Virgils Indebtedness for the Dido Episode

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

c:IAPTERPAGE

I . INTRODUCTI Oi'T• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • ·• • • • • • • • • • • • • 1

I I . VIRGIL'S MOTIVES FOR WRITING THE DIDO :1:PISODE • • • • • • • • • • • • • 7

I I I . APOLLONIUS OF RHODES AND THE FOURTH AENEID • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 25

IV. NAEVIJS AND THE FOURTH AENEID • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 47

V. CATULLUS AN D THE FOURTH AENEID • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 61

V I . CONCLUSION. •-• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 7 4

BI BLI OG·RAPJIT • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79



VITA

Thomas David McMahon, S . J . , was born inBinghamton, N.Y., May, 1919.

He at tended S t . Paul ' s Paroch ia l and HighSchool i n the same c i t y and graduated therefrom i nJune, 1937. Af te r one year a t S t . B o n a v ~ n t u r eColl ege , Olean, N.Y., he e n t e r ~ dthe Novi t ia te of theSocie ty of Jesus a t S t . Andrew-on-Hudson, Poughkeepsie , N.Y., in August , 1938 •. vVhile a t Poughkeepsie from the year 1938 u n t i l 1942, he wasacademical ly connected with Fordham Unive r s i ty, New

York Ci ty.

In September, 1942, he t r an s f e r r ed to WestBaden College of Loyola Univers i ty and rece ived h is

degree of Bachelor of Arts from·Loyola Univers i tyin June, 1943. He was unro l led in the GraduateS0hool of Loyola Univers i ty from January, 1943 toJanuary, 1945 .

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Roman Vi rg i l , thou t h a t s inges tI l i o n ' s l o f t y temples robed i n f i r e ,

I l i o n f a l l i n g , Rome a r i s ing ,wars, and f i l i a l f a i t h , an d

Dido's pyre.

"Dido i s perhaps Vi r g i l ' s g re a t e s t cnea t ion and su re ly. 1 2

one of the g re a t e s t i n a l l poe t ry. " Moreover Ovid t e l l s us t ha t

no p a r t of the Aeneid was so popular as the Dido episode. In the

twelve books of the ep ic from the g lo r ious wording of the whole3

heme of the Aeneid ~ Tantae molis e r a t Homanam condere gentem -

to the death 'of Turnus a t the end of th e twe l f th and f i n a l book,

no charac ter matches Dido, the Tyrian queen. When Virg i l puts her

on the s tage of h is ep ic , she complete ly dominates the scene. , So

powerful was Vi r g i l ' s concept ion of Dido 's charac te r and so exper t

h is s k i l l in t r a n s ~ i t t i n gh is conception in to the d i f f i c u l t veh i

c le of the Lat in hexameter t h a t Dido ec l ipses the dign i ty of pius

Aeneas. I t seems tha t the c r i t i c s who condemn Aeneas as a poor

concept ion of an epic hero, f ind t h e i r s t ronges t arguments fo r h is

condemnation i n the s to ry and charac ter of Dido. Though they

1 J . Mackail, Virg i l and His M e a n i n ~To the World of Today, Longmans, Green and Co.:-New-?ork, 19 7;-1067

2 Ovid, T r i s t i a , I I , 533, Loeb Cl ass i ca l Library, t r a n s l a t e d byA.L. Wheeler, WITliatti'""Heinemann, London, 1924, 95.

3 Vi rg i l , Aeneid, I , 33, Loeb Class ica l Library, t r a n s l a t e d byHenry Rushton FairclOugh, William Heinemann, London, 1929, 2.



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d ig ress ion does n ot en te r so l a rg e l y i n t o the whole s t ru c t u re of

the Odyssey as does Aeneas ' s tay a t Carthage . The love mo t i f was

anothe r o f Vi r g i l ' s devices t h a t had no coun te rpa r t i n th e I l i a d

or the Odyssey. Most of a l l i t must be admit ted t h a t Dido has

ru ined the cha rac te r of Aeneas with n ine- ten ths of Vi r g i l ' s6

r eade r s . Why., then , d id Vi rg i l inc lude the s to ry? Obviously he

must have seen t h a t the cha rac te r of Aeneas would s u ff e r i n com-

par i son with h is pierc ing p o r t r ay a l of Dido. With these f a c t s i n

mind, l e t us look behind the s t o ry of Dido and a t tempt to discover

the more impor tan t r easons and cons ide ra t i ons which prompted Vir ..

g i l to inc lude the Car thag ian episode i n the Aeneid.

Once the reasons t h a t prompted th e i nc lu s ion of the

s to r y a re mani fes t , we w i l l en te r upon the o ther and more i n t e r e s -

t i ng phase of the problem, a phase which fol lows l og1ca l ly from

the previous cons ide ra t ion : Vi r g i l ' s debt t o h is predecesso rs ,

both Greek and Roman fo r th e Dido s to r y. For hand i n hand with

h is dec is ion to inc lude the s to ry i n the ep ic of Rome went th e

n eces s i t y of crea t ing th e cha rac te r of Dido. Dido did not sp r ing

f o r t h i n th e pages of Vi rg i l as a complete ly novel cha rac te r.

Rather was her cha rac te r d e l i n ea t i o n the r e s u l t of Vi r g i l ' s own pe

c u l i a r genius coupled with h is knowledge of the l i t e r a t u r e of th e

p as t . We s h a l l examine the e a r l i e r th e e a r l i e r Greek and Roman

w r i t e r s from whom Vi rg i l drew h is raw m a t e r i a l . Such an i n v e s t i -

6 T.R. Glover, Vi r g i l , Methuen & Company, L d t . , London, 1923, 172.



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gat ion w i l l go fa r toward revea l ing Vi r g i l ' s debt to h is predeces

sors and a t the same time point out to what extent he surpassed

them in h is own creat ion of the epic heroine.

For the ac tua l h i s t o r i c a l connect ion between Aeneas and

Dido we sha l l inves t iga te the fragments of the Dellicum Punicum

of Naevius. From t h i s inquiry we can es tab l i sh the probab i l i ty

of' the Trojan-Punic connect ion which i s a t th e hear t of the Dido

episode. In other words, we intend to prove t h a t Naevius in h isl o s t dramatic poem, of which only fragments survive, brought

Aeneas to Carthage and the court of Dido. Thus we maintain t h a t

he offered Virg i l a legend fu l l y worked out, a t l e a s t as f a r as

Aeneas' coming to Dido 's Carthage. I f Virg i l decided to make use

of t h i s legend and i f the meeting of Dido and Aeneas was to take

up an important place in h is epic , Vi r g i l ' s decis ion would be i n

keeping with l i t e r a r y t r a d i t i o n a f t e r Homer. For had not Euripide

and Apollonius of Rhodes brought th e wandering hero to the land

and home of the heroine? These two poets , the former the Hellenic ,

the l a t t e r the Alexandrine r epresen ta t ive of poetry were among the

f i r s t to give women an important place in poetry and they were a ls7

the f i r s t to dwell a t l eng th on the passion of love . To these

two, but pa r t i cu la r ly to Apollonius , Virg i l turned fo r the back

ground of the Dido episode. Last ly i n any i nqu i ry in to the back-

7 Henry W. Presco t t , The Development of Vi r g i l ' s Art , Univers i tyof Chicago Press , Cnteago, l l l ino is- ; -1927 , 2 . 9 ' 1 - ~ .



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ground of Virg i l , to omit the name of Catu l lu s , " tenderes t of

Roman poets , " would be to overlook one to whom Virg i l owed much

fo r the creat ion of Dido 's cha rac t e r. Truly might i t be sa id t h a t

nowhere i s i t eas ie r to prove Catu l lus ' s inf luence on Virg i l than

in Vi r g i l ' s borrowing of the pic ture of the in jured and abandoned

queen. Though Catul lus wri te.s of Ariadne, Vi rg i l of Dido, yet

the s to ry, circumstances , charac ters por t rayed , s p i r i t and l an -

guage of the two poets are marvelously akin . Indeed Vi rg i l de-

serves grea t c re d i t i n t h a t he knew and recognized the meri ts of

some of the most beau t i fu l passages in a l l of Catu l lus .

Here, then, i s the genera l out l lne whicn th i s t h e s i s w i l

f u l f i l l : f i r s t l y , we want to uncover the reasons t h a t prompted Vir

g i l to include the Dido episode in the Aeneid desp i t e the obvious

disadvantages such an episode would involve. These reasons are by

no means apparent a t a glance but requ i re a good measure of inves•

i ga t ion in to Vi r g i l ' s purpose and in ten t ions . Secondly, a f t e r

hese reasons have been given and explained i n d e t a l l we sha l l c o

inue with the second aspect of the problem: an i nqu i ry in to Vir •

i l ' s debt to h is predecessors, both Greek and Roman, who furn ished

him the raw mate r i a l for the Dido s to ry. This second aspect of

he problem i s the na t u r a l complement of the f i r s t . For g r a n t e

h a t Virg i l had decided to include the s to ry of.Carthage i n h is

pic , the quest ion n a tu ra l l y a r i s e s : Was t h i s heroine to be a com-

l e t e ly novel character? Or was she to be drawn from former models

et di ffe r ing from them because of the master touch of Vi r g i l ' s



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pen? From the evidence i t appears t h a t Vi rg i l chose the l a t t e r

course . Our inves t iga t ion , t h e r e fo re , wi l l examine the ex ten t of

these borrowings and po in t out Vi r g i l ' s excel lence and good t a s t e

manifes ted in the borrowings.



CHAPTER I I

VIRGIL'S MOTIVES FORWRITING THE DIDO

EPISODE

Though Aeneas and h is Trojan comrades a r r ive a t Carthage

a t the end of Book I of the Aeneid, y e t i t i s not u n t i l the begin•

ning of the fou r th book t ha t the s tory of Aeneas and Dido rea l ly

begins to unfold . The second and t h i rd books are taken up with

Aeneas' descr ip t ion of the burning and sack of Troy. During t h i s

r e c i t a l of Trojan woes, Dido i s smitten with love fo r Aeneas

through the dar t s of Cupid.

The four th book: opens with a descr ip t ion of Dido 's p a s

s ion and love fo r Aeneas as she s t rugg les with her sense of d e v o

t ion and honor toward her former husband, Sychaeus. Juno then

plans with Venus a device fo r un i t ing Dido and Aeneas in marriage.

While on a hunting par ty, the two are dr iven by the divine plo t

to take she l te r in the·same cave. Immediately Jup i te r despatches

Mercury to command the depar ture of Aeneas. Caught i n the a c t of

summoning h is companions Aeneas i s b i t t e r l y reproached by Dido fo r

h is intended f l i g h t . As Aeneas l i s t e n s , unmoved by the quean 's

en t r ea t i e s , the Trojan f l e e t i s made ready. The queen, maddened,

resolves on death, f i r s t seeking magic incan ta t ions . A ll through

the s leep less n igh t , she r a n t s aga ins t the Trojan unfa i th fu lness .

Meanwhile Mercury in a vis ion again _warns Aeneas to f l e e . As

Aeneas hastens th e departure of the f l e e t , Dido 's despair increases



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and she invokes curses upon the fu g i t i v e and h is pos te r i ty. Simu-

l a t ing r e l i g io u s r i t e s , she causes her chamber to be prepared, and

sJays he r se l f , a f t e r a l a s t appeal to her s i s t e r to s tay the f l i g h

of Aeneas. Juno sends I r i s to re lease her tormented s p i r i t . This

in shor t , i s the s to ry of the fou r th Aeneid.

1Many c r i t i c s have conjectured t h a t i n the or ig ina l plan

of the fou r th book, Dido was to be a Cleopatra or Alcina, a mad

f igu re from whose clu tches Aeneas was to be rescued; but they go

on to say t h a t somehow or other the " t ea r s of th ings" and Vi r g i l ' s

tender p i ty fo r the i n ju red queen impercept ib ly a l te red the poet•s

concept o f Dido to the s t r ik ing cha rac t e r we f ind i n the Aeneid.

I f fo r us the ·character of Aeneas s u ff e r s byh is dese r t ion of Dido, t h a t i s simply be•cause the poet , seized with i n t ense p i ty fo r

the i n ju red queen, seems fo r once , l i ke h isown hero to have fo rgo t t en h is missicn inthe poem. 2

This i n t e rp re t a t ion i s probably t rue in pa r t , but I do

not bel ieve t ha t Virg i l fa i led to see.what h is readers have seen .

There were def in i te objec t ives i n h is mind t h a t he wished h is epic

to accomplish. Some of these objec t ives would be well f u l f i l l e d

by the s to ry of the f a l l of Troy ·and the subsequent wanderings of

the Trojans; others could be completed by the founding of Latium

and the s to ry of the ear ly s t rugg les of the mighty people t h a t w e

1 W.Warde Fowler, The Religious Experience of the Roman People,MacMillan and co:;-London, 1922, 415. - - - - -2 ~ · ~ 416



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to ru le the world. But fo r var ious reasons Virg i l knew h is epic

would be incomplete without the s tory of Dido and Aeneas. We

sha l l seek to determine what cons t i tu ted these reasons . Attempts

have been made to discover what Vi r g i l ' s chief motive was fo r the

c rea t ion of Dido but any such solut ion must of necess i ty remain in

the realm of the probable. Wehave no in ten t ion of determining

what Vi r g i l ' s prime motive was; i t w i l l suff ice to poin t out and

explain the more important ones.

Vi r g i l ' s f i r s t and ~ o a t l o g i c a l reason fo r wri t ing the

Dido episode was because i t offered him the opportuni ty fo r sp len-

did a r t i s t i c development. Virg i l wanted an opportuni ty to i n t r o -3

duce the pa the t i c element in to h is epic . A devoted fol lower of

the l a t e s t bloom of Greek and Alexandrine p o e t r r, he was quiok to

see the advantages to be reaped from the 1nolus1on of the love mo•

t i f which Euripides and Apollonius had in troduced. Virg i l was too

much of a s tuden t of Greek poetry t o neg lec t the examples and l e s

sons of any period i n tha t noble l i t e r a t u r e . True, Homer was Vir-

g i l ' s f i r s t master ; almost any page of h is epic r e f l e c t s i n some

measure h is devot:ton to the Bl ind Bard. Yet Virg i l was a lso a very

discern ing c r i t i c of Hellenic and Hel len is t i c poet ry, and very

ea r ly he perceived the advantage t ha t i t offered to touch the huma

h e a r t .

3 Richard Heinze, Virgi la Epische Technik, Druck Und Verlag VonE.G. Teubner, Le1J)z1g, 1903, 116.



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Build ing upon the most sacred of themes, the mutual love of man

and woman, the poet brings out many var ied emotions before the'Dido episode i s brought to a c lose . The p ic tu res range from p i ty

and admirat ion through love and pass ion to agony, shame and

f i n a l l y despa i r. In to the Dido s to ry, Vi rg i l pours a l l h is i n •

s i g h t in to the human h e a r t and h is sense of human t ragedy. His

f in i shed product i s as he wished i t , a t r a g i c and extremely pathe-6

t i c f igure over whom s t . Augustine could shed t e a r s . No doubt

Vi rg i l pondered deeply before deciding to take s ~ c ha daring s t epas to inc lude the s to ry of Dido in the epic of Rome. Such a t a l e

might have disadvantages in the t e l l i n g , but he himsel f found t h a t

the power of h is own c rea t ion to s t i r the human hea r t and to show

human beings in a l l r e a l i t y more than even balanced the bad e f f e c t•

which could have poRsibly r e su l t ed . Besides , the s t o ry could r e -

viv i fy the old Greek theme of ind iv idua l i n c l i n a t io n versus the

w i l l of the gods. So t hen , to insure the success of the pa the t i c

element Virg i l determined to go to predecessor& who had a l ready

used i t success fu l ly and to draw from them whatever h is discern ing

judgment showed hi m was the bes t .

A element of r e l i g i o n , too , must be included i n the poem

tha t was to be the summit of the A u g ~ s t a nr e v i v a l and consequently

we should look fo r a motive which allowed Vi rg i l to expand on Ro-

man r e l i g io n . For never i n Rome's h i s to ry did the 0 i t y s tand

6 Augustine, Confess ions , I , 21, Loeb Classica::t. Library, t r an s l a t edby w. Watts , William Heinemann, London, 1912.



