such connotation was had.21

According to the standards of Stoicism,Aeneas is blamesless and to be praisedfor what he did. Roman moralitv toleratedan amour de voyage, the sin could have lainin constancy to the love.22

examples Sikes names, as far back as the time of Cato, the

over by the Stoic of his wife Marcia to his friend

New Studies of a Great I n h e r i t a r _ : J . ~ , 58.Glover , 203.

2 Sikes , 19 0 •



77

and in much more r·ecent times the adventure of Caesar

and Cleopatra. no bl.ame whatever attached to Julius Caesar becaus

e escapea., but contempt was fe l t for .Antony who later succumbed.

o the wiles of the Egyptian queen. The same point is urged even

strong1y by Henry, when he says that Aeneas is a f i t subject

or an epic poer:1 even though he did betray Dido. His reason is

i t is an error to raise the moral issue at al l ; that the

is pre-Christian and should be treated as another adventure.2

his las t opiniu1: g·:>ea too far as i t is one YJith which Virgil

seems to agree. An interest ing bit of evidence to show

the sympathies of Virgil were in this point, is recorded

Suetonius,24 who says that in the reading of this book, the

voice faltered on the appeal of Dido, ' ~ o c solum nomen

quoniam de conjuge res tat ." The same view is confirmed by others.

Whether the poet fel t as his readerstoday may be questioned. He wouldperhaps not have been so much shockedat such an episode in the l i fe of acontemporary, but i t is almost inconceivable that he did not see how i twould jar in the sett ing of his poetry.But whatever he thought or fe l t , he

made the significance clear. Thecharacter of Aeneas as conceived byVirgil is a background against whichsuch conduct is seen for what i t is -i t becomes something very l ike sin.25

R.Henry, "Medea and Dido", Classical Review, XIVL, 1930, 99.Suetonius, J.Rolfe, Suetonius, Loeb Library, William Heinemann,London, 1930, Virgil , 47.

Glover, 204.



78

In the tragic flaw of Aeneas, then, the ancient and

viewpoints differ . The modern reader finds the hero most

in the abandomnent of Dido, but Virgil intended his guil t

o l ie in staying with the queen so long.26 Virgil puts more

on the wrong done to Rome, the modern stresses the wrong he

as done to Dido.

To offset the prejudice which springs from Aeneas' deserti

f Dido, i t should be noted that there is no explici t mention

of marriage. In fact , i t has been shown that he denied

intention. 27 Further, while the relat ions of Aeneas and

he queen are l e f t in some uncertainty, Dido seems certain she

not bear him a child.28 This shows at least the fact that

did not take every advantage of the queen before abandoning

Rather i t seems to suggest that ei ther the cave scene was

the result of p ~ s s i o n and he never real ly loved the queen

shall be proved false) , or he was thoughtful enough of

not to increase her pain beyond due measure by the parting

he saw almost as an inevitability. The second alternative

s much more probable, especially since confirmation of i t s truth

s found in Virgil 's comment on Dido - "omnia tuta timens."

Pease, 45, also Glover, 202, also Evans, 103.Aeneid, IV, 339-340.Pease, 45.



79

The stay of Aeneas at Carthage is truly a tragic flaw

f i t s effect on the hero is considered. Since Aeneas loved Dido,

is struggle with his heart shaking emotions and his mastery ofare as tragic for him as for her. 29 His passion and hers,

and condoned, clashes with the purposes of an i rresist ible

d righteous fate. The conflict of human wills with th is fate

the tragedy. The separation of the lovers was as great a

of sorrow to Aeneas as to Dido, but the Trojan hero does

his grief as clearly as Dido. This shal l be shown

more detai l when another aspect of his character is treated.

Aristotle asks that the tragic character be endowed with

which seems to mean that there should be nothing in-

in the character as represented by the poet. Confirmatio

f th is i s found in Aristot le 's statement that i t is a violation

f this quality i f a woman is portrayed as terr ible or valiant.30

portrai t of Aeneas seems to fu l f i l l this demand:

Aeneas by the fundamental scheme of thepoem has to be an idealized and symboliccharacter ••• He had to be a w a r r i ~ t and

legis lator , a founder, a governor.

these characterist ics are proper to the hero of an epic.

physically, he is "••• a fine figure of a man, strong in

and mind'', 32 - a quality not unimportant in the mind of a

Rand 364.0 Arisiotle 1454A.

f i r i l and ~ M e a n i n g iQ. ~ V/orld of Today, 103.



