Mythological tales are forever changing and evolving as cultures and centuries pass. However, two versions, both written by contemporaries in the city of Rome, illustrate how the sensibilities of an author can alter an ancient narrative. Vergil’s Dido & Aeneas is the most memorable piece of Aeneid. It’s sympathetic to both actors, and ultimately serves to show the pain and suffering that Aeneas went through to build an empire. Ovid’s letter to Dido from Aeneas forms part of Heroides. A work that is sympathetic to its fictional characters and subverts epic themes.
Vergil’s Dido appeals to Aeneas for help. Although it is unclear whether these promises existed, Dido thinks that “her plighted left hand”(IV.307),”[their] union” (IV.316),” and “undertaken wedding songs”(IV.316) would be sufficient to bind Aeneas. Aeneas says that he “never entered into a pact of marriage with Dido.” Vergil thinks that this domestic situation has universal significance. Aeneas staying or leaving will decide whether an empire survives, and even the gods are involved. Juno, patroness for Carthage, as well as Venus, mother to Aeneas set up the marriage between Dido & Venus. But neither of them acted honestly. Venus thought Juno was speaking [of marriage] to turn the Italian Kingdom to Libyan shores. Aeneas is elevated to a pawn in the divine scheme, as are the Carthaginians. Dido, Aeneas’ ex-wife, and Creusa were both sacrificed to achieve dramatic ends so Aeneas and Lavinia could marry and bring peace between Teucreans, Latins, and the Carthaginian Queen.
Dido is less graceful than Aeneas in accepting the reality of his departure. The Aeneid shows Dido’s passion from the beginning: her love for Aeneas and Sychaeus to her acceptance of Aeneas. She then rejects him. She is angry for good reason. She sarcastically treats the task, while acknowledging the cruelty of the Gods. She looks forwards to Aeneas’ death and wishes that he “drink punishments out of the rocks.” (IV.383) Aeneas, who is a stoic by nature, shows little emotion. Vergil, however, tells of Aeneas’ regret: “he wished to comfort the woman in her sorrow and put her worries to rest with words. The emotions of other characters, such as Iarbas’ jealousy or Anna’s loyal sorrow are also shown.
Ovid makes Dido use the first person to express her feelings, while Vergil uses the second. Ovid’s epic is a focus on Dido, after Aeneas had left. Vergil focuses a large section on Aeneas’s shipwreck and Dido denying her love in underworld. Ovid was inspired by Vergil and felt it would be better to narrow and concentrate his themes. Ovid’s version of Vergil is therefore a concentrated torrent that still touches many of Vergil’s main themes. Dido’s letter reverses the Aeneid’s fate. Dido views herself as the central character.
Dido makes a sound argument that she would never have thought of in Aeneid. She says that Aeneas is not a man who will leave his cozy position as King Carthage, because he’s a very successful person. She is concerned for his fate as much as her own. In fact, she worries more about it than herself. Dido takes this theme further than Vergil’s Dido. What did Ascanius and the Penates do that deserved this? She asks (VII.77), subverting Aeneas’s sacrifice theme. Aeneas does not sacrifice his happiness for his people when “whatever lightning strikes fall on [his] ship” (VII.72). Dido also attacks that most sacred epic character mark, the epithet. Aeneas does not deserve to be called “pius”, which means “faithful” in the Aeneid. If he worships Penates with his hand, it isn’t “inpia”.
Dido attacks Aeneas after destroying his credibility. “Where is beautiful Iulus’s mother?” “Where is the mother of beautiful Iulus? Dido’s exclamation (VII.83-4), which ignores the fact Aeneas, who went to flaming Troy and looked for Creusa saw her spirit telling him to carry on. Dido is trying to make the point that Aeneas appears to be a self-serving and suspicious “fate”. It is fate that will force him to abandon a race he has the duty to protect. Dido was pregnant in Aeneid and expressly wished to have had a baby by Aeneas. Dido now is also pregnant. Dido shows how Aeneas’ fate is arbitrary and cruel, highlighting its ineffectiveness. Tyre would make a good city site, just like Latium; “there’s room for peace laws and space for weapons” (VII.156).
Dido thinks in Ovid’s story that Aeneas is forced to leave her because her fate is to be miserable. Destiny is no benevolent force for Dido. Aeneas does not have to drink the mixed draught Aeneas drinks, with its punishments and rewards. Aeneas does not curse the fate that has him sailing the world, but everyone is not blessed with such forbearance or the opportunity to gain. Aeneas may be put to the test, but it is never in vain. Ovid makes Dido’s pain seem more reasonable in Aeneid by focusing it on Dido.