Critical Analysis: The Relationship Of Aeneas And Dido

There are many different ways of looking at the Aeneid from an analytical approach. Many readers will tend to focus on the relationship of Aeneas and Dido and some will focus on Dido herself while others, like myself, will focus on Aeneas 's blind ambition which is driven by the Gods desire to found a new Trojan empire in Rome. Aeneas himself has some godlike qualities and was honored by the people of Troy but he wasn’t given the respect he deserved from his father. Early on in the Aeneid, when the city of Troy fell, Aeneas was challenged with rounding up what was left of the Trojan people and leaving the city to find a new home. His journey takes him too many places and through many obstacles before finally reaching a city that accepted

Aeneas told us how his mother appeared before his eyes (Puchner, pg.614) and provided calm to his raging heart. She basically told him not to fear her orders and that all will be well. Add to this the cry of his father asking Jove to safeguard their house and his grandson. So Aeneas along with his son Ileus makes a run for it. Eventually Aeneas realized he has lost his wife and franticly goes back in search of her and finds her in a vision with her telling him that the gods will give him a long exile and that the vast plains of the sea are his to plow until he reaches Hesperian land. He returns back to the rally point and finds what is left of the Trojan people waiting for him to lead them across the sea to wherever he leads them. (Puchner,

The Queen, Dido, listens to the pleas of the refugees. After listening to their claims and wants, she accepts them with open arms. Aeneas finally shows himself and accepts her kindness and allows the Trojan people to rejoice in their new found home alongside the people of Carthage. The refuges from the Troy saga let their guards down and start to establish their new home with the people of Carthage. Aeneas and Dido, with some help from the god Cupid, strike up a relationship. Undenounced to Aeneas, who believes that he has achieved his destiny is visited by Mercury while tending to his army. The God Jove summoned Mercury to swoop down to remind Aeneas of his perceived fate. Mercury asked why he was wasting time in Libya and what was misleading him because he should be striving for Italy’s realm, the land of Rome (Puchner, Martin). Aeneas did not question Mercury’s words nor did he question his role in that fate. He only stepped back to figure out how to proceed and when to depart. He did not question why he had to leave such good life nor did he consider