80

who placed great importance on physical f i tness and prowess

of character is also seen in the dom:I.nating motive force

f the actions of Aeneas: "Aeneas should be considered as a man,

man of destiny to whom love was of importance second to his

As a consequence of his con:fidence in his destiny,

e i s enduring and courageous in batt le .34 Aeneas i s , therefore,

in the manly vir tues.

Whether or not Aeneas i s true to l i fe is more open to

The doubt springs partly from the vir tues given to his

by Virgil . A very common crit icism of the character of Aenea

s given by Sikes who finds a paradox in his character; Aeneas

not win our sympathy because he has too many vir tues , not

he has too few.35 Because Virgil t r ied to make his hero

in vi r tue, he fai led to make him human and true to l i f e .

makes the same mistake in portraying King Arthur.

On the other hand, i t must be remembered that Aeneas i s

ot so obvious a character as ~ i d o ; his actions need more interp-

I f th is is done properly, Aeneas takes on more l i fe and

In his desertion of Dido, - to begin with a point that

as provoked most cr i t ics into enmity of the Trojan hero, Aeneas

3 Evans, 99.4 Sellar , 398.5 Sikes, 192.



81

appreciate the intensity of Dido's nature, - a l imitation

blinds him to the intense pain his decision causes the queen

The tragedy very largely depends onmutual misunderstanding: an ambitious

and unimaginative man i s brought intocontact with an emotional woman whosetemperament i s beyond her own control.Aeneas i s not deliberately brutal; hemerely fa i ls to understand why Didg

6cannot view the position sensibly.

brings out the fact that Aeneas and Dido lived according to

philosophies, - Dido is primarily Epicurean, Aeneas is

Aeneas gives primacy to duty, Dido, to love and joy.

An even more vulnerable aspect of the character of Aeneas

s his automatic acceptance of the will of the gods. This does

ot seem f i t ted to a character who is true to l i fe :

In the part he plays he i s conceived as

one chosen by the supreme purpose of thegods, as an instrument of their will andthusnecessarily urunoved by the ordinaryhuman i ~ p u l s e s ••• That he i s on the onehand the passive receptacle of divineguidance, and on the other the imperson-ation of a modern ideal of humanity play-ing a part in a rude and turbulent time,are the two main causes of the tame andcolorless character of the protagonist.37

i f Sellar 's statement is t rue, Aeneas fa i l s signally

demand for a character true to l i fe . Men are not

as passive instruments, who exercise no influence over

M.Crump, The Epyllion ~ Theocritus to OVid, Basil BlackWell,Oxford, 1931, 349.

Sellar, 309.



82

their destiny. Rather, " i t is not in our stars, but in ourselve

Tf• • • • But there is a vast difference between the passive sub-

mission of an instrument to the hands of a directing providence

and the wilful submission of a hero to his destiny.

The keynote of Aeneas' character is

complete submission to fate, as represented by Jupiter, but he does notsubmit blindly. Stoicism demands awilling acauiescence and Aeneas obeysagainst his wish, - "Italiam non sponteseq_uor", - but with the fu l l assent ofhis wil l . This is Stoicism at i t s

height. "Superanda omnis fortunaferendo est."38

Because Aeneas always does what pleases the gods, and does so

willingly, he is not a mere automaton. The proof that he i s a

real man comes in oases l ike the one above where the will of

the gods conflicts with his own desires. First impressions are

l iable to be unjust to a character like Aeneas. For this reason

a careful study will now be made to vindicate the character of

Aeneas as a man who is true to l i fe . I t must be remembered

always that Aeneas is a Stoic and that i t is characterist ic of

the Stoic to repress and hide his true emotions.

Virgil f i rs t gives an idea of his hero when the shipwrec

men land on the shores of Carthage. Aeneas addresses them:

38 Sikes, 187.

revooate animos maestumaue timoremmitti te; forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit.



