Answer ONE of the following questions from your textbook thoroughly. Be sure to indicate which page and question you are answering at the start of your comment.
Page 239 # 8
Page 241 # 1
Page 243 # 1
Page 245 # 2
Page 247 # 2
Pg. 241 Question 1 After Dido goes through a lengthy speech explaining that she'd rather die than remarry (lines 25-6), Dido bursts into tears. This is because Cupid was sitting on her lap all night, implanting love for Aeneas while removing the old loyalty to Sycchaeus. In her reaffirmation of her promise, the conflict of her intentions and desires causes her to break down.
Pg 239 #8 Dido is having some problems. She has vowed to never marry again, and here appears this Aeneas fellow that landed on her shores. She seems him as very noble and brave and actually shows some interest in him, but she promised that she would never marry again. Her speech is littered with interjections such as "Heu" and phrases opening with "quam." She interrupts herself with "nec vana fides" (nor is my belief empty) and "fatebor enim" (I will confess indeed) to emphasis that there is much meaning behind her words. She calls Aeneas a temptation that she may have to give in to (19). But, she has her second thoughts, wishing to be swallowed up by the earth or being struck by Jupiter's thunderbolt (24-25) so as to not make this decision. There is no doubt there is some stress here, and that her decision is hard to make.
It is clear in the lines from 31 to 53 that Anna truly cares about her sister, and only wants the best for her. In these lines Anna brings some things to Dido's mind that she may be giving up if she does not ever marry again. Anna reminds her that she is still so young and has a whole life ahead of her that she will be throwing away. She also points out that there will be no hope for children, which in the time of the Romans was something that women were expected to have. These two things are very realistic concerns that Anna has for Dido. She doesn't want Dido to be alone forever and just wants her to live a happy prosperous life, which if she doesn't remarry, will never be a possibility.
Anna loves her sister more than light ("O luce magis dilecta sorori" line 31) and it because she says that, it can also be inferred that Anna only wants what is best for Dido and for her sister to live a happy and fulfilling life. She does not want her sister to be consumed alone nor mourn in her eternal youth and neither does she not want Dido to know the please "sweet sons" will give her nor the rewards of love ("solane perpetua maerens carpere iuventa nec dulces natos Veneris nec praemia noris" lines 32-33). She truly understands her sister's feelings toward loving Aeneas as she made a promise to her late husband and does not want to break that promise. Anna can show complete empathy for Dido as they are so "unanimae" that they are almost one person. However, Anna also presents two very pragmatic reasons for loving him, the first being that ash or souls having been buried do not care ("Id cinerem aut manes credis curare sepultos" line 34) whether or not a promise is broken. The second being the fact that they are surrounded by different tribes "Hinc Gaetlae urbes [...] furentes Barcaei" (lines 40-43). But she also gives her sister one piece of idealistic advice when she tells her sister that with the marriage to Aeneas, her kingdom will flourish. These arguments were meant to appeal to Dido's emotional side, as well as the side of her that loves her people. By doing this, she could guarantee that Dido would live happily, because she was assured that not only she would be happy by also her people.
Dido's speech shows that she is brokenhearted. She is beginning to love Aeneas but is turning away from this love because of her loyalty to Sychaeus. She refers to Aeneas as a wondrous guest when talking to her sister, Anna. She says that he is noble in appearance and brave in heart and arms, traits that she clearly admires. "quam forti pectore armis"(11). She goes on to say that she could be with Aeneas if she had not determined to marry a second man. "si mihi non animo fixum-iugali"(15-16) Dido then says that after all the anguish she has faced Aeneas is the one person to change her senses and strike her wavering mind. "solus-impulit" (22-23)Dido then goes on to say that she recognizes the traces of an old flame"agnosco-flammae"(23) but would rather die than break her promise to herself not to remarry."ante-resolvo"(27) Her despair at not being able to marry Aeneas is again shown because after making this declaration to not give in to her love, she is filled with tears."sinum obortis"(30) -Gaia Guillette
In 69-73, Vergil compares the love-struck Dido to a doe pierced by the arrow of a shepherd. The arrow that strikes the deer in this simile brings to mind the arrow of Cupid, who has just recently sat on Dido’s lap in disguise in order to cause Dido’s consuming love for Aeneas. But the pastor (shepherd) who pierces the doe is meant to suggest Aeneas, the object of Dido’s love. Just as the shepherd is unaware he has left his flying weapon in the wound (“pastor…nescius,” 71-72), Aeneas is completely unaware that Dido has fallen in love with him – he does not know that he has caused Dido to become “wounded” by Cupid’s metaphorical arrow.
By likening Dido to the doe in this way, Vergil casts her as a victim. She evokes sympathy in the reader because the doe was unsuspecting (“incautam,” 70) before being pierced, and afterward she wanders in flight through the Dictaean woods (“illa…Dictaeos,” 72-73). With these words Vergil suggests that she is helpless and powerless to avoid her tragic fate. He punctuates this powerful simile with “haeret lateri letalis harundo” (73) – the deadly arrow clings to her side – cementing the reader’s sympathies firmly with Dido.
The violence of Vergil’s hunting simile, which he uses to illustrate how Dido has been crazed by her new love, ominously foreshadows Dido’s ultimate fate. In the end Dido will be a victim not only of love, but also of love lost. Aeneas, the shepherd, has now unknowingly “pierced” Dido with love’s arrow, but he will later cause a much deeper wound when he abandons her. The love that Dido now first feels will ultimately lead to her tragic death by suicide, giving particular gravity to “letalis harundo.” When the “flame” of love that now consumes Dido is matched by the flames of her funeral pyre, the arrow clinging to the doe’s side truly is deadly.
