Dido's Lust For Aeneas

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INTRODUCTION
Dido was known to be a queen, a loving wife, but most infamously, the woman who lusted after Aeneas. The responsibility she was given was to protect Aeneas, but was it most reasonable for the Gods to infect her with lust? Why did lust not work for Dido? How could she not fall in love with Aeneas if she lusted over him so fiercely? This essay will discuss Dido’s devotion to her husband, her lust for Aeneas, and her death. Dido was never in love with Aeneas because she was simply a tool for the Gods.
DIDO WAS DEVOTED TO HER HUSBAND
Dido loved her husband constantly, even after his death. She didn’t want to, nor did she love any man as much as she loved her husband. There was no one who could take his place. The following passage is a quote from Dido about her husband:
“He’s carried my love away, the man who wed me first/ May he hold me tight, safeguard it in his grave” (4.35-36)
If Dido had loved Aeneas, why would she talk so fondly of her husband, …show more content…

Dido’s suicide was a result of feeling disconnected from herself. Her lust for Aeneas was overbearing and she never wanted it in her life. She was joyful in her marriage, even after her husband’s death. Her death was not apart of her fate or something she deserved. (4.66) Venus and Juno had killed Dido by intoxifying her mental state to the point of it no longer being in her control. She was hurting so bad because she new there was nothing she could do to stop it.
The following passage describes how the Gods felt about what they did to Dido:
“So commanded, I take this lock as a sacred gift to the God of Death, and I release you from your body” - (4.878-879)
This passage proves Dido’s death was not supposed to happen this way. It was commanded for Dido to be released from her body. The Gods realized they could not help Dido come back to herself and she had lost her mentality. The lust she faced drove her to death at the fault of

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