83

per varios casus, per to t discrimina rerumtendimus in Latium, sedes ubi fata quietasostendunt i l l ic fas regna resurgere Troiae.durate et vosmet rebus servate secundis.ta l ia voce refert curisque ingentibus aeger

spem vultu simulat, premit altum corde dolorem.39

These are the words of a brave man of action, who has encountered

peri ls , does not wear his feelings on his sleeve, whose vision

is set on a distant goal, which somehow he will reach; deep woe

at hear ~ i th mastery of emotion, supreme reserve and. resolution,

these are the fundamental t ra i ts of the character of Aeneas.40

In the fourth book also, i t is ~ o s s i b l e to interpret the

character of the hero by looking beyond the external actions and

words to the feelings concealed beneath. The f i rs t impulse of the

reader is to say that Dido's love has no rea l effect on the•

Trojan hero, that the whole affair is merely an interlude. But

the opposite is true because the stay at Carthage brought real

suffering to Aeneas as well as to Dido. This must now be proved.

In the beginning of the fourth book, i t is true that Virgil

gives a ll his attention to Dido and does not mention the reactions

of Aeneas at a l l . Later on also, i t is Dido and her interior

feelings that are most clearly manifested, chiefly because i t is

more consonant with her nature to speak out what is in her heart .

No hint i s given of the feelings of Aeneas unt i l Jupiter f i rs t

39 Aeneid, I , 202-209.40 Rand, 352.



sends Mercury to command him to leave Carthage.

Heu, quid agat? quo nunc reginam furentemaudeat adfatu? quae prima exordia sumat?41

84

He does not wish to pain Dido, yet he must obey the gods. The

to s tar t preparing in secret (11.290-291) i s typical of

a man who puts off an unpleasant duty. From this part of the

episode unt i l the end, the emotions of Aeneas can be studied more

easily because Virgil drops more hints of his reactions.

After the f i r s t impassioned speech by Dido, where she

pleads with h i ~ , bewails his abandonment of her and regrets that

she has not even a child to remind her of him, Virgil writes:

Dixerat. I l le Jovis monitis immota tenebatlumina et obnixus curam sub corde premebat.42

In i t se l f the external act of casting down his eyes might signify

that Aeneas was not at a l l moved by the queen, but the f inal

phrase shows he has feelings, - "and with a struggle he crushed

the anguish in his heart ." The phrase recalls that of the f i r s t

book (1.204) - "premit altum sub corde dolorem." He hid his

feelings then to hearten his men, now i t is to remain obedient

to the gods for signs of love would ma1ce the parting only more

difficult .43 Oartault maintains: "Enee ne partage point l 'a ffec-

t ion de Didon et son coeur reate froia.n44 Mackail also says

41 Aeneid, IV, 283-284.42 Aeneids IV, 3 3 1 ~ 3 3 2 .43 Rand, 55.44 Cartault, 299.



85

that nHis entanglement at Carthage brings him no pleasure while

i t las ts and he breaks i t off with a sombre acquiescenoe.n45 How

wide of the t ruth these statements are should soon be made clear.

If i t i s taken as granted that Aeneas loved Dido and was

seeking the most painless way of terminating a si tuation that

had become impossible for him, then his words and actions b e c o ~ emore intel l igible. I f th is is not taken as granted, many l ines

are very difficul t of explanation.46 Rand penetrates the inten-t ion of Virgil moat successfully in explaining the character of

Aeneas.47 He clearly shows that when Aeneas speaks of his grat-

itude to Dido, he is restraining himself from giving way complete

to his emotions. His denial of his intention to marry her, his

deliberate insistence on his resolution to go to Italy are cruel,

but not so cruel as the attempt to soften the inevitable parting

by expressing his affection and love for her. The la t ter course

would only have encouraged the queen to new efforts . His pre-

dicament and the tragedy of the situation are found by Rand in th

las t words of the speech of Aeneas: "Italiam non sponte sequor."

Italiam expresses his mission as manifested by the gods, non-

sponte expresses his personal desire and love, and sequor ex-

presses the resolution he adopts.48 Surely in this struggle and

45 Mackall, Virgil ~ H i s Meaning to the World of Today, 103.46 Aeneid, IV, 332, 393, etc.

47 Rand, 358.48 ~ · t 359.



86

the suffering that i t necessarily involved, Aeneas i s more true

to l i fe than many of Virgil 's commentators believe him to be.

