The tragedy of Dido and its function in the Aeneid
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34019/2318-3446.2022.v10.38647Keywords:
Aeneid IV, Dido, tragedyAbstract
A millenary tradition of commentators of the Aeneid has demonstrated that Book IV contains elements from many genres other than the epic-heroic, and that Dido’s episode is like a tragedy within an epic. This article’s goal is to bring back into discussion some of the elements that make up Dido’s character and episode, and subsequently address the function of this “tragedy” in the entirety of the poem in terms of generic mixture. The analysis of passages from books I and IV has shown that the representation of Dido’s individual and tragic destiny contributes to the imperialist argument of the Aeneid, in the sense that it reveals the inevitability of the marching of Fate toward the foundation of Rome, against which opposers such as Dido cannot succeed. The concluding session will help to clarify that this interpretation is not incompatible with the so-called “polyphony” of the Aeneid.
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