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mightier than a f t e r Aotium. At t h i s time when the Roman eagle was

beginning to _spread i t s powerful wings over the world, Virg i l f i r s

decided to devote himself to a na t iona l poem. After so many years

of s t r a i n and alarm, s t r i f e and anxie ty, came peace. After so

long a time of bloodshed and war and, worst of a l l , the war of

i n t e rnec ine s t r i f e of Roman aga ins t Roman, there was to begin a

golden age in which Actium was the culminat ing poin t of the past

and the s t a r t i n g poin t of a grea te r fu tu re . Horace·had f e l t i t s

approach when in joyous song he sang:

Nunc e s t bibendum, nunc pede l ibe ropulsanda t e l l u s . 7

Virg i l , however, was to re.present the deeper tendencie-s of the age

His duty was to r e v iv i fy the old Roman Vir tus and Pie t a s t ha t had

moulded the mighty Roman empire from the s Lrnple beginni_ngs of the

ea r ly Lat in s e t t l e r s . He was to make l i ve again t ha t t yp ica l ly

Homan devot ion to family, s t a t e , and the gods, which in sp i t e of

t r i a l and danger, overcomes a l l enticement to ind iv idual passion

or se l f i sh ease . For Rome must r e tu rn her pr i s t ine norm i f she

i s to achieve the great dest iny t ha t the poet sees in s to re fo r he

Even Horace had t r i e d h is hand a t moral izing and offered h is never-8

to-be- forgot ten p ic ture of Roman manliness in the Regulus ode.

Even old Cato would be proud of men l i ke Resulus. For Regulus

7 Horace, The Odes and Epodes, Loeb Class ica l Library ; t r ans la tedby C h a r l e s - ~ n n e t t ,William Heinemann, London, 1929, Odes,I 1 37.

8 !£!!!•, I I I , 5



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urned h is back upon h is chaste wife and chi ld (and how Horace em-

phasizes the pudicae conjugisJ ) and went to h is death in Carthage

with as much unconcern as i f he were leaving the ted ious business

of h is c l i en t s and were speeding to h is country v i l l a a t Lacedae

monian Tarentum. This was a rea l ly convincing example of the old

Roman Virtua l But Regulus was not the mythical founder of the Ro•

man r a c e ~and consequently he aid not have the same power of com-

manding re spec t 1 devot ion and espec ia l ly imi ta t ion .

_In b r i n g i ~ gAeneas to Certhage and Dido,. Virg i l put the

moat formidable obs tac le tha t Aeneas encountered in his e ffo r t s

o found the c i t y ~" ~ e n u s~ Latinum Albanigue pat res atque

l t ae moenia Romae." To leave Carthage required the grea tes t per•

onal sac r i f i ce t h a ~ the Trojan chief was ever cal led upon to per•

orm. Many t r i a l s and anx ie t ie s confronted him in h is wanderings

efore Carthage but the supreme tea t of h is vocation came a t Car-

hage. He had been Pius Aeneas in mourning the lo ss of h is f r iends

n d the sca t te r ing of h is f l e e t by Juno 's gui le and the s t reng th

of Aeolus; he had b e e n ~Aeneas in Troy's l a s t hour as he ca r •

i ed h is aged f a ther from the flames of the burning c i t y, b11t h isr e a t e s t ac t was to leave Dido because the gods wil led i t , no m a t

10e r what the personal fee l ings . The vfc tory of duty over pleasure

howed the t rue path of vi r tue to a l l succeeding generat ions of

9 Aen. I , 6 -7 .0-xin. IV, 361, I t a l i am non sponte sequor.



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Romans. Through frequent r ep e t i t i o n of the ep i the t , pius , with

which Virg i l charac te r i zes h is hero , he gives the key by which he

wants us to unlock the door to the understanding of a l l Roman v i r •

tue and greatness . And nowhere i s pius Aeneas more piue than when

he s a i l s away from Carthage and leaves broken hopes and dreams be•

hind. To provide the se t t i n g in which h is hero can make th i s

heroic sac r i f i ce and renun t ia t ion Vi rg i l looked to Euripides and

Apollonius fo r the mater ia l of h is s to ry. Naevius in h is Bellum

Punicum had spoken of Dido, and now a l l Virg i l needed was to c a s t

Dido in the role of the lover of Aeneas.

To a c lever mind suc.h as Virg i l 1 s , the t echn ica l advan ..11

tage of the Carthaginian episode would be quickly apparent . In

a long epic in which i n t e r e s t must be sus ta ined throughout, there

i s a decided t echn ica l advantage in t e l l i n g a s to ry of . pas t ac t ion

n the f i r s t person to some other character who could show spec ia l' 12

n t e r e s t in the nar ra t ive . By such a device, Virg i l could keep

h is epic from los ing i n t e r e s t by keeping his characters before the

eyes of the reader without many use less r ep e t i t i o n s of past s to r i e s

and events . Furthermore, he could manipulate the s to ry be t t e r i f

he i s not t i ed down to a s t r i c t chronological reckoning of the

na r ra t ive . Such c lever handling of mater ia l was f i r s t used by

Homer when he pic tured Odysseus t e l l i n g the s to ry of h is past ad-

11 Presco t t , 295.1 2 ~ .



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ventures to Alcinous and Arete. But the adventures of Odysseus

were not the adventures of the founder of a mighty empire, "buf•13

eted by the Fates and tossed much on land and sea ." Nor did

he fa te of a great nat ion hang upon the outcome of Odysseus's

rave l s . The t a l e of Aeneas must t e l l of Troy 's downfall and of

he flames t ha t consumed the l a s t vest ige of the Troj$n kingdom of

Priam, driving the exi les over land and sea to the shores of I t a l y.

o then , the l i st.ener o·f Aeneas' l i t any of woes must be much more

rofoundly in teres ted in h is nar ra t ive than were Alcinous and Areta

n 'the story of Odysseus. After a l l , were i t not fo r th i s plucky

and of T ~ o j a n sand t h e i r t a l e of adventure, would the City of the

even Hil l s and the royal l ine of the Caesars have ru led the world?

As Virg i l pictt ired the meet ing 'of Aeneas and Dido, who

e t t e r than Dido could be the l i s t en e r of Aeneas• epic adventures?

Who could show more i n t e r e s t than· a woman sent imental ly in teres ted

n the nar ra t i ve ? Dido can s t i r up unusual i n t e r e s t and earnes t •

y reques t Aeneas to t e l l h is t a l e ; her eager queries can draw from

he hero the l e a s t de ta i l s of Troy and i t s burning c i t ade l s . Does

he not want above a l l to hear about the man to whom Cupid and Ve•14

us are tu rn ing her hear t more and more? To the choice of a woman

15Virg i l was drawn by the epic convention of h is day. The sentimen-

a l s i tua t ion i s the r e s u l t of Virg i l ' s devot ion. to the Hellenis-

1.3 Aen. I , 2-34 YO!'d, I , 748- .5 Prescot t , 295.



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t i c t r ad i t i on . I f Aeneas i s to succeed as an epic hero, he must

be very hero ic and every b i t as good as Odysseus and Jason. He

too must have a Calypso or a Medea i f he i s not to f a l l shor t of

the measure of the t r ad i t i ona l epic hero·.

The l a s t major reason I w i l l t r e a t i s the motive of h i s

t o r i c a l foreshadowing. While I w i l l not t r y to give i t more pro

minence than i s i t s due, yet i t must rece ive considerable t r e a t -

ment. For one can hardly read the f i r s t ha l f of the Aeneid and

pa r t i cu la r ly the four th book without r ea l i z ing tha t Virg i l was

drawing a pic ture of con t ras t . While never ceasing to be the

imaginative poet , he was giving an h i s t o r i c a l preview of the grea t

s t ruggle between Rome and Carthage-- t h a t s t ruggle which was to

prove such a dangerous t h rea t to the power and even to the very16

exis tence of Rome h er se l f . Jus t how f ami l i a r the h i s t o r i c a l

s t ruggle of the Punic Wars was to the Roman of Vi rg i l ' s t ime i s17

well proven from other sources. Virg i l in h is epic reca l led t ha t

t e r r ib l e s t ruggle which might have changed the h i s to ry of the worl

i f the outcome had favored Carthage. Our poet i s not slow in a s-

suming his appointed task . The twe l f th l ine of the poem brings inthe s ta ry of Carthage and introduces the l as t ing enmity between

Rome and Carthage under the guise of Juno's love fo r the Tyrians

and her hatred fo r the Phrygians. This enmity would cont inue un•

16R.s.

Conway, "Under Hannibal 's Shadow, Harvard Lectures on Vir~ i l i a nAge, Harvard U ~ i v e r s i t yP r ~ s s ,C ~ m b r ~ d g e ,Mass, lm!S-;-'73.17 .orace, Epodes, XVI,6, ~ ~ I I , l , I I , 5 , IV,4.



17

ceasingly u n t i l the b a t t l e of Zama; there in 202 B.C. , Hannibal

and the Punic power would f i n a l l y be crushed forever by Scip io .

From the Aeneid 's twel f th l ine of the f i r s t book through the secon

th i rd and f o ~ r t hbooks, Carthage i s ever in the mind of the reader.

Virg i le , qui e s t bien de la grande nat ion ence la , n•a perdu aucune occasion dans l e e en•dro i t s ~ e c i s i f sde son poeme, e t a chaque int e r v a l l e , de nous f a i ~ etoucher en quelques o r t e l ' anneau d ' a i r i a n , j ' ap p e l l e a ins i l achaine de la destin 'ee romaine. Voyezl i l ac o m m e n o ~son poeme en montrant du do ig t Carthage, la grande r i v a l e : Urbs ant iqua f u i t J••• , e t l a grande r iva le qur-n •es t p l u ~ i ly r ev ien t en plus d 1un moment. 18

In Dido 's moving prayer fo r vengeance, Hannibal i s not named:

Haec preoor, hano vooem extremam cum sanguine fundo.tum. vos, o Tyr i i , s t irpem e t genus omne futurUlllexeroete o d i i s , ciner ique haec m i t t i t e nos t romunera, nul lus amor populis nee foedera sunto .exor ia re , a l i q u i s n o s t r l s ex ossibus u l t o r ,

qui face Dardanios ferroque sequare colonos 1nunc olim, quocumque dabunt se tempore v i r es .l i t o r a l i t o r i b u s con t ra r ia , f luc t ibus undasimprecor, armis armis; pugnent ips ique nepotesque. 19

But what i n t e l l i g e n t Roman reader fa i l ed to th ink of him.here , and

th ink of him very def in i te ly? Mere suggest ion by Virg i l of the

e r r i b l e scourge who was to br ing Rome almost to ru in s t r i k es a

note of fea r in to the hear t of every t rue Roman as he reads Dido 's

words and r e f l e c t s upon the grea t d i sa s t e r s of Trebia , Lake Tras i -

mene and Cannae.

'l es t done bien a Virg i l e d ' a v o i r f a i t d 'Annt-

8 C.A. Sainte-Beuve, Etude Sur Virg i le , Calmann-Levy, Edi t eu rs ,Par is , 1855 1 165 .9 ~ · IV, 621•629•



. 'b a l une des pers fec t ives di rec tes de son poeme.Penser a Annibal e t aux p e r i l s qu 1 i l ava i tf a i t c o u r i r aux descendants d'Enne e t de Romu•l u s , a' l a f u m ~ ede son camp qu•on voyai t duCapi to la ; y f a i r e penser du temps d 1Auguste,e t quand le s a i g l e s romainea ne a • a r r e t a i e n tplus q u1 ~ l 'Euphra t e , c 1~ t a i td 1 au tan t mieuxdieux d 1 avo i r termide par un t e l couronnementde s i longs e t s i l abor ieux • • • • Mais admirons quece s o i t ~ propos pe Didon, e t dans l a bouched'une amante egaree e t mourante, quJ s o i t venuese p lacer s i nature l lement c e t t e pred ic t ion h i s -to r ique du plus t e r r i b l e vengeur. 20

18

Even the f i f t h book opens with Aeneas looking back on Dido ' s burn

ing pyre. Recal l too Dido ' s meeting with Aeneas i n the underworld21in book s i x . I t i s as i f Virg i l did n ot want us to fo rge t the

i n t ima te connect ion t h a t ex is ted between Carthage and Rome. I t

has been c leve r ly noted t h a t the e p i th e t s S ~ d c n i a nand Phoeniss ian

of ten applied to Dido are doubt less to remind the readers t h a t Did

was a Car thag in ian , though no ex tan t use of these words i n the22

sense of Carthagin ian i s found p r i o r to Vi r g i l ' s ep ic . Vi rg i l

achieved another admirable e f f e c t by h is use of anachronism i n

the f i r s t book in a t t r i b u t i n g to Carthage the power and spl·endor

t h a t was Rome's under the sway of th e Caesars . For he c leve r ly

succeeded in making h is readers f e e l the might and lo rd ly pr·owess

of the nascent c i t y of Carthage and i t s p o t e n t i a l i t i e s fo r harm

to Trojan and fu tu re Roman. Last o f a l l th e government of Carthage

was por t rayed i n a form most repugnant to Roman f ee l ing- -under the

20 S a i n t e ~ B e u v e ,165 .21 Aen.VI, 470-476.22 N!Cholas Mosely, Characters and E p i t h e t s , Yale Univers i ty Press

New Haven, Conn., 1926, 23.



23eadersh ip of a woman, Dux femina f a c t i .

19

Immediately we observe in the words of Dido the p ic tu re

of a pass ionate woman, while the c o n t r a s t i n the charac te r i s most

no t iceab le - -a na t u r a l l y phlegmat ic man. But yet over and above

h i s observa t ion , Vi rg i l had in mind to c o n t r a s t two d i f f e r e n t

modes of l i v i n g , two d i f f e r e n t phi losophies of l i f e . Since Rome

nd Carthage had engaged in a death s t rugg le during the Punic Wars

nd the most p a t r i o t i c cry on a Roman's l i p s had been Delenda ea t

Carthago, the hopes and aims of Rome must be i dea l i zed and Carthage

Rome's enemy, must be revealed as a l l t h a t was u t t e r l y incompatible

with Roman id e a l s . I t i s to be noted t h a t Vi rg i l a c c o ~ p l i s h et h i s

d ea l i za t i on of Rome not as the h i s to r i a n but r a th e r as the poet .

He does not n a r r a t e as the h i s t o r i an s Naevius and Ennius of ten do

n t h e i r epic verses but r e ly ing more on s u g g e s t i ~ nhe succeeds i n

o co lor ing the whole episode t h a t the d i s t i n c t l y Roman v i r t u e s of

Aeneas s tand o u t : h is devot ion f i r s t to the people he i s to found,

o h is ch i ld whom he wilJ. not cheot of a d ~ s t i n e dth rone , to h i s

ods who have des.tine-d him, to· be tpe progen i to r of the l i n e of the

Caesars . In the meeting of Aeneas and Didowe

have the meeting ofhe West and Eas t and a l l t h a t such an a n t i t h e s i s sugges ts i n

ch a r ac t e r, law, government; and cu l t u r e . The p ic tu re of Dido w i l l -

ng to s a c r i f i c e her f . a i r name and her honor i s heinous enough.

But her neg lec t of duty to her people and t h e i r r i s i n g na t ion

3 Charle·s : t n ~ p , :"Legend and History in the Aeneid" , C l a s s i c a lJournal XIX 1924 l 9 8 f ' f ' .



I t a l i a n i d ea l s . She does not understand thecombination of vi r tue which makes up the i dea lRoman matron • • • • Virg i l a l te red the s tory ofDido from the h i s t o r i c a l legend in order tocon t ras t the fury of ungovernable love, loveof

theanimal type,

with the se t t l ed ordar, a f •fec t ion and obedience of Roman family l i f e . 25

21

Accordingly, such a stand claims t ha t Virg i l in h is por t r aya l of

Dido used a l l h is resources to draw a woman whose r e a l nature was

h a t of Medea, of Clodia , of Cleopatra : a woman whose nature was

monstrous and completely divorced from a l l Roman idea l s of family

nd soc ia l l i f e . This claim seems t ~ · be fa r from the t r u th l In

he pic tu re of i n f e l i x ~ ~ does Virg i l want us to see the f a t a l e26

monstrum t ha t Cleopatra ce r t a in ly was to Horace. Or again i s the

i c tu re of Clo'dia the immoral "Medea of the Pa la t ine" , as Cicero27

a l l s her, in Vi r g i l ' s mind? I s he pain t ing a woman u t t e r l y a l i en

o the i d e a l of the typ ica l Roman matron to whose pure blooa theace of Romulus owed i t s preeminence? True, as has al ready pointed

ut , Virg i l was con t ras t ing two philosophies of l i f e but there a re

nmistakable s igns t ha t his por t r aya l ce r t a in ly does not extend

o a condemnation of Dido as an unworthy woman. Even h i s t o r i c a l l y

peaking, the proof l i e s i n Dido 's favor. For the only reference

o Dido in the h i s t o r i c a l re ferences of Vi r g i l ' s time shows t ha t

a r from being a Cleopatra or a Medea, Dido was received by the

oman people as another Lucre t i a , dear to the hear t of every

5 W.Warde Fowler, ·Roman Essays and In t e rp r e t a t i o n s , Clarendon Press

oxford, 1920, 185r r. - - -6 Horace, Odes, I , 37.7 Cicero, ~ C a e l i o ,Loeb Cl ass i ca l Library, t r ans la ted by J.H.

