Many have seen her as Aeneas's counterpart, as she herself has led her people from Tyre to Carthage in an attempt to escape environmental vicissitudes. Like Aeneas, she is a true leader, a strong willed character and independent woman. Juno and Venus (the Roman counterparts of Hera and Aphrodite) manipulate them and Dido is soon seen infatuated with Aeneas, neglecting all ruling duties. She cannot change destiny and realizes this in Book IV, as she points out that "What am I saying? Where am I? What madness / Takes me out of myself? Dido poor soul, / Your evil doing has come home to you." According to ancient traditions, for a strong character such as Dido, the only possible ending is by suicide.
A comparison between Dido and Helen, both in terms of the influence they have on men and on their power to change courses in history and determine political events is necessary at this point. On one hand, we have Dido, a strong character, a character that has shown the capacity to influence her people positively and induce political trends that were accepted by her people (such as leading them into Carthage). On the other hand, we have Helen, whose lust has caused her people (the Spartans, more or less) to start a ten-year war on the Trojans and whose influence on politics did not only resume to that (acknowledging that she provides the Trojans with useful information about the Greek forces, their officers and soldiers etc.). Dido is described with respect by the author and her gestures and actions appear as having nothing to do with her own character, but are strictly determined by the gods' will. In this sense, she is a tragic character, a character that has proven her worthiness, but falls to gods' will and to destiny. On the other hand, Helen is no less a tragic character, the similitude with Dido coming from the fact that she herself is an instrument of the gods. It is not her that shows herself to Paris, it is not her that triggers the sentimental drama. She only accepts, but we may consider that she...
Her tragic evolution, in my opinion, comes from this very fact: she is the cause of the conflict, she is the one influencing thousands of men to fight for her, nevertheless, she is not the ultimate cause of the conflict, but a mere intermediary. Because Dido has had the time to prove her positive influence and her character, we are much more inclined to feel sorry for her as she is influenced into madness by the gods.
Both Helen and Dido play an important role in the course of events that are described in the Iliad and the Aeneid. On the other hand, we need to point out towards the fact that they come as mere instruments of the Gods, the only ones that can decide on the scenario that will be followed in each "play."
Bibliography
1. Character Analysis - Dido. On the Internet at http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/id-3,pageNum-53.html
2. Virgil. The Aeneid. Translated by John Dryden. Book IV.
3. http://www.umich.edu/~homeros/Politics%20in%20Homer/women%20in%20the%20iliad.htm
4. Homer. The Iliad. Translated by Samuel Butler. Book II. 420-423
5. Homer Heroines. On the Internet at http://indagabo.orcon.net.nz/lit/illiad.htm
On the Internet at http://www.umich.edu/~homeros/Politics%20in%20Homer/women%20in%20the%20iliad.htm
Homer. The Iliad. Translated by Samuel Butler. Book II. 420-423
Homer Heroines. On the Internet at http://indagabo.orcon.net.nz/lit/illiad.htm
Book 3.
Character Analysis - Dido. On the Internet at http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/id-3,pageNum-53.html
Virgil. The Aeneid. Translated by John Dryden. Book IV.