Only after Dido hasbeen

carried into the palace, faint from theexcess of her feeling, is the love of Aeneas for the queen shown:

at pius Aeneas, quamquam lenire do lent emsolando cupit et dictu avertere curas,multa gemens magnoque animum labefactus amorejusaa tamen divum exsequitur classemque revisit .49

The most important word for expressing the feeling of Aeneas is

~ . the word for passionate love; yet because he is pius Aeneas

he ful f i l l s the c o ~ ~ a n d s of the gods. I f Aeneas had weakened

and gone to the palace to t e l l the queen of his intention to stay

then sympathy would have been with the hero, but this act would

have spoiled him as a true to l i fe character. It would have

reversed the picture Virgil has constructed so carefully in the

preceding books. The m & ~ who is obedient to the gods would have

been replaced by a stranger.

However, there i s weakness in the picture of Aeneas as a

true to l i fe character.

For though Aeneas can explain to otherswhere he is going and that i t is the will of thegods, he does not seem able to make i t clearto himself. He knows that he i s to seekI ta ly , but in spite of the abundance ofrevelations, he is outside the council ofthe gods. He needs, from time to time,the hand of heaven to push him forward.His quest i s not a spir i tual or inner

Aeneid, IV, 393-396.



necessity to him... Aeneas did notconsciously have a conviction of afuture which would be the necessaryspiri tual outcome of his principles,and this want of clearness and convict ion tends to mar a fine conception.50

87

In other words, Italy seems to Aeneas merely to be a region, not

an idea. This is incongruous in a man who is destined to found

a new people. There i s , of course, some growth in the character

of Aeneas, which might partly account for this deficiency. But

he had already received revelations from Creusa and Venus; more-

over he had clearly informed Andromache of his mission. lThere,

then, is the vision that has kept him constant for six years?

A man cannot forget the mission that has made him a wanderer for

six years. Aeneas i s weak and colorless as a character because

there is no inner urge which corresponds or matches the commands

and revelations of the gods.

Duckworth says51 that Virgil had an epic precedent for

the forgetting of the commands of the gods. In Homer, the heroes

either forget or appear ignorant of the commands of the deit ies.

But precedents do not remove the inconsistency of characters.

Aristotle 's fourth demand for a true character i s that

he be consistently represented throughout the play. Because he

i s not true to l i fe , Aeneas i s also inconsistent in his actions.

50 Glover, 209-210.

51 G.Duckworth, F o r e s h a d o w i n g ~ Suspense in the Epics of Homer,Apollonius and Vergil, Harvard University Press,Princeton,l933,



88

remain so long at Carthage is directly against the will of the

to fu l f i l l the commands of Mercury so exactly i s the essence

f pietas. Since forgetfulness of the command cannot be defended

n Aeneas, his disobedience was a deliberate lapse from the

virtue of pietas. What Rand says of the discourage

of Aeneas may be accepted, but his mistake i s not due to

or ignorance.

On the night before Aeneas sails from Carthage, Virgil

that he returned to the ship.

Aeneas celsi in puppi iam certus eundicarpebat somhos rebus iam r i te paratis.52

had just l e f t Dido after an unusually painful scene.

f he i s really in love with the queen, how can he sleep so calmly?

A la derniere nuit deDidon,

Virgileoppose par un contraste cruel laderniere nuit d'Enee a Carthage; Enee

/ /

a tout prepare methodiquement, c 'es tla seule preoccupation; sa resolutionde part i r est prise definitivement, eti l goute paisiblement le sommeil, tandisque Didon veil le et se ronge. Cetteatti tude decoule logiquement du part iqu'a pris Virgile de le montrer docileaux dieux et exterieurment impassable;

/

on regrette qu' i l n'eprouve point •••/

au moine quelque inquietude a propos deDidon.B3

also remarks that i f Aeneas loves Dido, i t is difficul t to

th is reaction.54But Aeneas is not without defenders.

Aeneid, IV, 554-555.Oartault, 330.'IDv l1 R JJ) ,.



89

Rand finds a conclusion exactly opposite to the adverse cri t icism.

