Dido and Aeneas Mythology Issues - Essay Example

Meeting Aeneas, a Trojan who had also arrived with his people, she welcomed them warmly with great hospitality and passion. She treated them as her people without bias; a show of great heart and kindness. These traits can also be compared to Nausicaa, the daughter of Alcinous who was also a humble and loving woman. Nausicaa goes to the river to meet a man and with great charm and humility walks Odysseus to the edge of her city (Hallett and Nortwick, 34).

Dido falls so much in love with Aeneas the Trojan, a man who was not from her native background, and Aeneas is convinced that he would marry her. This further shows the Queens loving nature. However, Aeneas sails away with his people as was destined by the gods. The same fate befalls Nausicaa when Odysseus talks to her mother seeking her hand in marriage. However, the marriage does not take place since Odysseus also goes away promising to always pray to her like a god. Calypso, the immortal being and owner of the island holds Odysseus for eight years. Odysseus is mortal and chooses a mortal life even with the promise of immortality (Hallett and Nortwick, 35).

Virgil wanted his audience to understand how deeply the female species can love despite several troubles. Looking at the story of Dido for that matter, destiny is depicted to overshadow the love and affection these women had for their men. In the end, Dido is consumed by the intense feelings she had; thus, ends up dead because of love. Being a loving person helped her make tremendous strides in her life, both as a queen and as a woman. When crafting the story of Dido and Aeneas, Virgil is thinking of both the epic models and the tragic models of these strong and accomplished women whose strong love ends up consuming.

The Greek tragedy and the women within the myth are depicted as accomplished people within their empires but are weak to withstand the strength of love. Medea, for example, is a woman who is so much in love with Jason that when he decides to marry another woman, she gets so angry and plots revenge against him (Hallett and Nortwick, 36). Another tragic end in a story is evident in Phaedra’s story after she commits incest and things end awfully for her.