Freese . WITliam Heinemann. 1933__._ #a.



23

e l l may Vi rg i l use sugges t ion and no doubt he did , but to say t h a t

do i s drawn from Cleopatra i s s t r e tch ing an analogy too f a r .

: t r g i l1 s method, here as elsewhere, i s to combine t r a i t s observed

n h is own experience or borrowed from l i t e r a r y sources , and to

ake up a new imaginat ive c re a t i o n .

Consider ing, then, the advantages to be gained from the

nclus ion of the Dido episode, Vi rg i l decided to t e l l the s t o r y

e s p i t ethe seemingly unfavorable ro le i n which i t c a s t h is hero .

i r g i lwas quick to see the powerful element of pathos t h a t i t a f -

o r d e dhim. How b e t t e r could he f u l f i l l h is wish than by inc luding

h e love s to ry with i t s t r a g i c ending and i t s oppor tuni ty fo r ex

ess ion of a l l emotions. Secondly, the s t o ry of Rome's greatness,u s thave place fo r the r e l i g i o us element t h a t Romans of the Augus-

a n Age bel ieved to be respons ib le fo r the pr i s t ine Roman Vir tueJ

he p ic tu re of Aeneas obeying the gods t o the u t t e r dis regard of

s own i n c l i n a t io n i s Vi r g i l ' s masterp iece . For i n i t we see

oman Vir tue c lo thed in f le sh and blood. Third ly, in the f i r s tI

onception of h is epic Virg i l saw the danger of dryness in the

e l l j n g of s to r i e s and pas t events . t h a t are p a r t and parce l ofpic l o r e . How could he counterac t any poss ib le monotony? He de

ided t ~ a t an i n t e r e s t e d l i s t e n e r whose enthusiasm could lend co lor

o the s t o ry and spur on the t e l l e r would solve the d i f f i c u l t y.

ido, the woman who would be .capt ivated by Aeneas could bes t f i l l

he r o l e . His choice · is a wise one. L a s t l y, any s t o ry of Rome

hich would exclude th·e s t o ry of the Punic Wars would not be the



24

omplete s to ry of Rome. For the Roman empire of Augustus 's time

ooked upon the s t ruggle with Carthage and i t s v ic to r ious i s sue

or the Roman arms as the tu rn ing po in t of Roman h i s t o r y. Afte r

he defea t of Hannibal, Rome was a world power. Virg i l used the.Dido episode to remind the wr i t e r and readers of h is day of the

~ ~ i t ybetween Roman and Tyrian in a l l i t s important phases . The

verage Roman found g re a t so lace in the ac t ion of Aeneas in l eav -

ng Dido fo r the welfare of the fu tu re · c i ty of Rome. With the

ompletion of the t a l e of Dido and Aeneas, Virg i l poe t i ca l ly sowedhe seeds of discord t h a t were to grow i n to the Punic Wars. Thus,

n · shor t , we seB the compell ing reasons t h a t u l t ima te ly decided

Virg i l to wr1te the fou r th book of the Aeneid.



CHAPTER I I I

APOLLONIUS OF RHODES AND THEFOURTH AENEID

The inves t iga t ion of the sources of the four th book of

he Aeneid proves a most i n t e r e s t i n g s tudy. The more one searches ,

he more convinced one becom.e.s t h a t i t i s almost impossi bl:e to

view every wr i t e r and h is works which had a p o s i t i v e i n f luence

n Vi rg i l . Undoubtedly extens ive reading was necessary to fu rn i s h

m with the necessary background from which he might choose as he

ould i n the d e l i n e a t i o n of the charac te r s i n the Dido episode.

l l wr i t e r s of g r ea t l i t e r a t u r e are conscious ly or unconscious ly

nf luenced i n t h e i r wri t ings by the works of t h e i r predecessors in

p a r t i c u l a r f i e l d . While i n the case of V i r g ~ l ,the f in i shed

roduct i s vas t ly su:perior to the exemplars , and shows, as Horace

uts i t so wel l , much l abor l imae ! ! ~ yet Vi rg i l was no excep-

on to the tendency noted above. In f a c t , Vi rg i l borrowed from

is predecessors much more than any modern c r i t i c would be wi l l i n g

permi t , fo r the anc ien ts had a much d i f f e r e n t outlook on v:hat

cf a. l a t e r day would l abe l downright plag iar i sml Virg i l , then ,

d no t sc rup le to take what f i t t e d h is designs . From Apollonius

f Rhodes, the author of the Alexandrine ep ic , th e Argonaut ica ,

o r e than from any o ther author Vi rg i l borrowed mater ia l fo r th e

eneid. This s ta tement may seem su rp r i s ing , e spec ia l ly in the face

a l l the mater ia l t h a t could be t r aced t o Homer i n Vi r g i l ' s poetr.

et i t s tands as the t r u t h .



26

In essence the poet ry of the Aeneid i s neverHomeric 1 desp i te the incorpora t ion of manyHomeric l i n e s . I t i s a sap l ing of Vi r g i l ' sHel len i s t i c garden 1 slowly accl imated toI t a l i a n s o i l , fed r i c h ly by years of phi losophica l s tudy, braced, pruned and reared

in to a t r e e of noble s t reng th and c l a s s i c d ign i t y. 1

Apollonius i s an impor tant f igure i n the Alexandr ine

Movement. His poem, the Argonaut ica , wr i t t e n in four books, i s

he f i r s t ins tance as fa r as we know where a love theme was the

ubjec t fo r a de ta i l ed epic t r ea tment . Most of the Homeric tra .di ..

ons are fol lowed by Apol lon ius : the language i s t h a t of the con•I

en t iona l epic of the pas t , and the consecrated epic theme ... k-A£01

v < f p ~ V -the glor ious deeds of heroes - i s presen t in the s t o ry and

dventures of Jason. But Apollonius departed from Eomer•s path by

nt roducing a love s to ry as a major episode i n h i s ep ic . This c e r-

a in ly was an innovat ion not to be found i n Homeric t r a d i t i o n .

i rg i l chose to fol low the l ead of Apollonius i n the t e l l i n g of the

ido episode.

Another d i ffe rence in Apollon1us was t h a t he did no t make

se of Greek l a d i e s as h is hero ines , but int roduced a barbar ian2

r inces s , Medea. I f 1 as has been s a i d , Dido would have been an

m p o s s i b i l i t y fo r Homer, i t may be as t r u t h f u l l y asse r t ed t h a t

pol lonius 1 s Medea would also be fo re ign to Homer's Muse. Homer's

Tenney Frank, Vi r f i l , Henry Holt & Company, New York, 1922, 168.J .Wight-Duff , A L t e r a ry His tory of Rome To the Close of theGolden Age, Charles Sc r i b n e r ' s Sons, New York, 1932, 460.



2!1 .

a t ive s imp l i c i ty would pass by so deep a study of f ee l ings and

ould give no such propor t ions to su.ch an e r o t i c theme. The am ..

i t i o n of Apol lonius was to express the love of Jason and .Medea in

medium i n which th e sub jec t had never be fore been handled. The

ovel ty of h is plan was not slow i n br ing ing him in to sharp d i s -

sreement with h i s contempora r ie s , e s p e c i a l l y with h is former t e a

her, Call imachus, whose l i t e r a r y aims and t a s t en d i f f e r e d cons i -3

erab ly from those of h is pup i l . This i s not a t a l l su rp r i s ing

i nce , fo r Call imachus , Homer was the Alpha and Omega of ep ic , anqe was convinced t h a t any depar ture from Homeric epic t r a d i t i o n '!'!a

grave l i t e r a r y blunder. Howe!l!er : h e dis regarded th e c r i t i c i s m

nd in t roduced a nove l ty i n h is ep ic . Moreover the Argonaut ica

rospered and was much admired by Roman wr i t e r s who r e e ~ i v e di n -

p i r a t i on from the g re a t c l a s s i c a l w r i t e r s by way of Alexandr ia .

u.e to Apol lonius , Medea was handed down to the Romans no t only as

he t r a g i c an d embi t tered f igure of Eur ip ioes but a l s o a g i r l who

ad abandoned a l l a t th e c a l l of her loved one, an d i n the end foun(4

he b i t t e r n e s s of a love .

Before proceeding to th e connect ion between Apollonius

nd Vi rg i l , we must give a word of warning. This chap te r has no

n t e n t i o n of making Vi rg i l an Alexandr ine , fo r he never fash ioned

ts poe t ry according to th e Alexandrine mold • . His l ea rn ing never

Cf. J.W. Atk ins , L i t e r a ry Cr i t i c i sm i n An t i fu i t y, Cambridgethe Univers i t y P res s , 1934, Vol. I , I77ff. or t rea tment ofp o i n t .HAnl "V R M 98 .

a tt h i s



2 8

egenera ted i n to pedantry or obscur i ty, nor did the Alexandrine

voidance of everything commonplace. i n sub jec t , s e n t i ~ e n tor a l -

us ion ever f ind place i n h i s pnet ry. This chapter i s designed

erely to show the in t imate connect ion between the fou r th Aeneid

nd the Argonaut ica .

' .

We could surmise t h a t Vi rg i l would borrow from Apollonius

r a new phase had been added to epic t r a d i t i o n ; and i t had proved

be a high ly i n t e r e s t i n g phase . Vi rg i l knew t h a t somehow he

ust u t i l i z e what Apollonius had made p r a c t i c a l l y impera t ive , bu t

w was he t·o introduce. an e r o t i c theme in to h is plan of Home?

he l i n e s of Roman h i s t o r y were c l e a r ly cu t but the ca ree r of Ho•

er ' s Aeneas a f t e r the sack of Troy was unknown and consequent ly

i rg i l could use a f ree hand i n t r e a t i n g of the Trojan hero . The

ppor tun i ty. fo r inc lud ing the new love mot i f of Apollonius was pre •

nted to Vi rg i l by the work of h is predecessor, Naevius, the Roman

amatic poe t of Punic War days who included both Dido and Aeneas

h is Bellum Punicum.

The f i r s t b i t of evidence fo r Vi r g i l ' s debt to Apollonius

found in the commentators on Vi rg i l . Macroblus o ff e r s an i n -

r e s t i n g t ex t to begin the examinat ion:

de Argonauticorum quarto, quorum s c r ip to r e s tApollf'mius,. l ibrum Aeneidos suae quartum totumpaene formaver i t ad Didonem ve l Aenean amatoriamincont inent iam Medeae c i r c a Jasonem t r ansferendo . 5

Macrobius, S a t . , V, 1 7 ~ 4 .



An even more c l e a r s ta tement of f a c t i s found i n Serv ius :

Apollonius Argonautica s c r i p s i t e t i n t e r t i oi n d u c i t amantem Medeam: inde t o tu s h ie l i b e rt r an s l a t u s e s t . 6

29

i r s t of a l l , we know t h a t the four th book of the Aeneid i s f a r

n d e ~ dfrom a d i r e c t t r a n s l a t i o n of the t h i rd book of the A r g o n a

7i c a . Now a t . t h e beginn:i.ng before a review of the f a c t s has been

aken i t would be d i f f i c u l t to po in t out the. exact meaning of the

bove s t ~ t e m e n tof Serv iu s ; i t w i l l , I be l i eve , be c l ea r a t t h e

onclus ion.

The su r e s t , c l ea r e s t and most obvious way to a t t ack our

roblem i s to review the s t o r i e s of Medea and Dido from the b e g i n

ing . Dido i s the Tyrian queen, beau t i f u l , i ndus t r ious , c l ev e r.

Vi rg i l summed up her ch a r ac t e r in th ree words of eulogy - Dux

8.' ---

emina f a c t i . By t h i s he meant t h a t her i n d u s t r y, c l everness and

onstancy were d i r e c t l y responsib le fo r the r i s e of her count ry. ·

Medea, t oo , i s of roya l blood, being the pr incess dauc;hter of the

King of the Colchians .

The f i r s t l ikeness t h a t s t r i k e s one i s t h a t the union of

oth p a i r s of l o v e r s , Jason and Medea, Dido and Aeneas, i s the

e s u l t of div ine machinat ions . By the plan of the goddesses Hera

nd Athena, Medea f e l l in love with Jason. With her ass i s t ance

Serv ius , Grammatici, George Thi lo and Herman Hagen, Aeneidos

Librorum I-V C o ~ ~ e n t a r i i ,Lips iae , Teubner, 1891, Vol. I , auctusad Aen . IV, I •~ : i i ~ ' I ~

9 ~ ~ 4 .



30

he was enabled to b r ing back the Golden Fleece t o Greece. ~ e r a

addresses Athena:

Come, l e t us go to Cypr i s , l e t us both accos ther Venus and urge h er to bid her son ( i f only

he w i l l obey) speed h is s h a f t a t the daughterof Aeetes , the enchant ress , and charm h erwith love fo r Jason. And I d e ~ nt h a t by h erdevice he wi l l br ing beck the f l eece to Eel -l a s . 9

In th e Aeneid, Juno, r e a l i z in g Dido ' s i n f a t ua t i on fo r the Tro jan

l e ad e r, determj_ned to keep Aeneas a t Carthae;e so t h a t he might

never found h is dest ined kingdom i n I t a l y . She s ly ly addresses

Venus:

egregiam vero laudem e t spo l i a ampla r e f e r t i stuque puerque tuus ; magnum e t memorabile numen,una dolo divum s i femina v i c t a duorum e s t .nee me adeo f a l l i t veri tam t e m o ~ n i a n o ~ t r asuspectas habu isse domos K a r t h a g i n i ~a l t a e .sed quis e r i t modus, au t quo nunc cer tamine t an to?quin po t ius pacem aeternam pactosque hymenaeos

exercemus? habes, t o t a quod mente p e t i s t i ;arde t amans Dido t r ax i tque per ossa furorem.communem hunc ergo populum par ibusque regamusa u s p i c i i a ; · l i c e a t Phrygio s e rv i r e mari todota l i sque tuae Tyrios permi t t e r e d.extrae. 10

·As one mi@1t wel l expect from th e passages j u s t q u o t e d

the next po in t of comparison i s na t u r a l l y the r o l e of Cupid in ·

both poe t s . Here again Vi rg i l d i r e c t l y fol lows i n th e s t eps of

Apollon:tus. Working a t the r eques t of h is goddess mother, Cupid11

i n th e t h i r d Argonaut ica i s thus desc:rj ' ted accomplish ing h is

9 Apol lon ius , Arfonau t i ca! Loeb C l a s s i c a l Library, t r an s l a t ed byR.C. Seaton, W111am :Helnemann, 1921, I I I , 25·29 .

10 Aen. IV, 93 ·104 .11 AF6onautica, I I I , 2 7 8 ~ 2 8 7 .



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

iss ion:

And quickly benea th the l i n t e l i n th e porchhe s t rung h i s bow and took from the quiver anarrow unshot befo re , messenger of pa in . Andwith swi f t f e e t unmarked he passed the t h r e s h -old and keenly glanced around; and g l i d i n g byAeson 's son he l a i d the arrow notch on the cord

" ~ i n the cen te r, and drawing wide a p a r t wi th bothfeet · he sho t a t Medea; and speechless a m a z e ~ -

ment se ized her sou l .