Carpebat somnos ••• is this a sign ofheartlessness? Rather after theanguish of his own struggle and the

pain of his sympatb.y with Dido'sgrief , he gains that peace whichsucceeds a bit ter f ight , and yieldsto his exhaustion when a ll has beendone that he can do.55

But i t i s s t i l l doubtful whether or not this is a normal reaction,

i t i s consistent ·with the circumstances Aeneas has just

endured. Though he may have been exhausted, he was s t i l l st irred

o the depths of his soul. A suspicion arises at to whether or

ot Virgil may not have been preparing the way for the reappearanc

of lilercu:t·y, who asks Aeneas to depart immediately. The sleep

to be merely a dramatic expedient which is not too

r t is t ical ly handled. As a consequence the character of Aeneas

suffers from a lack of consistency.

Vfuat then is to be concluded about the character of Aeneas

I t i s not completely satisfying from a dramatic point of view.

may be due partly to the incomplete condition in which the

Aeneid was l e f t by Virgil , but even beyond that there is an

in the character i t se l f .

362.

The character of Aeneas then is a fai lure,for want of conpleteness and conviction,but ••• a fai lure which opened for a ll timea door into a new world, which brought



under poetry 's survey great conceptionsof man, the agent of heaven, attemptingand achieving acts small in themselvesbut of incredible consequence for mankind, of a divine purpose and providence.56

In summing up impressions of Aeneas' character, some

90

need emphasis. Firs t , the f inal solution adopted by Aeneas

the decision to leave Carthage and Dido, undoubtedly stamps him

hero. He saw the r ight values of love ancl duty.

In brief , Aeneas is an epic hero whoseheroicity i s moral rather than physical.He has his faul ts and sinks again andagain under the burden of destiny laidupon him by the will of the gods; but heinvariably r ises again, unt i l , afterbeing t r ied in the furnace of suffering,we see him emerge in the la t ter half of theAeneid a true Roman, justum et tenacemvirum proposit i .57

t even i f this i s admitted, there is no doubt that "a l i t t l e

f the sacred f i res of rebellion would have carried Aeneas straigh

o our heart of hearts.n58 The humanity of Aeneas would have been

deeply appreciated i f i t had been emphasised by Virgil; but

is a Stoic who must not reveal his emotions. Virgil en-

the characterist ic by making the references to his interior

very brief . ~ ~ t i s t i c a l l y speaking, this is a defect,

the character of Aeneas i s not sufficiently clear to the

Grant , 18.T.Glover, Studies in Virgil , Edward ~ t r n o l d , London, 1904, 195.Matthaei, 19.



91

Because Virgil could not capture in i t s entirety the

of the figure in his i ~ g i n a t i o n , Aeneas is cold, distant

and somewhat removed from men.

There i s another factor that would make Aeneas less h u m & ~ e :As the head of his people he was notonly their general but also their highpriest , and this role , l ike his monarchicpower, both elevated and isolated him,making him one o:!: the lonel iest charactersin l i t e ra ture , more lonely even than D ~ ~ o ,who d.oes have some confidante in Anna.

:i. s A.:l 80 called a pathetic and heroic figure, removed from

in his vir tues as well as in his shortcomings.60

Because of the combination of a ll these factors, there i s

ot the same feeling of kinship with Aeneas as with other characte

doing what is r ight , he disappoints the reader, - a disappoint-

which can be traced back to the poet. Whether, as :Nor·wood

61 i t i s because Virgil le t Dido become more than a secondary

or whether, as Conway believes,62 i t is because Aeneas f i rs

ut lJve before duty and then reversed his decision, the episode

Aeneas down in the eyes of the ordinary reader.

Pease, 41.

I f for us the character of Aeneassuffers by his desertion of Dido,that i s simply because the poet,seized with intense pity for the

Virgil and His I:Ieaning to the World of Today, 103.

Norwood, 147.~ Studies of ~ Great Inheritance, 159.



injured queen, seems for once, l ikehis own hero, to have forgotten hismission in the poem, and at the verymoment when he means t ~ show Aeneasperformi.ng the noblest act of self

sacrif ice, renouncing his individualpassion and l istening to the sterncal l of duty, human nature gets thebetter of him, and what he meant top ~ i n t as a noble act has ggme out onh1s canvas as a mean one.