Pg. 241 Question 1
ReplyDeleteAfter Dido goes through a lengthy speech explaining that she'd rather die than remarry (lines 25-6), Dido bursts into tears. This is because Cupid was sitting on her lap all night, implanting love for Aeneas while removing the old loyalty to Sycchaeus. In her reaffirmation of her promise, the conflict of her intentions and desires causes her to break down.
Pg 239 #8
ReplyDeleteDido is having some problems. She has vowed to never marry again, and here appears this Aeneas fellow that landed on her shores. She seems him as very noble and brave and actually shows some interest in him, but she promised that she would never marry again.
Her speech is littered with interjections such as "Heu" and phrases opening with "quam." She interrupts herself with "nec vana fides" (nor is my belief empty) and "fatebor enim" (I will confess indeed) to emphasis that there is much meaning behind her words. She calls Aeneas a temptation that she may have to give in to (19). But, she has her second thoughts, wishing to be swallowed up by the earth or being struck by Jupiter's thunderbolt (24-25) so as to not make this decision. There is no doubt there is some stress here, and that her decision is hard to make.
~Tiro
pg. 43 #1.
ReplyDeleteIt is clear in the lines from 31 to 53 that Anna truly cares about her sister, and only wants the best for her. In these lines Anna brings some things to Dido's mind that she may be giving up if she does not ever marry again. Anna reminds her that she is still so young and has a whole life ahead of her that she will be throwing away. She also points out that there will be no hope for children, which in the time of the Romans was something that women were expected to have. These two things are very realistic concerns that Anna has for Dido. She doesn't want Dido to be alone forever and just wants her to live a happy prosperous life, which if she doesn't remarry, will never be a possibility.
Pg. 243 #1
ReplyDeleteAnna loves her sister more than light ("O luce magis dilecta sorori" line 31) and it because she says that, it can also be inferred that Anna only wants what is best for Dido and for her sister to live a happy and fulfilling life. She does not want her sister to be consumed alone nor mourn in her eternal youth and neither does she not want Dido to know the please "sweet sons" will give her nor the rewards of love ("solane perpetua maerens carpere iuventa nec dulces natos Veneris nec praemia noris" lines 32-33). She truly understands her sister's feelings toward loving Aeneas as she made a promise to her late husband and does not want to break that promise. Anna can show complete empathy for Dido as they are so "unanimae" that they are almost one person. However, Anna also presents two very pragmatic reasons for loving him, the first being that ash or souls having been buried do not care ("Id cinerem aut manes credis curare sepultos" line 34) whether or not a promise is broken. The second being the fact that they are surrounded by different tribes "Hinc Gaetlae urbes [...] furentes Barcaei" (lines 40-43).
But she also gives her sister one piece of idealistic advice when she tells her sister that with the marriage to Aeneas, her kingdom will flourish.
These arguments were meant to appeal to Dido's emotional side, as well as the side of her that loves her people. By doing this, she could guarantee that Dido would live happily, because she was assured that not only she would be happy by also her people.
~ Telemechus
Page 139 #8
ReplyDeleteDido's speech shows that she is brokenhearted. She is beginning to love Aeneas but is turning away from this love because of her loyalty to Sychaeus. She refers to Aeneas as a wondrous guest when talking to her sister, Anna. She says that he is noble in appearance and brave in heart and arms, traits that she clearly admires. "quam forti pectore armis"(11). She goes on to say that she could be with Aeneas if she had not determined to marry a second man. "si mihi non animo fixum-iugali"(15-16)
Dido then says that after all the anguish she has faced Aeneas is the one person to change her senses and strike her wavering mind. "solus-impulit" (22-23)Dido then goes on to say that she recognizes the traces of an old flame"agnosco-flammae"(23) but would rather die than break her promise to herself not to remarry."ante-resolvo"(27) Her despair at not being able to marry Aeneas is again shown because after making this declaration to not give in to her love, she is filled with tears."sinum obortis"(30)
-Gaia Guillette
Page 245 #2
ReplyDeleteIn 69-73, Vergil compares the love-struck Dido to a doe pierced by the arrow of a shepherd. The arrow that strikes the deer in this simile brings to mind the arrow of Cupid, who has just recently sat on Dido’s lap in disguise in order to cause Dido’s consuming love for Aeneas. But the pastor (shepherd) who pierces the doe is meant to suggest Aeneas, the object of Dido’s love. Just as the shepherd is unaware he has left his flying weapon in the wound (“pastor…nescius,” 71-72), Aeneas is completely unaware that Dido has fallen in love with him – he does not know that he has caused Dido to become “wounded” by Cupid’s metaphorical arrow.
By likening Dido to the doe in this way, Vergil casts her as a victim. She evokes sympathy in the reader because the doe was unsuspecting (“incautam,” 70) before being pierced, and afterward she wanders in flight through the Dictaean woods (“illa…Dictaeos,” 72-73). With these words Vergil suggests that she is helpless and powerless to avoid her tragic fate. He punctuates this powerful simile with “haeret lateri letalis harundo” (73) – the deadly arrow clings to her side – cementing the reader’s sympathies firmly with Dido.
The violence of Vergil’s hunting simile, which he uses to illustrate how Dido has been crazed by her new love, ominously foreshadows Dido’s ultimate fate. In the end Dido will be a victim not only of love, but also of love lost. Aeneas, the shepherd, has now unknowingly “pierced” Dido with love’s arrow, but he will later cause a much deeper wound when he abandons her. The love that Dido now first feels will ultimately lead to her tragic death by suicide, giving particular gravity to “letalis harundo.” When the “flame” of love that now consumes Dido is matched by the flames of her funeral pyre, the arrow clinging to the doe’s side truly is deadly.
-Stephanus