History Presentation - Dido and Aeneas

Dido and Aeneas 

     In this week's history class, I have to write a paper about a topic called 'Dido and Aeneas, Carthage and Rome'. I am recently writing a paper about it and I am now going to post about a half of the paper, which is about Dido and Anchises. Well, originally, the topic is about Dido and Aeneas, Carthage and Rome but because I didn't finish the research about Carthage and Rome, and because it would be too long if I write everything about the topic, I will just write about Dido and Aeneas.


     First, I would like to talk about the event which happened between Dido and Aeneas. During Aeneas’ journey to Italy, Aeneas arrives at the coast of Libya. And with the help of his mother, Venus, Aeneas and his friend Achates approach Carthage, shrouded in a cloud that conjures to prevent them from being seen. When they arrive in Dido’s court to find many of their comrades who were lost and scattered in the storm asking Dido for aid in rebuilding their fleet. Dido gladly grants their request and says them that they could stay in Carthage if they need help. Aeneas accepts and his crew stayed for a year in Carthage.

     During the time in Carthage, Dido and Aeneas falls in love with each other. However, Jupiter tells Aeneas by sending Mercury and said that Aeneas has more important thing to do which is finding a new country which would be the start of Rome. So Aeneas sailed towards Italy without telling it to Dido. When Dido saw Aeneas’ fleet leaving, she cursed Aeneas and suicide after that.

     But this is not the end of the relationship between Dido and Aeneas. After several years, Aeneas goes to the land of the dead, which can be also called as underworld. In there, he sees many dead people whom he know and he also sees Dido. But when Aeneas tries to talk to Dido, Dido just passes Aeneas and goes to Sychaeus, who was her first husband.


     Secondly, I want to state the facts about Dido. She is the queen of Carthage and also the founder of Carthage. She is the daughter of BelusⅡ and also younger sister of Pygmalion. Dido was married to Sychaeus but because of the rumor that Sychaeus had a lot of gold, Pygmalion secretly murders Sychaeus. For Dido, who wasn't aware of the murder, Sychaeus appears in her dream and advices her to flee the country. Dido follows her husband's advice and goes to Libya, the land she had rebuilt a new country named Carthage. Under the rule of Dido, Carthage had become a successful kingdom in just 7 years.


     Then, there are some facts about Aeneas. Aeneas was the leader of Troy's Dardanian allies during the Trojan War and he was the third cousin and lieutenant of Hector, the prince of Troy. Also, Aeneas was the son of Venus and Anchises. After Troy fell, Aeneas went to a journey heading Italy. During the journey, he had a lot of adventures. And after he arrived at Italy, he became a founder of Lavinium, which becomes the origin of Rome later. When he died, Venus asked Jupiter to make Aeneas become immortal so Aeneas became a god. He is a deity of Life-Death-Life.


     Now, I want to talk about the characteristics of Dido. First, Dido has a great leadership. Dido had constructed Carthage as a successful kingdom during only 7 years. Under the rule of Dido, Carthage was called as the ‘Shining City’, which ruled 300 other cities around it. We can see that Dido was a good leader who has a great leadership which can lead people in a successful way.
     Second, Dido is kind and generous. When Aeneas’ crew arrived at Carthage, Dido helped them without any conditions that could give her some benefits that would help Carthage. However, Dido didn’t hope or wanted any conditions for helping Aeneas’ fleet.

     Third, Dido is shown as a tortured, and repentant woman. In the Aeneid, Virgil had shown Dido as a woman that is loyal to her original husband in the end. However, Dido dies as a tortured and repentant woman who has fallen away from that loyalty in Virgil’s version.

     Moreover, she is somewhat seen as irresponsible. When Dido dies, what happens to the people in Carthage? Dido didn’t have any siblings that could become the king or the queen of Carthage. By this, we can see that Dido has a personality which is quite irresponsible.

     Furthermore, Dido is impulsive. She can’t control her minds or emotions well. She killed herself just because Aeneas left her. She had to think more about future of herself and Carthage. She should have thought more about the effects that will cause after her death.

     Lastly, I want to talk about the characteristics of Aeneas. Aeneas has also great leadership as Dido. He was a leader of Troy's Dardanian allies and he becomes the king and also the founder of Lavinium. This proves that Aeneas has enough proof that he has a great leadership.
     Also, he is very brave. For example, he dares to go to the underworld which is ruled by Hades. Most people won't dare to go to the underworld easily but Aeneas goes to the underworld so we can see that he is very gallant than others.
     In addition, Aeneas is kind and generous like Dido. He helps other people who needs help. For instance, in the land of Cyclops, he makes Achaemenides, one of the Odysseus' crew who have left behind, to join his crew. This means that Aeneas helps others if they need help.


     By writing the paper, I had to do a lot of research than the previous weeks. However, as I researched through the Internet and reading books, I had found out that it is not always boring to do the research. I found that it is actually very interesting and fun if I find out new informations. Personally, I like to find out the characteristics and the events by reading books and using the Internet. It was really interesting that I could do the thing that I like in GLPS. Because this is the final paper, I will try my best in writing this paper and presenting it.