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Dido Odyssey

Dido's Parallels in the Odyssey

Virgil's Aeneid has long been read as a direct response to Homer, the Roman poets attempt to establish himself in the same lineage and even to surpass the Greek master with an epic even greater in scope and in skill than the Iliad and the Odyssey. Making a qualitative judgment regarding Virgil's success or failure in this endeavor is would be foolish both for the subjectivity and for the impracticality of such a determination, yet tracing certain of the parallels between the works and the ways in which Virgil's attempt to outdo Homer -- if indeed such an attempt was being consciously and explicitly made -- provides compelling insight into the construction and development of the narrative. There are clear plot parallels between the Odyssey and the Aeneid, as would be expected of such interrelated epics, and similar interactions, lessons, and obstacles. A careful reading of key characters and events demonstrates deeper parallels as well that help to solidify the import of the hero's journey in Virgil's work, while also illuminating the skill of the poet in his capacity to render the human in such grand and resounding tones -- and his ability to render the grand with such humanity.

In this regard, no character stands out more clearly than Dido. Though this Queen of Carthage occupies a relatively brief space in the overall narrative of the Aeneid, her role is of enormous significance and the many parallels that exist between Dido and the women of the Odyssey assist in fleshing out this role in a manner that makes her heartbreakingly human yet almost godlike in her commanding presence. The complexity yet truthfulness and consistency of Dido's character is indeed a testament to Virgil's ability, as he makes sense of her enormous emotions despite the fact that they take seemingly contradictory turns. In her different stages of love and grief, Virgil uses direct parallels from the female characters in the Odyssey -- Calypso, Circe, Nausicaa, and Arete especially -- to make Dido the most well-rounded and fully realized woman of classical literature. She does not embody merely one motive and does not represent only one thing to Aeneas, nor is she entirely defined through her association with Aeneas, but rather in paralleling aspects of Odysseus' women by different turns she becomes wholly her own. The fullness of her character also portends the depth of the enmity that would develop between Rome and Carthage, and makes the division between she and Aeneas as powerful as any declaration made by the gods. In short, Virgil's crafting of Dido in the Aeneid makes her both human and symbol, with a consistency of meaning across her personal and her political import that makes her the perfect and the necessary counter to the hero Aeneas and the heroism of Rome, and the parallels between Dido and characters in the Odyssey illustrate her operation in Virgil's narrative.