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Dido And Aeneas Comparison

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Dido And Aeneas Comparison
In the selected passage from the Aeneid (lines 296 - 705), the story of Dido and Aeneas is exquisitely compiled by Virgil starting from Dido's suspicion of Aeneas' deceit and ending with her death. Throughout the passage, during Dido's lengthy conversation with Aeneas, comparisons between Dido and Medea and Aeneas and Jason are quite identifiable. The overarching difference between the two, however, is the Aeneid is more centered on the god's affect on Dido and Aeneas, while Jason and the Golden Fleece seems to be focused mainly on Jason and Medea's actions and their repercussions.
Virgil begins Book 4 immediately with a comparison between Aeneas and Jason. Just as Jason secretly left Medea, Aeneas decides to do the same trusting the discretion of the …show more content…
Have I not been able to tear apart the stolen body and scatter it underneath the waves? [4.600].

Here Dido ridicules herself for failing to rise to Medea's level and scatter the body of Aeneas' father in the ocean. In Jason and the Golden Fleece, Medea kills her brother and scatters his body in the sea in order to slow down her father's pursuit of the couple. Dido is so distressed and overcome by sadness she wishes she too could do the same.
Following this and continuing the juxtaposition between the two stories, both Dido and Medea are devastated after their husbands leave, and their distraught attitudes lead to a violent retaliation by both wives. In the story of Jason and the Golden Fleece, Medea responds to Jason's betrayal by committing many wicked deeds including, killing Jason's new wife and her father, and lastly killing all of their children (Medea and Jason's). While Dido does not respond as violently against others, she takes her life into her own hands and kills herself.
Nam quia nec fato merita nec morte peribat, sed misera ante diem subitoque accensa furore, nondum illi flavum Proserpina vertice crinem abstulerat Stygioque caput damnaverat
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