31

r g i l ' s Cupid has a s l i g h t l y sub t l e r r o l e . Cast i n the guise o f

scanius, Aeneas ' son, Cupid s lowly but s u re l y p l i e s h is appointed

sk , causing Dido to f o rg e t the memory of Sychaeus, h er formerouse, anrl a t the same t ime rous ing her to a burning love fo r

eneas:

praec ipue i n f e l i x , pes t i devota f u t u r a e ,exp le r i mentem nequ i t a rdesc i tque tuendoPhoenissa , e t p a r i t e r puero donisque movetur.i l l e ub i complexu Aeneae col loque pependi te t magnum f a l s i imp lev i t g e n i t o r i s amorem,reginam p e t i t . haec o c u l i s , haec pectore t o t oh ae r e t e t interdum gremio f o v e t , i n sc i a Dido,i n s i d a t quantus miserae deus. a t memor i l l emat r i s Acidal iae paulat im abo le re Sychaeumi n c i p i t e t vivo tempta t praver te re amoreiam pridem r e s id e s animas desuetaque corda. 12

Before proceeding f u r t he r with th e comparison, l e t us

te two o ther obse rva t ions . In Homer 1we

n o t i ce t h a t Odysseus i st r a v e l e r and hand i n hand with h is t r a v e l s go h is adven tu res . In

e Argonaut ica of Apol lonius , Jason i s a l s o c a s t as a t r a v e l e r .

e · reason i s because t r ave l o ff e r s the oppor tun i ty of v i s i t i n g

ny and s t r ange places and of unfo ld ing adven tu res in epic stolly.

Aen. I , 712·722.



32

n the l i g h t of t h i s preva i l j ng tendency Vi rg i l would be much i n -

l i n e dto cas t Aeneas as a t r a v e l e r • . Hence we see a reason fo r

he incroduct ion of Carthage and Dido. Another poin t of s i m i l a r i t

n th e two s t o r i e s i s the a r r i v a l of the Argonauts and the s h i p ~

recked Trojans . Immediately on touching the shore and meet5.ng

he Tyr ian dwel le rs , th e s a i l o r s has ten to expla in t h a t no t fo r

io lence or plunder have they come to Carthage, bu t t h a t a storm

as dr iven them t h i t h e r and they seek only a temporary refuge: ·

non no.s au t f e r r o Libycos populare Penat i svenimus au t rap ta s ad l i t o r a v e r t e r e praedas ;non ea v is animo nee t an t a superb ia v i c t i s . 13

he saMe tone i s apparent i n the language of Jason as he addresses

eetes , the king of Colchls , on th e a r r i v a l of th e Argonauts a t

h e Colchian sho res :

Aeetes , bear with th is . armed band, I pray.For not i n th e way thou deemest have we comet o thy c i t y and palace , no, nor yet with suchdes i r e s . For who would of h is o ~ n w i l l dareto cross so wide a sea fo r the goods of as t r anger? 14

Af te r l i s t e n i n g to the plea of the shipwrecked Trojans ,

ido shows h er m_!ignanimous s p i r i t and drops a l l th e b a r r i e r s to

er rea lm. Opening wide the gates of the c i t y, she i n v i t e s the

men of Aeneas to s t ay a while or even, should they so des i r e , to

e t t l e in her rea lm; she w i l l t r e a t them as c i t i z ens of equal

i g h t s with the Tyrians .

3 Aen. I , 5 2 7 · 5 2 9 .4 Argon. I I , 386-389 .



seu vos Hesperiam magnam Saturniaque arvas ive Erycis f i n i s regemque o p ta t i s Acesten,aux i l io t u t o s dimittam opibusque iuvabo.v o l t i s e t h is mecum p a r i t e r considere regn is?urbem quam s t a tuo v e s t r a ; ~ u b d u c i t en a v i s ;Tros Tyriusque mihi nu l lo discr imine age tu r. 15

33

For the counterpar t of t h i s passage we look to the f i r s t

ook of the Argonaut ica . In the ear ly s tages of the t r i p .for the

olden Fleece , Jason landed a t Lemnos and ·was gree ted by I lyps ipyle ,

aughter of King Thoas. The same d i sp lay of s e l f l e s s generos i ty

no t so c l e a r ly presen t in th e i n v i t a t i o n of Hypsipyle. Yet aarm welcome and an evident des i re t o be hosp i t ab le , and the same

oy in giv ing the i n v i t a t i o n i s evident i n the language of the p r i

ess .

S t ranger, why s t ay ye so long outs ide ourtowers? Do ye t he re fo re s tay and s e t t l e with

u s ; and shoulds t thou des i r e t o dwell here ,and t h i s f inds favor wi th thee , assured ly thous h a l t have the prerogat ive of my f a t he r Thoas;and I deem t h a t thou w i l t no t scorn our l anda t a l l ; fo r i t i s d e e p ~ s o i l e dbeyond a l l o theri s l a n d s t h a t l i e in the Aegaean sea . But comenow, r e t u r n to thy ship and r e l a t e my words tothy comrades, and s t ay not outs ide our c i t y . 16

Afte r the a r r i v a l of Jason and Aeneas, the passages con ..

rned with the r eac t i on of the two hero ines are almost · i d e n t i c a l ,

ven to the wording. The e ff e c t of Cupid 's dar t s on each i s the

me. The n a r r a t i ve of Apollonius i s not qui te as moving as t h a t

Vi rg i l , and Vi r g i l ' s t r i c k of making Dido speak out her con-

Aen. IV, 5 6 9 ~ 5 7 4 .

Argon. I , 793, 827-833.



34

i t i on makes i t m o r ~v iv id and r e a l i s t i c . Apollonius begins h is

esc r ip t ion of Medea'

and th e ·maiden looked a t him with s t e a l t h y

glance , hold ing her b r i g h t v e i l a s i d e , herh e a r t smoulder:tng with pain ; and her sou lc reep ing l i k e a dream f l i t t e d in h i s t r ackas he went. So they passed f o r t h from thepalace so re ly t r oub led . And Chalciope,sh ie ld ing h e r s e l f from the wrath of Aeetes ,had gone quickly to her chamber with her sons.And Medea l ikewise followed and much broodedi n h er soul a l l the cares t h a t Loves awaken.And before her eyes the y i s ion s t i l l appeared •himse l f what l i k e he was, with what vesture hewas. c l ad , what t h ings he spake, how he s a t on h is eh i s s e a t , how he moved f o r t h to the door ~ and asshe pondered, she deemed there never was suchano ther man; and ever i n her ~ a r s rung .h is voiceand the honey sweet words which he u t t e r e d . 17

f t e r reading th e above passage , l e t us t u rn to V i r g i l ~ He de•

elops Dido ' s cha rac t e r, f i r s t , by a s h o r t d e s c r i p t i o n of her

i r s t reac t ions to Aeneas 'c o m i n g , ~ l e t t i ' n g

her own words descr ibeer s t a t e of mind. L a s t l y, he l e t s her ac t ions speak . louder than

er words. Notice here the same s t r e s s on th e words and ac t ions

nd appearance of the hero which i s l ikewise emphasized i n the

oove passage of Apollonius ~

multa v i r i v i r t u s animo multusque r e c u r s a tg e n t i s honos; haeren t i n f i i i pectore vol tusverbaque, nee placidam membris d a t eura quietem •• • • quia novus h ie n o s t r i s sueeeRs i t sedibus hospes' ,quem sese ore f e r en s , quam f o r t i pectore e t arm.isJcredo equidem, nee vana f i d e s , genus esse deorum •• • • nunc eadem l abente d ie conv iv ia quae r i t ,I l i acosque i t e rum demens audi re l aboresexposc i t pendetque i terum n a r r a n t i s ab ore • • • •i l lura absens a bsentem audi t(}_ue vi detque ,au t gremio Ascanium, g e n l t o r i s imagine cap ta ,

Ar&on •• IV. 442-458.



Anna, f a tebor enim, miser i pos t f a t a Sychaeicon iug i s e t sparsos f r a t e rn a caede Penat i sso lus h ie i n f l e x i t sensvs animumque labentemimpul i t . 20

36

The r e a c t i o n of Medea as she reviews the wild thoughts

l i t t i n g yhrough her mind i s to th ink of the d ~ s g r a c eshe w i l l

r ing upon h e r s e l f i f she helps Jason. Even dea th seems more

more pre fe rab le than t h a t she should surrender an d a s s i s t Jason

n se iz ing the Golden Fleece . Yet while she speaks words of s e l f

ondemnation, she had a l ready ha l f decided i n her mind to he lphe man she l oved :

What disgrace w5_ll not be mine? Alas fo rmy i n f a t u a t i on l Far be t t e r would i t be fo rme to forsake l i f e t h i s very n igh t i n mychamber by some myster ious f a t e , escaping a l ls landerous , b'3fore I complete such namelessdishonor. 21

he f i r s t words t h a t come to Dido ' s l i p s i n the sAme ci rcumstances

re a curse t h a t she c a l l s upon h e r s e l f . She exceeds Medea's hope

o r dea th by ca l l i ng upon J u p i t e r to c a s t h er down to Hades i f

ver she should so f o rg e t her promised f i d e l i t y and honor:

sed mihi vel t e l l u s optem pr ius ima deh i sca tve l pa te r omnipotens ad iga t me f u l m ~ n ead umbras,p a l l e n t i s umbras Erebi noctemque profundam,an te , Puder, Quam te vio lo aut tua i u r a r eso lve .i l l e meos, primus q u i me s i b i i u r u d t , amoresa b s t u l i t ; illP- habeat secum servetque sepulchre . 22

ome see i n Dido ' s curse upon h e r s e l f , Vlrgi . l ' s a t tempt to r e s t o r e

oet ic j u s t i c e fo r the sorrowful outcome of D i d o ' s l i f e . But

0 Aen. IV , 1 3 - 2 3 .1 Jrr'gon. I I I , 797 ..8 0 1 .2 Aen. IV, 24-30•



37

a th.er they are merely worc_s by which Dido hopes to awe h e r s e l f

nto f i d e l i t y to her word; they are the l a s t noble e f f o r t to s t ru g -

le aga ins t the t reacherous C u p i d ~

At t h i s po in t i n the nar ra t ive i t i s most f i t t i n g to

~ t i c ea most important po in t in both the Argonauticn and the

Aeneid: the ro les of the two s i s t e r s of the r espec t ive women play

n the s t o ry. Their p a r t s are s imi l a r in many ways. For Medea#

er s i s t e r # Chalciope# i s a confidant# one to whom she can speak

ut her thoughts . Yet Medea r e f ~ s e sto pour fo r th her s t o ry of

er love fo r Jason in to her s i s t e r ' s e a r. Chalciope i s indeed one

o be t r u s t e d , bu t Medea does not f u l l y t r u s t h er sec re t to anyone.

ido on the o ther hand has the f u l l e s t conf idence i n Anna, her s i s -

e r . Her candid admiss ion of her s t a t e of mind to Anna throughout

he four th Aeneid bespeaks kinsh ip between the two much deeper than

h ~ t between Medea and Chalc iope . In the Argonaut ica , Chalciope i s

n t e r e s t ed only i n h er sons; Anna in the Aeneid has no i n t e r e s t

eyond t h a t of serv ing her s i s t e r . Anna i s the p e r f ec t f o i l fo r

Dido's cha rac t e r, even as Chalciope i s fo r Medea. Anna's words of

or ldly wisdom warning Dido to f o rg e t the memory of a dead husbandnd t o consu l t her presen t i n t e r e s t gradua l ly undermines Dido ' s

eterminat ion to be f a i t h f u l to the memory of her former spouse.

i t h an inc reas ing ly sof ten ing a t t i t u d e Dido looks upon a Tro jan -

yr ian bond t h a t would r e s u l t from wedlock with Aeneas. Or aga in

Apollonius uses Chalc iope ' s i n t e rven t ion toserve the. purpose of a second p l o t and givea dramatic t u rn to the n a r r a t i v e ; Vi rg i l with



a j u s t s r apprec ia t ion of the ep ic makes nosuch use of Anna. Anna i s her s i s t e r ' s na tur a l counsel lor and f r i end who merges i n withth e s to ry and i s i n f ac t th e h e ro i n e ' s second( i f l e s s noble) s e l f . 23

38

In desc r ib ing the beau ty o f t h e i r ~ a i n c h a ra c t e r s , both

Apollonius and Vi rg i l go ~ a c kto Bomer. I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g here

or th e sake of comparison to see what both _poets have made out of

orrowed and p l i ab l e m a t e r i a l . The imagery i s much th e same i n

oth - admiring th rongs , youthfu l r e t i n u e , dancing nymphs, and

i n a l l y the use of the Diana s imi le to emphasize the beauty of

ach h e r o in e . Apollonius extended h is desc r ip t ion f u r t he r than

Vi r g i l :

And going f o r t h she r ~ e d e ; ; jmo,_mted on a swi f tchar io t and with her went two maidens on e a ~ h

s i d e . And she h e r s e l f took the r e i n s and i nher r i g h t hand the wel l - fash ioned whip, and drovethrough the c i t y ; and th e r e s t , the handmaids,l a i d t h e i r hands on the c h a r i o t behind and ranalong the broad h.tghway; and they k i l t e d t h e i r15.ght robes above t h e i r white knees·. Arid evenas by the mild waters of Par then ius , or a f t e rbathing i n the r i v e r Amnisus Leto 1 s daughters tands upon her golden cha r io t and cm1rses overthe h i l l s with her swi f t - foo ted r o e s to 3 r e e t:.:'rom a f a r some richly--stEJa:n::..ng ~ l c : c a " L : ) r r l · u ;andwith her come the nymphs i.n at tendance , ga the r

ing , some a t the spr ing of Amnisus i t s e l f , othersby the g lens and many-fountained peaks; andround her whine and fawn the t c 9 s t s cowering asshe moves along. 24 ·

Vi r g i l ' s d e s c r i p t i o n i s b u i l t upon the same Homeric model as the

bove l i n e s of Apol lon ius .

3 r:enry., 1 0 5 .4 Argon. I I I , 868-885 .



Haec durn Dardanio Aeneae miranda v iden tu r,·durn s tupe t obtutuque h ae r e t def ixus i n uno,reg ina ad ternplurn, forma pulcherr ima Dido,i n c e s s i t , magna luvenu.rn s t i p a n t e ca t e r v a .qua l i s i n Eurotae r i p i s au t per i,J_,_;a Cynthiexerce t Diana c h o r i s , qua J : , l i l le secutaehinc a t que hinc glomerantu.r Oreades; i l l apharet ramf e r t urnero gradiensque deas supereminet ornnis;Latonae tac i turn per temptant gaudia pec tu s :t a l i s e r a t ·Dido, ta lem se l a e t a f e r eb a tper medics, i n s t an s oper i regnisque f u t u r i s . 25

omparing the above descr ip t ions we cannot he lp bu t admire the

39

ne work of both poets . In t h i s Qescr ip t ion of Apol lonius we

eter. t none of the f a u l t s t h a t sometimes mar h i s e f f o r t s : too g r ea t

i sp lay of l e a rn i n g , pedant ry or obscu r i ty. Vi r g i l ' s , t oo , i s no

n f e r i o r e f f o r t ; but here Vi rg i l must y i e l d th e palrll to h1 s Alexan

r ine predecessor.

When Medea f inds t h a t th e Are;onauts a re undecided whether

o r e t u rn her to her f a t h e r ' s house or to br ing her wi th them to

i e l l a s ,she c a l l s Jason as ide from th e throng and with angry words

onfron t s him with t h i s accusa t ion :

What i s t h i s purpooe t h a t ye are now devis ingabout me, 0 son of Aeson'! Has thy t r iumph u t t e r -ly c a s t f o rg e t f u ln e s s upon t hee , and r eck es t thou

noth ing of a l l t h a t thou spakes t when held f a s tby necess i ty? 26

ote the same r e a c t i o n and s i m i l a r i t y of language when Dido l ea rns

f Aeneas' .planned depa r tu re ; she cannot conceal h e r b i t t e r n e s s .