92

he is overshadowed by the character of Dido, but he

s certainly not a colorless and uninspiring figure, even in this

Aeneas is shown as a national hero, who had the courage

o renounce his love in order to follow the cal l of duty. I t can

e truly said that not the least of the penalt ies consequent on

heroic decision has been the loss of esteem suffered by the

in the minds of many readers of Virgil .

3 Fowler, 416.



CONCLUSION

After studying Virgi l ' s treatment of the plot and characte

of the Dido episode, i t i s easy to confirm the sts.tements made by

so many cor:unentators on his dramatic abi l i ty . Virgil adopts inhis epic many characteris t ics of tragic poetry, part icularly as

i t has been developed by the Greeks. I t is hard to find a paralle

closer to tile plots so dear to the Greek dramatists than Virgi l ' s

story of Dido. The Roman poet t e l l s a story of confl ic t , the

confl ict of love and duty, bringing in i t s t ra in death to Dido and

a great sorrow to the heart of ..:l.eneas. r.rhe general theme is

intensified by a powerful concept of that darkly dominant fate

which plays so great a part in the plays of the Greek tragedians.

Virgil has, moreover, whether deliberately or not, been

fa i thful to the d e ~ a n d s of P ~ i s t o t l e in his development of the

plot . In i t se l f , the ta le has a unity and continuity which needs

no external intervention to bring about a satisfactory conclusion.

In the detai ls too, i t is easy to f:l.nd the marks of a true tragedy

c o r : ~ . p l i c a t i o n , with the organic development of incidents, climax,

and denouement, involving both an anagnorisis or recognition and

a turning point. The death of Dido provides a perfect instance

of the tragic incident , which is mentioned by Aristotle. There

are also tecb.nical detai ls of development, contrast ancl irony.

Since Virgi l 's prime interest was the production of a

Roman epic, worthy to be compared with those of Greece, he is

93



94

fa i thful , in his handling of the s tory, to the epic t radi t ion set

by Homer. On th is account, the gods are employed extensively by

him. The difference between tragedy and epic i s fe l t most s t r o n g lhere because the t radit ional develJpment of these two kinds of

poetry were more or less opposed in their use o:: the gods. Virgil

owever, uses the gods so f r e e l ~ because he wants to imitate the

example of Hor:1er and not because the weakness of the plot forces

m to find help in some external agency.

Though the characters are somm:;:ha.t wealcer than the plot ,

robably because the poet was more interested in the story than in

the development of the characters, the :ner i t s of Vir gi l ' s leading

should not be overlooked. Due cred.i t shoulc1 be given

eneas, who i s the victLn of a great deal more censure than he

d . e ~ ; e r v e s . He su..f::'o:rs .;;;o - ~ m c h at the ha.l'lds of cr i t i cs for two

reasons; f i r s t , because sympathetic study i s not given to

is part in the plot , and seconcl, because there i s a natural

against h is decision to abandon Dido. But even the

i1ostile cr i t ic must admire the course he f inally adopts and

he steadfast adherence to i t which he displays. He also fu l f i l l s

n a high degree Aris tot le ' s requirements for a good t ra?ic charac

- he is nobl'3, good, true to l i fe and consistent. The t r a i t

f forgetfulness or lack of in terest in his m:lssion is a faul t

can be forgiven when the ski l l fu l delineation of the Stoic

is recalled.



95

Even more may be said for Dido, since she is undoubtedly

the dominant figure of the story and the one who wins our interest

and sympathy. This would be impossible were she not fai thful ly

drawn and as naturally convincing as a real person. Because she

i s so like ourselves, the pity which is the proper effect of

tragedy is strongly fe l t by the reader. She is throughout a

queen and a woman of tender heart and noble impulse.

Seeing how wonderfully he has succeeded in catching the

spir i t of tragedy in his verse, and how aptly his melancholy

genius portrays the "tears of things", i t is easy to agree with th

beautiful tribute paid to Virgil by Tennyson:

Thou that seest Universal Nature moved by UniversalMind,

Thou majestic in thy sadness at the doubtful doom

of human kind •••I salute thee Mantovano, I that loved thee sincemy day began,

Wielder of the sta te l ies t measure ever moulded bythe l ips of man.



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/ /

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aristotelian elements of tragedy in the fourth book of the aeneid

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