The Aeneid is considered as the single most important poem ever written and has continuously guided and inspired billions of readers. Its popularity today remains the same as it was back in the time when it was published. Virgil, a Latin poet, devoted the final 11 years of his life to write this masterpiece book length poem. After completing it, but before revising it, Virgil left Italy for a trip to Greece. There, he fell mortally ill and returned to home to Italy. Unable to complete his work, Virgil commanded his companions to burn the unedited Aeneid. Augustus, a close friend of Virgil, ordered Virgil’s fellow poets not to burn the epic, but instead to edit and publish it. Upon its publication, the poem was labeled as a masterpiece, becoming extremely popular, a popularity the poem still has today.
Virgil’s masterpiece epic poem is divided into twelve books. The books follow the legend of Aeneas from the last day at Troy, to Carthage to meet Dido, and to Aeneas' victory resulting in the fusion of Trojans and Latin’s. The fourth book of The Aeneid, “The Passion of the Queen,” begins immediately following the banquet after all the guests have departed. Aeneas has just completed telling the story of h
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Dido is driven to madness by Aeneas’s early departure, and she decides to kill herself. She knew that her doings in the cave were wrong, but to reassure herself she called it a marriage. While describing her feelings, Dido becomes confused. After seeing Aeneas, Dido looses all comprehension of reality and forgets about her oath of fidelity to her dead husband. Dido’s rage when hearing about this showed her dependence as well. Cupid has already put a spell on Dido, causing her to fall in love with Aeneas. Instead of taking care of her city, she accompanies Aeneas everywhere showing him the buildings and walls. Venus suspects that Juno only wants to keep the Trojans from reaching Italy, but still she agrees for it is written in Aeneas’ fate to reach Italy. Anna senses this confusion and tells her sister to follow her feelings. Here Virgil does not say exactly what happened. The tragedy cannot be Aeneas’ fault because Dido brought her misfortunes onto herself. She had been lonely since the demise of her husband, and she needed someone to love. He had no intent to land in Carthage; he knew his destiny was to get to Italy. By taking her own life, she shows the final proof that what happened was her fault.
Approximate Word count =
1625
Approximate Pages =
7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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