Diss:tmulare et iam s p e r a s t i , p e r f i d e , tantum

5 Aen. I , 494•504.Argon. IV, 355•358.



posse nefas t ac i tu sque mea decedere t e r r a?nee te nos te r amor nee t e da ta dex te ra quondamnee mori tu ra t en e t crudel:t funere Dido? 27

40

The i n e v i t a b l e psycho log ica l reac t ion s e t in again fo r both hero -

n e ~ 1 . I.iedea immediately reca l l ed a l l the su ffe r ings and s a c r i f i c e

ha t she had undergone fo r ' J a s o n 1 s sake . She raged a t the b l ack

n g ra t i t u d e of the son of Aeson:

I have l e f t my country, the g l o r i e s of myhome and even my paren t s - - th ings t h a t weredeares t to me; an.d f a r away a l l alone I amborne over · the sea with the p l a i n t i ve king-

f i she r s because of thy t r o ~ b l e ,i n order t h a tI might save thy l i f e i n f u l f i l l i n g the con-t e s t s with the oxen and ear thborn men. Las tof a l l the f l eece - - when the mat ter becameknown, i t was by my f o l l y thon 1 i d s t win ~ . t ;

and fou l reproach have I poured on womankind. .28

or Dido, t o ~ ; Aeneast i n g ra t i t u d e i s hardes t to bear. Her l i t a n y

f woes r P v e ~ l e dh er love of Aeneas and a lso sympathe t i ca l l y showe

what a high pr ice she had paid fo r i t :

t e r r o p t e r Libycae gentes Nomadumque t y r ann iodere , i n f en s i Ty r i i ; te prop te r euridem ·exs t inc tus pudor e t , qua so la s ide ra adibam,fama p r i o r . cu i me moribundam d e s e r i s , hospes,hoc solum nomen quoniam de con:tuge r e s t a t ? 29

And l a s t l y i n t h e i r fu ry, both women fol low the same

ourse , curs ing t h e i r l over s and ca l l ing the d i r e s t t h r ea t s of

he powers of heaven down upon them. I t i s , as i f r ea l i z i ng t h e i r

wn f a i l u r ~and powerlessness to s top the plans of Jason and Aeneas

h e ~ c a l l upon the gods to be t h e i r avengers . The Eumenides,



41

s the Avengers of the wronged are inv9ked i n both prayers .

e d e a • swords are ca lcu la ted to force Jason to change h is p lans :

What revenge 1 what heavy calami ty s h a l l In ot endure in agony fo r the t e r r i b l e deedsI have done? And w i l t thou win the r e tu rnth9 t thy hea r t des i res? Never may · zeus ' sbr ide , the queen of a l l , in whom thou dostg lo ry, br ing t h a t to pass . Mayst thou somet ime remember me when thou a r t racked withangulsh; may the f leece l ike a dream vanishin to the ne the r darkness on the wings of thewindJ And may my avenging F'uries fo r thwi thdr ive thee from thy count ry, fo r a l l t h a t Ihave suffered through thy crue l tyJ These

curses w i l l not be allowed to f a l lu n a c c o m ~

pl ished to the ground. A mighty oath has tthou t r ansgres sed , ru th lese one; but not longs h a l t thou and thy c o m r ~ d e ss i t a t ease c a s t - .ing eyes of mockery upon me, fo r a l l your covenants . 30

Dido's curse upon Aeneas d i f f e r s s l ig :1 t ly i n i t s des i red e ff e c t

rom t h a t of Medea. upon Jason. The curse of Dido i s t h a t of a

person who r e a l i z e s t h a t · t h e l a s t ray of hope has vanished and

l l t h a t i s l e f t i s s t a r k , cold vengeance. Nowhere i s i t more

le a r ly manifes t than here t h a t ' love turned to hate i s the t e r -

i t l e kind of hateJ In her cuiJse., Dido runs through a l i s t of

i v i n i t i e s , the Sun, Juno, Hecate., the F u r ~ _ e sand a l l the minor

de5t ies of Tyr ian.name:Sol , qui terrarum flammis opera omnia l u s t r a s ,tuque harum i n t e rp r e s curarum e t conscia Jt::.n0 1n o c t ~ r n i s q u eHecate t r i v i i s u lu la t a per urbese t d i r a e Ul t r i ce s e t di morien t i s E l i s sae ,acc i p i t e haec , mer:tturnque mal is adve r t i t e numene t nos t ra s audi ta preces . s i t angere por tus

0 Argon. IV, 379-390 .



infandu.111 caput ac t e r r i s adnare necesse e s t ,e t s i c f a t a Iov i s poscunt , h ie terminus h a e r e t :a t be l lo audac i s populi vexatus e t armis ,f i n ib u s e x t o r r i s , complexu avolsus I u l i ,auxi l ium imp lo re t videatque indigna suorum. funera; nee , cum se sub l eges pac i s in iquaet r a d i d e r i t , regno au t op ta t a luce f r ua t u r,sed cadat ante ·d iem nediaque inhumatus harena. 31

42

Two minor po in t s t h a t help to fu r t h e r bo l s t e r the c lose

a r a l l e l s between Vi r g i l and Apollonius are tho dreams of Dido and

~ e d e aand th e i n t r o d u c t i o n of magic ceremonies i n to the s t o ry of

ido. Both of t hese po in t s a re borrowed from the Argonaut ica .

n the Alexandrine e p i c , the dream of Medea i s a pleasan t episode

n which she p i c t u re s to h e r s e l f t h a t Jason was s ~ a n tt o Col chi a·

u s t fo r her. Then i n h er land of m a k e ~ b e l i e v e ,she marr ies him

i th the b les s ing of her f a t he r. Vi r g i l , on the o ther hand., uses

~ edream episode f o r a d j f f e r e n t purpose. Dido ' s dream i s j u s t32 1

efore Aeneas• depa r tu re and merely adds to her f renzy and

eightens the a l ready s t r a i n e d atmosphere i n the Car thag in ian c i t y .

ido even t u rn s to magic ceremonies in her despera t ion but her

ai ls to the heavenly powers go unanswered. In the Argonaut ica

pol lonius makes Medea to be a wielder of magic a r t s . Argus speaks

hese words i n the t h i r d book:

There i s a maiden, nur tured i n the h a l l s ofAeetes , whom the goddess Hecate t aught to han-d le magic herbs with exceeding s k i l l - - a l lt h a t the land and flowing waters produce.With them i s quenched the b l a s t of unwearied

1 Aen. IV, 6 0 7 ~ 6 2 0 .

2 IOfd. I V ~ 4 6 6 ~ 4 7 0 .



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -43

'f lame, and a t once she s tays the course ofr1.vers as they rush roar ing on, and checksthe s t a r s and the paths of th e sacred moon. 33

i rg i l adopted the use of magic fo r Dido though he makes her prow

s t t h a t she tu rns to i t aga ins t her w i l l . The s tay ing of the

ourse of r i v.ers and the turninc; of the s t a r s in the sky seem to

the examples of div ine power Vi rg i l owed to Apollonius . The

xact s ign i f i ca t ion of these ceremonies i s not too c l e a r bu t V i r ~

l ' s source i n us ing them i s p l a i n enough. Dido speaks to Anna:

hinc mihi Massylae g e n t i s monstrata sacerdos 1Hesperidum templ i cus tos , epulasque draconiquae dabat e t sacros servabat i n arbore ramos,spargens umida mella sopor1.ferumque papaver .haec se carminibus p r om i t t i t s o l v e r ~mentesquas v e l i t , a s t a l i i s duras irn.mitere curas ;s i s t e r e aquam f l u v i i s e t v e r t e r e a:tdera r e t r o ; 34

Even the cave scene in the Aeneid where the marr iage of35

eneas and Dido was ce leb ra ted i s but a counterpar t of the cave36

ene i n the Argonaut ica i n which Jason and Medea are wed.

Apollonius was very c lever in handl ing h is p lo t inasmuch

he nowhere bound Jason to Medea by an e x p l i c i t and spoken pro

ise . Consequently nowhere i s i t possible t o l eve l any charges

gains t Jason of unfa i th fu lness or d e f in i t e at tempt to hoodwink

edea. In t h i s po in t , Vi rg i l has fol lowed Apol lon ius . In f a c t

e n ~ a sdenies he ever bel ieved he was en te r ing i n t o a marriage con-

3 Argon. I I I , 529-539.

Aen. IV, 483*489.5 IOI'd. IV, 160 f f .Argon. IV, 1128 f f .



r a c t with Dido. This i s no at tempt to "white-wash" the charac . te r

f Aeneas; but amidst the many passa0es avowing Dido 's love and

opes fo r marriage# the t e ~ t i s s t r ange ly s i l e n t regard ing Aeneas•

c tu a l words to Dido. Assuredly we are led to be l i eve as theour th book progresses t h a t the f e e l l n g between the two was one of

mutual a f f ec t i on ; but Vi rg i l handles i t s k i l l f u l l y by never comw

mit t ing Aeneas to a spoken promise of marr iage which would l a t e r

e fo rced asunder.

Thus f a r our comparisons have a l l been between the hero -

ne s ; but not because th.e heroes do not lend tl:le:rnsel ves to many

ointB of s i m i l a r i t y but r a t he r because th e d i v e r g e n ~ eof t h e i r

harac te rs i s so complete. Aeneas i s by f a r the more appeal ing of

he two. He has more co lo r, courage and appeal than Jason. J a s o

en know t h a t he i s no l eade r of men·, while th e T:t"ojans i n t h e i r

i s e r i e s look upon pius Aeneas as one to lead them to the land of37

es t iny.

One o ther f ine echo i s found i n both poets . Apollonius) ,

hows h is Alexandrine weakness by an overfondness fo r Jc. IL q 1

h a t i s , the unfo ld ing o f the mythologica l or ign i s of persons#

laces and events• Founding of towns and v i l l ages , or exp lana t ions

f the beginnj_ngs of r e l i g i ou s r i t e s connectec; with some p a r t i c u l a r

7 Cf. Rand 398 f f . f o r d e t a i l e d ana ly s i s of the charac te rs ofJason and Aeneas as w el l as an ex ce l l en t comparison of the

hero ines Dido and Medea; the supe r i o r i t y of Aeneas over theArgonaut hero i s most evident :tn Rand 1 s t r ea tmen t .



ace are s c a t t e r e d t ~ o u g h o u tthe poem. In the middle of adven-

resome episfvies Apollonius was wont to come out with a remem ..

ance of a l i t t l e -known myth, t r ac ing i t s o r i g i n , or again ~ n g

me anc ien t epic ch a r ac t e r i n close connect ion with the myth. The

ythologica l o r i g i n s i n themselves are not bad, fo r a ce r t a i n

mount of such mate r i a l se rves to sp ice and f l a v o r a s t o ry of epic

opor t ions and make i t ;more impress ive . Rather i t i s the abuse;I '

such mate r i a l t h a t makes these « . J i t . ~ ' - at i resome, monotonous co l .

'

c t i on of f a c t s , marringt ~ e

beauty of the ep ic . Vi rg i l , recog ..I ,

z ing the value of these i I 'T c. cl.l., showed g r e a t s k i l l and good

s t e i n sca t t e r i ng a few throughout the Aeneid. No doubt i n h is ·

ars spent in gather ing mater ia l he had · co l lec ted a wealth of such

t t a r . However, he chose j u s t a . few, j u s t enough to lend va r i e t y

nd background. By t h i s wise se lec t ion , he s a t i s f i e d readers who

pected them, without a t th e same time al lowing them to d u l l the

s t r e of h is s to ry.

After a review of the f a c t s in these pa3es we are much

t t e r qua l i f i ed and prepared to unders tand j u s t what Macrobius

d Servius meant when they made such a s t rong l i t e r a r y connect iontween Vi rg i l and Apolloni, ls . The s ta tement t h a t Vi rg i l was as

l l acquainted with the Argonautica as he was with the I l i a d or

e Odyssey i s now c l ea r. Vi rg i l borrowed from Apollonius but he

s not content to r e s t t he re . Al l · t he sugges t ions and ideas t h a t

cu l led would amount to nothing i f he merely re ..assembled them.

edea indeed s t i r r e d h is fancy but Dido could not be the exact



46

upl ica te of Medea. For Dido was the mature queen of C a r t h a g ea

widowed wife 1t : ~ e power behind the Tyrian t h rone ; Medea even ad-

mit t ing her wonderful d e l i n ea t i o n by Apol lonius , i s a f t e r a l l ,

~ t a maiden fac ing moral i s sues fo r th e f i r s t t ime . She i s a

i r l without a h i n t of grea tness except the r a t he r dubious honor

of being a wielder of magic a r t s under Heca te ' s power. The many

t r i k i ng s i m i l a r i t i e s o b s e ~ v e di n these pages are the po in t s

where Vi rg i l cons ide red i m i t a t i o n would bes t br ing out h is hero-

n e ' s t rue charac te r. What he has borrowed., he has used w el l and,n a l l f a i rn e s s to Apollonius and h is Alexandrine gen ius , the

harac te r of Dido i s f a r more powerful ly conceived and drawn than

h a t of Medea, th e maiden p r i n c ~ s sof Colch i s .



CHAPTER IV

NAEVIUS AND THE FOURTH AENEID

In v e s t i g a t i n g t ~ e sources of th e fou r th book of the

Aeneid, we f ind t h a t one of the d i f f i c u l t problems to s e t t l e c a t e -

o r i ca l l y i s th e ques t ion whether or no t Vi rg i l invented the Dido

to ry. s ~ r e l yt h a t p a r t of the Aeneid which the modern r ead e r,

t l e a s t , f inds most deeply moving deserves our spec ta l a t t e n t i o n .

W·1ence came th e idea fo r the Dido episode i n th e s to ry of Aeneas

nd h is wanderings?

I f Vi rg i l himsel f was wholly r espons ib le fo r the sources

nd the charac te r of Dido, h is g lo ry i s so much th e g re a t e r, but

uch seems no t to be th e case . Indeed one th ing ulone can be

e r t a i n l y s t a t ed a t _the s t a r t of t h i s inves t i 'ga t ion before a b i t

f evidence has been examined: ~ e r.annot determine ca t ego r i ca l l y

f Vi r 5 i l invented the meeting and love s to ry o i ' Aeneas and Dido.

Ye·t by examinj_ng the frae,ments t h a t reMain, a s t rong case can be

rgued fo r a t t r i b u t i n g the meeting of Aeneas and Dido to Naevius,

he Roman dramatic poet who l ived about th e t ime of the Second

unic War.

Even when he f i r s t dreamed of wr:t t ing an epicpoem on the s to ry of Rome, Vi rg i l doubt lessr ea l i z ed t h a t he must, i n some way, combinelegend and h i s t o r y. Naevius and Ennius hades tab l i shed fo r a l l the t imes th e convent ionof going back to beginnings , and of f ind ing



____________________________________________ __ _

1

these beginnings i n the Trojan-Roman s to r y.

I t i s unfor tuna te t h a t t he re remain but scanty f ragments

with which we may work but cons iderab le l i g h t j_s thrown on the

ues t i on by the s ta tements of seve ra l of the ancien t c o ~ ' T I . e n t a

nd c r i t i c s of Vi r g i l , espec ia l ly Servius and Macrobius. From

hese fragments even though they a re bu t i nd i ca t i ve , we can argue

o the p r obac i l i t y t h a t i t was Naevius who f i r s t brought Aeneas

nd Dido toge ther ; Vi rg i l , takinG the bare ou t l ines of the Naevian

to ry, fashioned i t i n t o the Dido episode. We are wel l aware t ~ a

2hera i s scho la r ly oppos i t ion on the ·par t of some authors to a t ~

r i bu t i ng the meeting of Aeneas and Dido to Naevius. We b e l i e v e ,

owever, t h a t the f ac t s can be so i n t e r p r e t a t ed as to warrant the

ta tement t h a t i t was Naevius who brought about the meeting of

eneas and Dido.

