Influence from Above…
...er, the king of the gods, also plays a large part in Aeneas’ adventures. Jupiter is the god in charge of fulfilling destinies. Aeneas' destiny, of course, being instrumental to the story and more specifically important to Aeneas himself, is obviously key to the plot line. Jupiter is also the only god in the story with the supreme power. He is the one completely in charge of the happenings on earth. So, Jupiter was primarily responsible for Aeneas' destiny. Throughout the story, Aeneas is constantly affected by the gods in such dramatic ways as these. This is instrumental in understanding Aeneas' actions. Dido being a successful and effective Queen of Carthage, Dido was a strong woman. Her power is exhibited in the first scene we are introduced to her. In this scene, without being aware of Aeneas' presence, she is generous with Aeneas' men by treating them as her own devoted subjects with no bias. This portrays to the reader a genuine sense of kindness and sets up an excellent relationship with this character. Dido goes through some emotional turmoil within this story. Having lost a husband and vowed to never love another again, her confusion with having fallen in love with Aeneas is understandable. Dido invokes a certain amount of pity from the audience because she has hardly any control over her love for Aeneas because of Cupid. Dido is also a powerful woman which is exhibited through the description of her lands and her court. Of course, this power still can not control fate. Her intense anger and unhappiness when Aeneas leaves her is justified. Her love for Aeneas could not keep him with her. She had given herself to him fully and now he leaves her. This explains her angry curse she places upon Aeneas in her fit of rage. Having lost the only two men she had ever loved, Dido sees no alternative but to commit suicide. This portrays Dido's weaker and more vulnerable that described before. If the story had not been about Aeneas and if the war had been seen from Turnus' side, Turnus could have been the hero. Turnus, the Rutulian prince, was a brave and fierce warrior. He defended his cause till the end and took pride in himself. He was courageous and showed all the characteristics of a hero. But Turnus was against Aeneas, his motives were purely selfish, and he was used as the enemy. Also, Turnus was cruel and unmerciful as well. This leads the audience to their distaste for the harsh character. Although both were heroes in their own right, their heroic qualities were viewed from different angles. Within the poem, Aeneas encounters many conflicts. He has a conflict with his father, Anchises. Conflict arises in Aeneas because of Dido and Jupiter. The final and most obvious conflict is between Aeneas and Turnus. The reason that these conflicts occur is because of the battle between love and fate. Aeneas’ father, Anchises, refuses to leave their home in Troy. He feels that it is his destiny, or fate, to die there. Aeneas has the choice to leave his father, but refuses to leave him because he loves him too much to let him die. A character that is not strongly bonded by love for the hero would not have caused such a conflict. Aeneas could simply leave him there to die. Aeneas is acting out of love while Anchises is acting out of destiny. These two components in the poem cause conflict. When Aeneas is with Dido, she assumes that the two were bonded by love. It is made clear that he is now her husband, therefore he can’t leave her. Then Jupiter steps in and tells Aeneas that it is his destiny to leave Dido and lead to the founding of the city of Rome. Aeneas is now faced with the conflict of following his destiny or staying with his love. Dido has a strong hold of love for our hero and making this decision is very difficult. In this conflict, Aeneas is acting out of fate and Dido is acting out of love. Turnus has a very physical conflict with Aeneas. Aeneas wants to settle in Italy so that he can lead to the founding of the city of Rome. Therefore, he wants to fulfill his destiny. Turnus doesn’t want his homeland invaded by the Trojans. He loves his country too much to let it be taken over by a forei...