Book IV: The Dido Episode

Following the lullaby of the third book, where the narrative took a predictable turn and the depth of the content demonstrates more erudition than artistry, the fourth book exemplifies the Vergilian ability to turn a somewhat unknown side story into something magnificent.

The Dido Episode stands as a tragic play within the whole of Vergil's epic poem, an epic ecphrasis of sorts. The tragedy of Dido is the most striking example (though the others rarely disappoint) of the dramas played out in the Aeneid. I have always been fairly critical of Book Three, but it should be noted that both it and Two serve to delineate Aeneas' character and to outline the forces (the gods, Fate) that will operate in the Dido tragedy.

What is at issue here in the smallest sense is love between a man and woman, but increasing the scope a bit it is Rome vs. Carthage, or broader, Roman stoicism vs. Epicurean self-indulgence, or broader still, Destiny vs. Desire, or in the broadest sense, piety vs. love. Imagine an isosceles triangle, with the narrow corner at the top and these pittings listed downward in the order given above.

Returning to the specific situation, it is Aeneas' piety (which is seemingly endless) vs. Dido's love (which is literally maddening); the former is so complete as to make Aeneas almost lifeless, and the latter so frenetic as to produce Dido's suicide.

Needless to say, these issues demand our fullest attention when interpreting the whole of the Aeneid. The characters speak more than they act in Book Four, and the thing said assumes the greater importance. Famous lines abound in Book Four and arise not from the characters themselves but more from the situation. Any person in love might have said what they say. They leave more unsaid than they say.

I am excited for you to experience this episode, but more so for what it might teach you about yourself. There are high, grand battles that human beings fight in literature, and the lessons of such characters we can make our own. This is one opportunity for such imagination and examination.

I hope you are up for the fight when you have to choose between destiny/piety and love, but I will settle for hearing your thoughts on both sides upon reading the Latin.