The e s t a t l i s h i n g of the connect ion between Naevius ' s'

ellum Punicum fragments and the Trojan s to ry i s very simply done.

e are indebted to Serv ius fo r prese rv ing the f i r s t fragment we

h a l l use . In t h i s f i r s t fragment Naevius goes back to the f i r s t

eg innings of Trojan-Roman h i s t o r y, br inging us the p ic tu re of

eneas and Anr-hises l eav ing Troy with t h e i r wives . Thus reads Ser-

us 1 s cormnent on l i n e te n of the I I I Aeneid:

' L i t e r a cum p a t r i a e lacr imans 1 Amat poe ta quae: J eg i t immutata a l iqua par te v e l personis i p s i s

Knapp, 201.Duff, 1 3 2 ; Ynapp, 203 .



verb:ts p ro fe r r e . Naevius enim i n d u x i t uxoresAeneae e t Anchi ses cu.r.1. l ac r imis I l ium re l inc luent e s h is v e r b i s · · -

Amborum uxoresnoctu Troiad ex iban t capi t : tbus o p e r t i s 1

f l en t e s ambae aoeuntes l a c r ~ m i scum m u l t i s . 3

4 9

ra3ments e igh t 1 nine and ten f u r t he r bo l s t e r the connect ion of

Aeneas and h is wanderings with the poem of Naevius. Again we owe

he prese rva t ion of the l i n e s to Servius . In h i s commentary on

Aeneid, I I , 797 1 he w r i t e s :

Naevius B e l l i Punic i primo de Anchisa e tAenea fug ien t ibus haec a i t - ~ -I 4

'Eorum sectam sequuntur mul t i mor ta les '- 5

Ecce hoc e s t ' i nvenio admirans numerum'

Servius con t inues to comment on the Aeneid and by s t a t i n g Vi r g i l ' s

oc i i n Naevius, he proves Vi r g i l ' s c l o s ~ eacquaintance and use of

Bellum Punicum:6

'Mul t i a l i i e Troia s t r e n u i v i r i ••• r7

Ecce h i aunt 1 animis •• • p a ra t i 1 ( ~ . I I , 799)

The t e n t h fragment of Naovius formed Vi r g i l ' s model f 'or l ine. 799

n the second Aeneid:

81 Ubi fo ras cum auro i l l i c ex ib an t '

Ecce e t r'opibus i n s t r u c t i ' (Aen. I I , 799)9

Naevi u s , Bellum Punicum, Li b e r Pr,_mus, fragment 5•7 , Remains ofOld Lat in , t r an s l a t ed by E . l l . Warmington, r;ondon, 1936 1 48.

I b i d . , fragment 8 .Servius , I I , 797.

Naevius, fragment 9.Servius , I I , 7 9 9 .Yaevius, fragment 10.Serv ius I I '799



5 0

hat Naevi11s sa id something about th e sh ip t h a t was t o ca r ry

eneas i n h is wanderings i s apparen t from th e note 'o f Serv ius on

eneid, I 1 170::

Naevius Bel lo Punico d i c i t unam navem habuisseAeneam quam Mercurius f e c e r i t ,

Hence from th e fragmants we can argue to a g en e ra l indebtedness

f V:trgi l to Naevius. But what about a Dido 'episode i n Naevius?

s y et we have no r i g h t to i n f e r anyth:tng. Such s ta tements of

ervius as the fo l lowing comment on Aeneas•s w o r ~ sof courage to

i s comrades: 11 Et t o t u s hie locus de Naevii E e l l i Punic i Libro10

r a n s l a t u a e s t . " make Vi r g i l ' s genera l debt c l e a r .

We s h a l l proceed fu r t h e r i n our e f f o r t to e s t a b l i s h th e

lose connect ion betvreen Naevi us and, t l ~ J " ,s to ry of Aeneas and h is

anderings. Macrobiua w r i t e s :

In p r in c ip i a Aeneidos tempestas d e s c r i b i t u re t Venus apud Jovem quer i tu r de p e r i c u l i s f i l i i ,e t · J u p p i t e r eam de futurorum p ro s p e r i t a t e so la ..t u r . Hie t o tua locus su."'lptus a Uaevio e s t exprimo I IDro B el l i Pun ic i , i l l i c en1m aeque Ve-nus Tro ian i s t empes ta te l abo ran t ibus oum Joveq u e r i t u r e t aecuntur verba Jov i s f i l i a m conso-l a n t i s ape fu turorum. 11

is words a t t e s t to th e f a c t t h a t Vi r g i l ' s use of div ine machinery

hereby Venus complains to J u p i t e r i n beha l f of Aeneas, her son,

nd r ece ives from the Fa ther of the gods a comfort ing r e p l y ~found

s exac t coun te rpa r t i n the f i r s t book of Naevius ' s Punic War.- - - _ _ ; ; . ~-

b . S a r v iu s , I , 198 ,Macrobius,VI, 2 1 ( i t a l i c s mine) .



51

A ll t h a t we have been t ry ing to e s t a b l i s h thus f a r i s the

ose r e l a t i o n s h ip t h a t e x i s t s between the l o s t fragments of Nae-

us and the s to ry of Aeneas as found i n Vi rg i l . The anc ien t com-

enta tors had much, perhaps a l l , of Naevius 1 s t e x t a t t h e i r d i s -

osal and t h e i r c0mments have given us b r i e f glimpses i n t o the

mportant conpect ion between Vi rg i l and Naevius in the s to ry of

eneas and h is Trojans . I t i s clear. , then , t h a t Naevius d id t e l l

uch of the s to ry of Aeneas, h is wanderings and. adventures . The

ojan hero and f o ~ n d e rof Rome formed the sub jec t matte r of the

a r ly p a r t of h is dramatic poem.

The f i r s t mention of Dido i s in a pure ly h i s t o r i c a l con ..

ec t ion . Timaeus the·· Greek h i stor1 an of · the t h i r d century B.C. 1

12entions h e r · i n a fragment which' t e l l s her s to ry. Refer r ing to

e r a sE l i s s a , he r e l a t e s t h a t when Dido ' s bro the r, the king of the

yrians, k i l l s Dido ' s husband, she, with a chosen band of c i t i z e n s

t up a regime i n Llbya. Rather than submit to a d i s t a s t e f u l

arriage with a neighboring king in Libya, · she chose ra t t . e r to

uild a pyre and cas t h e r s e l f upon i t in su ic ide . Timaeus makes

mention of Anna, Dido's s i s t e r in the f ragment .

Much more of Dido ' s s t o r y and background i s preserved i n

h e account of Jus t i n , a Roman,his tor ian of the second century of

h e Chr i s t i an era . Probably using the complete t e x t of Timaeus i n'

2 Timaeus 1 :F'raginenta Hi a t o r i corum Graecorum, ed i ted by CharleBand Theodore Muel ler, Edi to re Ambrosio Firmin Didot , I n s t i t u t aFranc ise typographo. 1 8 7 4 ~Vol. I , 1 9 7 ~f r a ~ . 23.



5213

r i t ing h i s La t in accoun t , he t e l l s t h a t Dido r . : ~ . a r r i e dh er u n c l e .

hen Pygmalion, her husband 's s l aye r and .he r blood bro ther d id h is

u l deed, she with a chosen sa i l ed t o the shores of Afr i ca . O b ~

i n ing enough l and to found a c i t y by the ruse of c u t t i n g up a

u l l ' s hide so as to cover a g r ea t expanse, she s t a r t e d bu i ld ing

c i t y . I a rb a s , a neighbor ing barbar ian king , t r i e d to fo rce her

. n t oa d i s t a s t e f u l marr iage but Dido s t i l l proved l o y a l to h er f i r s

usband. Pre tend ing to accep t the c h i e f t a i n ' s o ff e r, she made

repara t ions and f i n a l l y , l i g h t in g up a pyre , · she cas t h e r s e l f

on i t to d i e . As i s p a t en t , i n ne i t he r of these two h i s t o r i c a l

counts i s there any mention of Aeneas. Any mention 0f Dido 's

s t e r , Anna, i s also conspicuous by i t s absence .

~ r o mTimaeus and Jus t i n we can ga the r in format ion r e -

arding Dido but i n these au thors we f ind no f a c t s t h a t a t t e s t to -

eneas and Dido being t oge the r a t Carthage. Since these sources

i . l to supply the necessary nexus we. are seeking , o ther sources .

ust provide th e m a t e r i a l . No !loman wr i t e r before Naevius makes

ention of Dido, the queen of Carthage nor does any of them bri.ng

eneas i n t o Dido ' s l i f e a t Carthage.

The f i r s t l i n k we have i n the Dido-Aeneas s t o ry i s i n

imoortant sentence i n the comrrtentary of Serv ius . Very casua l ly

gives us a l ead of consequence when he comments on th e n i n t h

Jus t i n , The Delphin Class ics with Variorum n0 tes , Gurante e t Impr imente A. J . Valpy, A.M., London, 1922, Vol. I , XVIII , 6 .



53

n e of th e four th Aeneid, where Dido addresses Anna, her s i s t e r :

cujus f i l i a e f u e r i n t Anna e ~ Dido Naevius d i c i t .

rom t h i s s ta tement i t i s evident t h a t Naevius , as wel l as Vi r g i l ,

new Dido and Anna as two separa te persons . Also ano ther f a c t

ecomes c l e a r. Naevius i n wri t ing h i s h i s t o r y was the f i r s t wr i t e r

o inc lude both the charac te r s of Aeneas and Dido i n h is work•

ervius adds a s t i l l s t ronger l i nk to the chain of evidence with

hese words:

Varro a i t 1 non Didonem, sed Annam, amore Aeneaeimpulsum se super rogum in te remis se . 14

h e above words of Serv ius are a very good argument fo r suppor t ing

he view t h a t Naevius brought Aeneas and Dido toge ther. . For here

s Varro, a contemporary of Cicero , saying t h a t Anna and not Dido

was th e one who k i l l e d h e r s e l f fo r love of Aeneas. Evident ly some

omans knew the s to ry naming Dido as dying· fo r love of Aeneas; but

here could they have become acqua in ted with such a s to ry? No

ention of Dido can be found in preceding Roman wr i t e r s and no

ubsequent Roman wr i t e r handled these charac te r s u n t i l Vi rg i l wrote

he Aeneid. But obviously someone worked out th e Dido legend,

therwise how could Varro make such a s ta tement? A very l og i ca lnference we could make i s t h a t Naevh1s i n h is l o s t fragments gave

h i ~ s t o ry to Roman t r a d i t i o n and Vi rg i l fashioned the raw mate r i a l

.,.to th e s to ry in th e four th Aeneid. Again, too , Varro r s mention

f Anna i s t r u l y reminiscent of Naevius . l<'or Anna i s absen t i n

4 Serv ius , IV, 682.



:t;4

e Greek scurries and i n o the r Roman wr i t e r s before Vi r g i l , oxc • p t

Naevius . Var ro ' s purpose in naming Anna r a t h e r than Dido was

r econc i le th e h i s t o r i c a l and poet ic t r a d i t i o n . The former s t a -

d t h a t D i d ~k i l l e d h e r s e l f out of love fo r her husband, th e l a t -

r t h a t she k i l l e d he r se l f out of love fo r Aeneas. Varro recon-

l ed th e two b y naming Anna as th e one who died fo r love of

eneas. However the r e a l importance of Varro 1 s s ta tement i s a

hronologica l one: a genera t ion before Vi rg i l th e s to ry of Dido

ing fo r love of Aeneas was known a t Rome. 'Ne contend t h a t N a ~ -

us gave the germ of the s to ry i n h is Bellum P u n i c ~ n .The f a c t

a t Naevi us an•1 Vi rg i l both used the charac te r of Anna, Dido 's

s t e r i s ano ther po in t i n favor of our hypothes i s .

Now l e t us turn our a t t e n t io n t ~ the most i ~ p o r t a n tf r a g •

ent of a11. On i t s c o r r e c t in te rp re ta t : ton w i l l depend a s t rong

gument fo r attr1_buting th e meet ing of A e n e a ~and Dido to Naevius .

hough we have a l ready given severa l good arguments in suppor t of

r s tand , t h i s i s one of the most impoPtan t :

blande e t docte percon ta t Aeneas quo pactoTroiam urbem l i q u i s s e t . 15

onius Marce l lus , a grammarian of the four th century A.D., i s re ..

onsible f-:>r the fragment.. He c i t e s t h i s verse of Naevi us twice

t ne i t he r time does he mention the con tex t of Naevius from whichI

took the verse . The f i r s t t ime he quotes the l i n e s to demon ..

5 Naevlus , frae;. 15.



56

way could be c lea red fo r a Dido episode - an i n t r i gue wblch th e

watchfu l eye of Anchises would have quick ly d i scovered and have19

aver ted fo r Aeneas. As to th e ques t ion proposed by Knap!).,

whether Aeneas i s th e sub jec t of percon ta t or l i q u i s s e t , Pease

ably answers: " the s t rong d iv i s jon between the halves of the

Saturn ian verse between percon ta t and Aeneas makes the former20

much l e s s n a tu ra l . " On the sub jec t of t h i s impor tan t fragment

of Naevius a chronologica l d i f f i c u l t y has been proposed which,

f t r u e , could cons iderably weaken any a t t r i b u t i n g of the meeting

of Aeneas and Dido to Naevius . Wight ..Duff thus IJroposes the

d i f f i c u l t y :

Apparent ly both Naevius and Ennius push th efoundat ion of Rome back to a period contempo-r a n ~ o u swith t h a t of Car thage , · and they makeRomulus, th e founder of Rome, a grandson of

Aeneas. Aeneas, then , must hsve reached I t a l ybefore the founda t ion of Carthage; and the wordsof Naevius , ' b l ande e t docte percon ta t Aeneasquo pacto Troiam urbem l iqu i s8 :3 t , ' i n whichsome have impuls i v·ely seen Dido ' s reques t t h a the should, as i n Virgi l# recoun t the ' unu t te rab lewoe' of the downfal l of Troy, may be more ap-p r op r i a t e l y, i f l e s s roman t i ca l ly, be r e fe r redto old King L'..:t:tnus. 21

We r ead i l y admit th e p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t i t could be old La t inus

or fo r t h a t mat t e r any charac te r Aeneas might have met i n h is

r ave l s and v1hich Naevius might have included i n h is poem. But

ure ly th e evidence does no t poin t t n a t way. For cor robora t ion

9 Knapp, 2 0 2 ~ 2 0 3 .

0 .:?ease, 20.1 D u f f , 132.,



57

of h is s ta tement , Duff appea l s to th e comment of 'Se rv iu s on l i n e

72 of th e f i r e t Aeneid as h is r e fe rence . Servius wri tes i n

or,ment:

E r a t o s t ~ e n e sAscani i , Aeneae f i l i i , Romulumparentem u rb i s r ~ f e r t . Naevius e t ZnniusAeneae ex f i l i a nepotem Romulum conditoremu r b i s .

Viith the above comment i n mind, we can r ead i l y see the a u t h o r i t y

o r Duff ' s s ta tement t h a t Naevius and Ennius make Romulus the

o ~ ~ d e rof Rome and grandson of Aeneas. But the f i r s t p a r t of

is s ta tement t h a t a s s e r t s t hP t "appa ren t ly bnth Ennius and Nae-

vius push the founda t ions o f Rome back to a period contempora

eous with t h a t of Car thage ," has no subs t an t i a t i on e i th e r i n

nnius or Naevius . True, Haevius r e l a t e d the or ig ins of both

oun t r i e s but th e n a r r a t i o n of the ear ly beginnings of both

oun t r i e s by no means necess i t a t e s t h e i r sin1ultaneous o r j g i n .

)uff i s not argu:!.ng from h i s t o r i c a l evidence, fo r here h i s , s t a t e -

ment would be mani fe s t ly wrong. The o r i g i n of Carthage under22

Dido i s s e t a t about 850 B.C. While'l "most Roman h i s t o r i a n s23 .

a te the founding of Rome a t abnut 753 L.C." And s ince the re

eems to be no evidence fo r be l iev ing the s imultaneous o r i g i n ofome and Carthage i n Naevius , t he re i s no i n t e r n a l con t rad ic t ion

n naming Dido as the quest ioner and Aeneas the one quest ioned

n the fragment under cons idera t ion . The cumulat ive evidence

2 Alfred J. Church, Carthage, G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York,1901, XI.

3 Charles W. Reinhard t , An Outl ine of Roman His tory, E. HerderBook Co., S t . Louis , 1 ~ 9 , 5.



58

a th e r favors such an i n t e r p r e t a t i o n .

Heinze quotes Macrobius as saying t h a t Vi rg i l f a l s i f i e d24

h e Dido t r a d i t i o n . Why would Vi rg i l f a l s i f y the Dido t r a d i t i o n

nd i n what way i s Heinze ' s s ta tement to be understood? Fowler

hus expla ins why Vi rg i l changed the h i s t o r i c a l t r a d i t i o n of

i d odying Cl'}_t of love fo r her husband. to th e s to ry found i n the

ourth Aeneid.

Vi rg i l a l t e r ed th e s to ry i n order to c o n t r a s t

the fu ry of ungovernable love , love of theanimal t ype , with the s e t t l e a order, a f f ec t i onand obedience of the R o ~ a nf ~ m i l yl i f e . 25

Whether one would agree en t i r e l y ' with Fowler 1 s opinion i s very

o u b t f u lbut t h i s much i s c l e a r, the Aeneid i s the s t o ry of

e n e a sthe founder of Rome. The h i s t o r i c a l o r i g i na l t r a d i t i o n

f Dido was out of place i n th e n a r r a t i o n of th e wanderings of

e n e a ssimply because i n such a n a r r a t i v e Aeneas the hero would

ot have a prominent r o l e . By a l t e r i n g t!1e h i s t o r i c a l t r a d i t i o n

nd fo l lowing the poet ic t r a d i t i o n he was b e t t e r able t o ob ta in

he pa t he t i c , h i s t o r i c a l , r e l i g i o u s , and t e ch n i ca l advantages

we have a l ready pointed out i n th e second chap ter. Vi rg i l seems

more than j u s t i f i e d in deser t ing th e h i s t o r i c a l t r a d i t i o n of

Dido when we behold the wonderful l i t e r a r y beauty i n the s to ry

f Dido.

4 Heinze, 11 5 .

5 Fowler, Roman Essays and I n t e r p r e t a t i o n s , 185.



59

Vv11y, t hen , i f we have so much evidence on the word of

he c o r a m e n t a t ~ r s ,do we not f ind Servius or Macrobius orJNonius

Mentioning the f ac t t h a t Naevius connected Dido and Aeneas and

brought Aeneas to Carthage? Such a ques t ion must remain unans

werable fo r there i s no adequate response to th e argument from

s i l e n c e . To a rgue , however from what people should have sa id

n a given c ircumstance i s much more u n s a t i s f a c t o ry than working

with what they a c t u a l l y ~s a id . I f we may with p r obab i l i t y.

asc r ibe the Dido-Aeneas l i a s o n to Naevius,i t

was indeed a s t rokeof g r ea t geni 1.:s and an a::;:,propria te and n a t u ra l . means of moti va

i o n fo r the Punic Wars. The evidence i s t he re and a sympathe

i c i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the f ac t s can br ing i t ou t without going

beyond t ~ e bounds of reason and t r u t h . Jus t how de ta i l ed any

matory episode between Aeneaa and Dido r e a l l y was i n Naevius 1 s

work would be j u s t mere con jec tu re on our p a r t . We do not

n e c e s s a r i l y claim t h a t such a d e t a i l e d love s to ry appeared i n

Naevius as we f ind i t i n the A e n e ~ - d ~Our po in t i s wel l proved

f Naevius mere ly brought Aeneas to Carthage and Dido.

Hames and a u t h o r i t i e s can o ff e r no s a t i s f a c t o r y so lu •i on fo r opinions are so a t ·var iance. We have discussed the

ros and cons offe r ed by respec t ]ve au thors and be l i eve we have

n t e rp re t e d the f ac t s f a i r l y and co r r ec t l y. I t cen a lso be

r u t h f u l l y as s e r t ed t h a t the t r end of more recen t scho larsh ip

eems to coincide wi th the view taken jn t h i s t h e s i s as the more

ympathet ic one. In speaking of t h i s ques t ion , Presco t t i n h is



CHAPTER V

CATULLUS AND THE FOURTH AENEID

We have discussed the h i s t o r i c a l and poet ic t r a d i t i o n

of th e s to ry of Aeneas and Dido, t r a c in g the in f luence of Apol-

on ius of Rhodes on Vi rg i l i n the d e l i n ea t i o n of Dido ' s charac-

e r . Our i n v e s t i g a t i o n , however, would remain incomplete i f we

were to omit t h ~ p o s s i b i l i t y of Vi r g i l ' s borrowings from h is

Lat in predecessors . Wer·e Vi r g i l ' a models a l l Greek ones? Did

Apollonius fu rn i s h a l l the l i t e r a r y clay from which the charac te r

of Dido was fashioned? Was t he re not any Ro:map l i t e r a t u r e t h a t

could have in f luenced Vi rg i l i n the crea t ion of Dido and i f so ,

o what degree was he in f luenced?

·Here aga in , as we have done befo re , we must d i s t i n g u i s h

between the Aeneid as a whole and the Dido episode. Ennius and

Lucre t ius su re ly formed f ine models fo r Vi rg i l i n the composi t ion

of h is epic as f a r as the L a t i n i t y of the d i c t i on was concerned.

Clea r ly these two homan poe ts in f luenced Vi rg i l cons iderably i n

l l t h a t h ~ wrote . Yet , as regards the p a r t i c u l a r a p p l i c a t i o n

o the four th Aeneid, Vi r g i l ' s borrowings ( to use th e word i n

he good sense , as i t was understood i n Vi r g i l ' s t ime) from them

were n e g l i g i b l e . Who, then , was the Roman poet , i f any, to whom

he was indebted fo r the development of the cha rac te r of Dido?

t was Catu l lus , " t e n d e re s t of Roman poe t s n ine t een hundred years



62

ago." This 11!-ay come somewhat as a su rp r i se to the s tudent of

Lat in l i t e r a t u r e , fo r while one might be ready to admit t h a t

Vi rg i l shows d i s t i n c t t r a c e s of Catu l lus throughout the whole

Aeneid, y e t the connect ion between Catu l lus and Vi rg i l r s foul ' th

Aeneid i s not too c l e a r. The in f luence of Catu l lus on Vi rg i l i s

so p l a i n i n the Aeneid taken as a whole t h a t a few verbal p a r a l -

l e l s w-l.ll su f f i ce to prove the p o i n t . Now, i t was some s t r i k i n g

e p i th e t , or aga in , j u s t a phrase t h a t captured Vi r g i l ' s fancy:1

ferarum ge l ida s tabu la2

s tabu la a l t a ferarum

carbasus obscura ta dece t f e r rug ine Eibera3

p ic tus acu chlamydem e t f e r rug ine c la rus Ribera

5

Tro ia virum e t vi r tu tum o m n i l l i ~acerba c in i s

4

6Troia ••• v i r tu tesque virosque au t t a n t i i n c e n d i a . b e l l i

At other t imes Vi rg i l would borrow an en t i r e verse i f i t appealed

to h is t a s t e :7

Quae S y r t i s , quae Scy l la rapax , quae vasta Charybdis8

Quae S y r t e s , au t Scyl)_a mihi , quid vasta Charybdis

1 Catu l lus , Loeb C las s i ca l Lib ra ry, t r an s l a t ed by F.W. Cornish,Wllliam Heinemann, London, 1928, LXII, 53.

2 Aen. VI, 179.3 c a f u l l u s , LXIV, 227.4 Aen. IX, 582.5 C'"itullu.s, LXIV, 9 0 .6 ~ · I , 566.7 Catu l lus , LXIV, 156.8 Aen. VII , 302.



I n v i t a , o reg ina tuo de ve r t i c e c e s s i10

In v i t u s reg ina tuo 1e l i t o r e c e s s i

963

l/Ioreover no t always was i t the word or rhytl:ua Vi rg i l

appropr ia ted but in severa l in s tances th e o r i g i na l s e t t i n g was

uppermost i n the poe t ' s mind:

Vi rg i l was deeply i ~ p r e s s e d ,l i k e many r eaderss ince h is day, with the tender sadness of theone hundred and f i r s t poem of Catu l lus - .;Ei'ra-t e r Ave Ataue Vale . Various scho lars of tEeRenaissance detec ted an echo of th e poem in

the sp lend id passage a t the opening of thee l ~ v e n t hAeneid, where Aeneas pronounces thel a s t words over the body of Pa l l a s ( v. 9 7 ) :' Sa lve aeternum mihi , maxime P a l l a , aeternumque v a l e l ' I f here the coincldence i s duer a t h e r to the f a c t t h a t bQth poets ar3 r e p e a ting independen t ly th e formal language of theb u r i a l r i t e , a t l e a s t in th e follo·wing ins tancewhich, s t r an3e ly :::eli tr,r·s have no t no t i ced ,Vi rg i l r epea t s Catu l lu s d i r e c t l y. The f i r s tl i n e of the poem - l ' lultas per gentes e t multaper aequora vectus - reappe9.r"s in ' t h ew o r d swith which Anchlses welcomes Aeneas i n theworld below (Aen. VI, 692) - Q,uas ego ~ t e r -~ e t quanta. vectum accip ioJ ' l 'his i s thel a rge r Ki.nd of i m i t a t i o n . V ~ r g i lt akes morethan the words; he in fuses sc:rmething of thepathos of th e t en d e r e s t of Roman poet s in tothe longing of Anchises fo r h is son. 11

Yet i t was i n th e s i x t y - f ou r t h poem of Catu l lus t h a t

Vi rg i l saw th e model which would o ff e r him the mate r i a l fo r the

crea.t:ton of Dido. The modE.Jl was Ca.tullus 1 s cha rac t e r, Arladne .

9 Catu l lus , LXVI, 39.10 Aen. VI, 460. ·11 E:K. Rand, "ca . tu l lus and The Augustans", Harvard Studies i n

C l a s s i c a l Phi lo logy, Harvard Unive r s i ty P r e s s ~C amb r id g e ,Mass. , 1906, XVII, 24 ..25.



I t wes the Ariadne of Catu l lus who become thei n s p i r a t i o n f o r , and -u.lt lmately develops i n t o ,th e Dido of Vi r g i l ; and nowb_ere more c l ea r l ythan i n · t h i s t r ag i c f igure of the disappoin tedand abandoned queen Ariadne do we see how muchof h is c h a r a c t e r i s t i c sense of "p i ty" and" t e a r s fo r th ings" Vi rg i l owed to t enderhear ted Catu l lus . 12

64

The s imi la r5 ty of the two s t o r i e s , espAcia l ly i n the

development of Dido and Ariadne , the re spec t ive heroines,- i s

amazing. The bero ine of Catu l lus 1 s t a l e i s Ariadne , the daugh-.-

t e r of Nines, the king of Crete . After ex t r ica · t ing Theseus fromthe Labyr in th , she accompanied him on h is r e t u r n to Greece, but

was deser ted by him a t Naxos. Catu l lu s took the s to ry and made

t i n to beau t i f u l poet ry i n h is s i x t y - f ou r t h poem. We s h a l l see

more c l e a r ly a f t e r i nves t i ga t i n g the bex t s t h a t Ariadne i s the

coun te rpa r t of Dido.

The very beginning of the Dido episode with the des•

c r i p t i on of Dido 1 s palace - At domus in te r io r • r e g a l i splendida13

uxu - hearkens back to th e p ic tu re of th e roya.l house in which14

Peleus and Thet i s wed - Tota domus gaudet r e g a l i sp lend ida saza .

At the opening of the four th book of th e Aeneid, as the s t o ry ofDido begins , reminiscence of Cat u l l u s ' s poem a t once appears .

15I'he l i n e , "Q,uis nevus h ls n o s t r i s s u c c e s s i t sedibus hospes"

2 Karl Pomeroy ~ I a r r i n g t o n ,Catu l lu s and His In f luence , Marshal l.Jones Company 1 BoRton, Hassachuset' t"S; ~ 3 , 8 1 .

3 Aen. IV, 637.4 c a t u l l u a , LXIV, 46.5 Aen. IV 1 1 0 .



t akes th e reader back to

Utinam ne ••• malus h ie celans du lc i crude l ia formaco ns i l i a i n n o s t r i s r e q u i e s s e t seC:ibus hospes . 16

65

The heroes are both r e f e r r ed to as hospes and th e use of t h i s

word cla ims an i m p l i c i t comparison of the hero ines a t the begin-

ning of the Aeneid.

Then as the s to ry proceeds and the s t r anger Theseus

comes to Cre te , Ariadne burns with love fo r th e s t r an g e r j u s t

as Dido too i s smi t ten with love fo r Aeneas. Catu l lus wri t e sof Ariadne :

non pr ius ex i l l o f l a g r a n t i s d e c l i n a v i tlumina, quam cuncto concep t i corpore flammamtund1 tus atque imis e x a r s i t t o t a medu l l i s . 17

Vi rg i l wri tes much i n th e same vein of Dido as she gazes on

Aeneas. 'I'he eager look of th e l o v e r, the metaphor of the f i r e

of love a re presen t in both descr ip t ions and are equal ly e ff e c -

i v e i n bo th :

praecipue i n f e l i x , p e s t i devota fu tu raeexp lc r i mentem nequi t a ruesc i tque tuendo:£hoenissa e t p a r i t e r puero donisque movetur 18

The d e s c r i p t i o n of th e deser t ion of th e two hero ines

by ' the heroes i s most powerful . Ariadne awakens to f ind rrheseus

s a i l i n g away over th e waves. Her p a t h e t i c f igure as she s tands

on the shore , looking out over the waters a t h er escapine; lover

16 Catu l lus , LXIV, 75.17 I b i d . , 91-9318 Aen. I , 712-714o



66

s matched only by the flames of Dido ' s pyre s lowly consuming

her members as the Trojan f l e e t h u r r i e s from the Carthagin ian.

shores . Ariadne c r i e s to Theseus of h is t r eachery and reminds

him of h is promises :

At non haec quondam blanda promissa d e d i s t ivoce ~ i h i ; non haec miseram sperare iubebas ,sed conubia l a e t a , sed opta tos hymenaeos; 19

Eefore Aeneas s a i l s away, the moment Dido discovers the e f f o r t s

of the Trojans to prepare fo r a sec r e t s a i l i n g , she conf ron ts

Aeneas with h is gu i l e and burs t s i n to a mighty t i r a d e . Pleading

with him by t h e i r quas i -marr i age and wedlock begun and by a l l .

h a t she has ever been or meant to him, she begs him to change

h is mind and s tay ln Carthage. Both th e i t a l i c i z e d l i n e above

and the one below show g re a t s i m i l a r i t y :

per conubia n o s t r a ,~

inceptos hymenaeos'S"r""bene quid de te merui 1 fu i t ...oro , s i quia adhuc precib,.ls l ocus , exue mentem. 20

Examining the sent iments and language of the two hero

nes i n t h e i r r e a c t i o n to t h e i r d e s e r t i o n o n ~ f inds i n t e r e s t i n g

me.tter fo r a s tudy of j u s t how f a m i l i a r t h i s . poem of ca ' tu l lus wal!

o Vi rg i l . The f i r s t l i n e s i n both poets , conta in ing th e f i r s t

spoken words of the hero ines a f t e r t h e i r dese r t ion , have the

word, per f ide 1 to descr ibe t h e i r r espec t ive dese r t e r s , Theseus

and Aeneas. Ariadne ' s f i r s t burning ques t ion was:

19 Catu l lus , LXIV, 139-141, i t a l i c s i n 141 mine •.20 Aen. IV, 315-319, i t a l i c s in 315 mine.



67

s i ~ i n eme p a t r i i s avectam, per f ide ab a r i sp e r f i d e , dese r to l i q u i s t i i n l i t o r e 1 Theseu? 21

Vi rg i l opens with these words i;n :::>ido 1 s f i r s t reproach of Aeneas

Diss imulare et iam s p e r a s t i 1 per f ide 1 per f lde 1 tantumposse nefas t a c i tusque mea decedere t e r r a? ' 22

I t seems as i f Vi rg i l in bu i ld ing up h is de l inea t ion of Dido ' s

charac te r was adhering very c lose ly to the s t o ry of Ariadne 1 fo r

th e genera l ou t l ines down even to p a r t i c u l a r phases i s almost

exac t ly th e same in thought and t he re ex i s t s a remarkable s imi-

l a r i t y even in d i c t i on and language .

Ariadne reminds Theseus what an i ng r a t e and wretch he

i s proving himse l f to be by deser t ing .one who took him i n 1 saved

him and offe r ed him so much:

c e r t e ego t e i n medio versantem tu rb ine l e t ier:)_pui, e t po t iu s germanum ami t t e r e c r ev iquam t i b i f a l l a c i supremo i n tempore dessem. 23

Dido ' s b i t t e r words 1 too 1 t e l l of i ng r a t i t ude and her_ wasted

generos i ty d i s t u r b s her s p i r i t . The rescue f ron the angry waves

of th e sea and a watery grave i s cont ras ted wi th Ar iadne ' s ass i s •

tance i n help ing Theseus e x t r i c a t e himsel f from the Labyr in th .

Dido hopes and be l ieves t h a t a r e c i t a l of generous deeds w i l l

cause her dese r t e r t o p i t y h e r, f e e l shame and change h is plans

to forsake he r.

nusquam t u t a f i d e s ; ejectum l i t o r e , egentem

21 Catu l lus , LXIV, 1 3 3 ~ 1 3 4 .

22 Aen. IV, 305-306.23 Gatu l lus , LXIV, 154-156o



when she r ea l i z ed she ·could no t delay Aeneas or tu rn him from

h i s p l a n to withdraw, fo l lows fo r comparjson:

J:Jec t i b i diva parens gener is nee Dardanus auc to r,p e r f i d e , sed dur i s genu i t t e caut ibus horrens

·caucasus, Hyrcanaeque admorunt ubere t i g r e s 28

69

The same metaphor i s also used by both authors i n des,cribing the

surge of passion i n the hea r t s of both w o ~ e n . Catul lus wrote :29

" p r o s p i c i t e t magnis curarum f l u c tu a t und is . " Vi r g i l ' s c lose

i m i t a t i o n i s as f .ol lows: " s a e v i t amor, magnoque i ra rum f l u c t u a t30

aes t u . "

Dido ' s wish i n ~ e r l a s t hour was t h a t she ha d never

l a i d eyes on Aeneas and the Tro jans . .She reviewed her accom-

pl i shments : the bui ld ing of a noble c i t y, . vengeance f.or the

dea th of h er husband, Sychaeus, ' exact ion ·of penal ty from her

bro ther and a l l her foes . Aeneas alone was her downfal lJ Would

t h a t she had never seen him and h i s Dardan ex i l e sJ

f e l i x heu, nimium f e l i x , s i l i t o r a tantumnumquam Dardaniae t e t i g i s s e n t nos t ra ca r inae ! 31

Catu l lus , a gene ra t ion be fo re , had put i n t o th e mouth of Ariadne

a l i k e query as she reviewed the course of h er unhappiness .

Jupp i te r omnipotens utinam ~ tempore primoGnosia Cecroniae t e t i g l s s e n t l i t e r a puppesindomito nee d i r a fe rens s t ipend ia t auroper f idus i n Creta r e l , igas se t nav i t a funemnee malus hie ce lans du lc i c rude l ia forma

28 Aen. IV, 365-367.29 C i t u l l u s , LXIV, 6 3 .30 Aen. IV, 532.31 I b i d . , IV, 657-658, i t a l i c s mine.

- .



7032

c o n s i l i a i n n o s t r i s r eq u i e s s e t sedibus hospesl

· As the sh ip on the hor izon c a r r i e d away Theseus and

snuffed ou t a l l hope of r e c o n c i l j a t i o n , Ariadne raved and broke

in to a p i t i a b l e so l i loquy. The sho r t - c l ipped sen tences and

ques t ions of s e l f • p i t y r e v e a l her broken mind· and s p i r i t ; the.

f a c t t h a t she !;lad placed everything on the love of Theseus l e f t•

her no or no place to tu rn upon her deser t ion .

nam qtw me referam? qual:t spe perd i t a n i to r?Idoneosque pet·am montes? a gurg i t e l a t odiscernens poni t ruculentum ubi d i v i d i t aequorJan p a t r i s auxi l ium sperem? quemne ip sa r e l i q u i ,respersum iuvenum f ra tern8· caede secu ta?conjugis an f ido conso le r memet amore .quine f u g i t l en to s incurvans gurg i t e remos? 33

Dido revo lves l i k e thoughts-and sen t iments in he r insane fu ry

as th e f u l l s ign i f i cance of h er t r a g i c downfal l begins to dawn

upon her. She too knew not where to tu rn . Overcome with g r i e f

and wild wandering of the mind she dec ides t h a t dea th a lone i s

the so lu t ion to her t r o u b l e s :

en quid ago? rursusne procos i n r i s a pr io resexper ia r 1 Nomadumque petam connubia supplex 1

q'lOS ego sir1 to t iens · iarn dedignata mari tos?I l i a c a s i g i t u r c l a s s i s atque ul t ima Te'.lcrumi u ssa sequar'? tluiane au x i l i o i u v a t ante l eva tose t bene apud memores v e t e r i s s t a t g r a t i a f e c t i ?quis me autem 1 fac v e l l e 1 s i ne t r a t ~ h : s v esuperbisinvisam acc ip i e t ? ne-ac.i.s 1 heuJ p e rd i t a , necdumLaomedonteae s e n t i s p e r i u r i a gen t i s?quid tum? so la fuga nautas comitabor ovan t i s?an Ty r i i s omnique manu s t i p a t a meorumi n f e r a r e t , quos Sidon ia v ix urbe r e v e l l i 1

32 8 a tu l l u s 1 LXIV, 171•176 , i t a l i c s mi.ne.3Z, Ib id . I LXIV I 177 ..183 .



71

ru r sus agam pela60 e t v e n t i s dare v e l a iubebo? 34quin morel 'e, u t meri t a e s , fe r roque aver t e dolorem.

The l a s t note of s i m i l a r i t y between the two women i s

th e ~ ' J r s i . n gof t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e l o v e r s . A f t e r a l l has f a i l e d and

they a re alone with t h e i r broken hopes, with the , a s s i o n a t e an-

g er of s c o r n e ~ il o v e r s , they calleC: down th e powers o f the Al -

mighty to avenge the:rn. A r i ad n e ' s p le a was addressed to the Eu-

menid-es, the Avenging F'ur ies , t h a t they might br ing Theseus t o

ru : in :

quare fe.cta virum mul ta n te s v ind ice p 1 1 ~ n a ,

Eumenides, quibus anguino r ed i mi t a c a p i l l of rons ex p i r an t i s p r a c p o r t a t p e c t o r i s i r a s ,hue hue ad v en t a t e , meae aud i t e q u e r e l l a s ,quas ego, vae , misera ex te rmis p r o f e r e ~me du l l i scogor, i nops , a r de ns , amenti ~ a e c af u r o r e .quae quoniam verae nascuntur p ec t o re ab imo,vos n o l i t e p a t i n')s trum vanesce re luctl.lM;sed q u a l i solJ.m T!ieseus me mente re l iq-c . i t ,

t a l i mente , deae f u n e s t e tseq'Je s u o s q ~ e .

35Dido c r i e d f i r s t t o th e Sun,, tLen t o Juno t h e p a t ro n of Car thage

to the Fu r i e s as did Ariadne , and f i n a l l y to th e minor d e i t i e s o

Carthage. .She cursed Aeneas v:ri t:-.. the hope t h a t he ever ·oe d r i vet

over th e e a r t h as an e x i l e , be t o r n from h i s c h i l d ' s embrace,

see h i s f r i e n d s murdered and f i n a l l y she adds th e most d i r e curs

of a l l i n th;e eyes o f th e a n c i e n t s : may he 'be s l au g h t e red and

l i e unbur ied on the sands of th e seashore •.S o l , qui t e r ra rum flam."rlis opera omnia l u s t r a stuque harum i n t e r p r e s curRrum e t consc ia Juno.noc turn isque Hecate t r l v i i s u l u l a t a per urbese t Dirae u l t r i c e s e t d i mor ien t i s E l i s s a e

34 Aen. IV, 534 ·547 .35 c a t u l l u s , LXIV, 192w201 0



acc i p i t e haec , meritumque mal i s a d v e r t i t e numen

e t nos t ras audi te preces . s i t angere por tusinfandum caput ac t e r r i s adnare necesse e s t ,e t s ic f a t a Jov i s poscunt , h ie terminus h a e r e t :a t be l lo audac i s populi vexatus e t a:>mis,f i n ib u s e x t o r r i s , complexu avolsus I u l i ,

auxi l ium implore t vide a tque j_ndigna suorumf·u.nera; nee cum se sub l eges pac i s i n iquaet r a d i d e r i t , regno au t op ta ta luce f ru a t u rsed cad a t an te diem mediaque inhumatus harene . 36

The only conc lus ion one can draw, a f t e r a c a re fu l

72

eading of both pieces of l i t e r a t u r e i s t h a t Catul lus 1 s s i x t y -

o u r t h poem was in th e bsckground of Vi rg i l as he d e l ~ n e a t e dth e

cha rac te r of Dido. '::.'he p a r a l l e l s i n many cases a re so s t r i k l n g

ha t i t i s evident to the r eade r t h a t Vi rg i l did no t even h ~ s i -

a t e to use the s e ~ e phrases and t u rn s he had read and cu l led

rom th e love poet of Hepublican days. I t i s comforting to f ind

a scho la r of genera t i ons p&st adver t ing to the f a c t t h a t he be-

i eved t h a t Catu l lus 1 s Ariadne was Vi r g i l ' s model i n forming th e

charac te r of Dido. For Roger Ascham i n h is Scholemaster w r i t e s

how Vi rg i l himse l f i n th e s to ry of Dido doth wholly i m i t a t e37

Catu l lus i n the l i k e mat t e r of Ariadna." A most f i t t i n g f i n i s

o a chapter dea l ing wi th the above mate r i a l i s found i n th e

view so capably presen ted by E.K. Rand:

Vi rg i l in prepa ra t ion fo r h i s s t o ry of Dido,had st·Qdied and absorbed th e s i x t y - f ou r t h poemof Catu l lu s and a l l along by i n t e n t i o n a l imi •t a t i o n he i n v i t e s the reader to 0 0 M p a r ~the twohero ines and the two s t o r i e s . This i s , i n p a r t ,

6 Aen. IV, 607-620.7 Harr ing ton , 145-146, quoting Roger Ascham.



a s i g n o f homage t o h i s p r e d e c e s s o r, i n p a r t a

c ha l l e nge to him. F or Vi r g i l has no t h i ng tol o s e by t h e compar i son . Whi l e Q a t u l l u s g i ve sus p a t h o s a t i ~ s h i g h e s t , th e f o u r t h Aeneid i sa t r a ge dy - t r a ge dy of ~ ~ i c hSophoc l e s would n o thave been ashamed. 38

/

38 Rand , 2 6 -2 7 .

73



76

The l a s t two advantages Virg i l wanted to ga in was the

t e ch n i ca l advantage and the h i s t o r i c a l advari taee. The t echn ica l

advantage i s ~ p a r e n ti n a long epic where a s to r y of ac t ion i s

necessary. By th e device of an i n t e r e s t e d l i s t e n e r Virg i l i s

not t i e d to a s t r i c t chrono log ica l order in unfolding h is p l o t .

By making Dido t h a t i n t e r e s t e d spec ta to r ' l i r ~ i lhas solved a l l

h is problems a t one bold s t roke . With the hero Aeneas as the

n a r r a t o r , Dido shows s ~ e c i a li n t e r e s t i n the n a r r a t i v e ; the s to ry

of the f a l l of Troy becomes a very gr ipping par t of the Aeneid.Aeneas speaks i n the f i r s t person, thus avoid ing monotonous r e -

p e t i t i o n of pas t s t o r i e s a n ~ even t s . As fo r the h i s t o r i c a l fo r e -

shadowing, i n view of the dea th s t ruGgle i n which Rome and Car-

thage had engat?ed in dur ing th e Punic Wars, i t was only n a t u ra l

t h a t Virg i l should pa in t the or ig ins of Carthage as t n imica l to

th e f i r s t beginn:tngs of Rome. This he accomplished by the · ca r-

thag in ian episode wjth i t s t r a g i c end fo r Dido. From th e very

f i r s t p a r t of the poem, Vir t ; i l by c leve r sugges t ion always has

i n our mj.nd 1 s eye th e s to r y of Carthage and Rome and a l l the sub-

s,equent h i s t o r y t h a t made Rome th e mis t r e ss of the ·world.

In t r e a t i n g the second aspec t of our ques t ion we i nves -

t i g a t e d th e works of Vi r g i l ' s predecessors who most e s p e c i a l l y

in f luenced him i n th e formation of the cha rac te r of Dido and the

br ing ing of Aeneas and Dido t oge the r i n the Car thag in ian ep i sode .

As regards Greek au thors , the man to whom Vir b i l undoubtedly

owed most fo r the Dido episode was Apollonius of R h o d e ~ .Fo l •



77

lowing t h e p a t t e rn of the Argonaut ica of Apol lon ius , Virg i l

made h i s s to ry s t r i k i n g l y, s i m i l a r to th e love s to ry of Medea and

Jason. In the g en e ra l ou t l ines and even down to p a r t i c u l a r

scenes , and a t t imes even to the same d i c t i o n and imagery Vi rg ! l

draws Dido along th e l i n e s of the Colchian pr incess , Cedea.

We have t r i e a to show t h i s by p a r a l l e l s an d comparisons and we

be l i eve t h a t the f a c t s amply prove Vi r g i l ' s deb t to Apol lon ius .

'rhe I'1.0st interest inc?; s tudy of a l l was a t t empt ing to

prove t h a t Haevius f i r s t brought Aeneas and Dido t oge the r a t

Car thage . We contended t h a t i t was from Naevius i n h i s Bellum

Punicum t h a t Vi rg i l received the poe t i c t r a d i t i o n o f th e meet:i.ng

of the Trojan pr ince and the Tyrian queen. The whole ques t ion

s a much dispu ted one among a u t h o r i t a t i v e scho la r s . Many im•

por tan t names could be mustered i n defen')e o f e i t h e r proposi t·ion

- : a e v i u sdid or d id no t g:i. ve 111 r g i l the meeting of Aeneas and Did

a t Car thage . A dec i s ion r . r . . . : ~ s tbe reached from fragments of Nae-

vius t h a t surviv 'e . Yet as I have shown tn the chap te r on Naeviu

a few other major cons ide ra t i ons en t e r i n to ca l cu l a t i o n which

decided us i n our s tand . I t i s safe to a s s e r t with a f a i r degre

of p r o b ab i l i t y t h a t a f t e r a ca r e f u l weighing of the evidence ,

Naevi us d ~ . d g ive Virg i l the meeting between Aeneas and Dido.

Under th e master pen of V i r ~ i li t has becone one of the 2:reates t

examples of t r a g i c poet ry.

But ·Apolloniu.s was no t the only wr i t e r who in f luenced



78

Vi rg i l as he began the t ed ious work of' accep t ing and r e j e c t i n g

mate r i a l s u j t a b l e fo r the Dido episode. I t i s su rp r i s ing to

f ind a d ~ ~ t i n c t l yRoman i n f luence ~ . r o r k i n gon Vi rg i l . Catu l lus

i n h is s i x t y - f o u r t h poem furn i shed a surpr is in<; ly c lose p ic tu re

of i n f e l i x Dido as he drew h i s p i c tu r e of the t r a g i c g r i e f of

Ariadne . The t r a ce s of the in f luence of t h i s poem are unmis

t akab le . For the s t o r i e s of Dido and Ariadne have the same

generG.l c g s t and f i n i s h . Fur the r, s ince both Catul lus and Virg i

were wr i t ing in Lat in , t h e i r choice of l a n ~ u a g e~ s , a t t imes ,almost i d e n t i c a l even to the use of the same metaphors i n the

embell ishment of t h e l r p o e t ry. Vi rg i l pondered much over the

choice of m a t e r i a l and cu l led what he considered bes t from

Apollonius and Catu l lu s . The r e s u l t was a c h ~ r a c t e rf a r g re a t e r

than e i tl1.er Medea or Ariadne ; a cha rac te r whose fame and s to ry

have t r ave led f a ~ beyond the wal l s of Rome to every p a r t of the

world where good l i t e r a t u r e i s read and enjoyed .



79

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Authors

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n i s h , William H e . i n e ~ 1 1 a n n JI,ondon, 1928 .

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_.............. ., S a t i r e s , E p i s t l e s and Ars Poet ica , Loeb C l a s s i c a l Lib ra rt r an s l a t ed by H::-Rushton t- ·airclough, William Heine ..

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T i m a e ~ s J

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Trogi Pompeii Fragmenta, Jus t i n , The.Delphin Class ics wi th Var iorum no tes , Curante e t Imprimente A .J . Valpyj London,1922 . '

Vi rg i l , Aeneid, Bks. I •VI , Loeb C las s i ca l Libra ry, t r ans la tedby H . Rushton Fai rc lough, William Heinemann, Londont1 9 2 8 .



80

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Virgils Indebtedness for the Dido Episode

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