Unmarried Dido: Aeneid 4.550-52
Author(s): Christopher Nappa
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Source: Hermes, 135. Jahrg., H. 3 (2007), pp. 301-313
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UNMARRIED DIDO: AENEID 4.550-52
"UnhappyDido" is perhapsthemostdebatedfigureintheAeneidafterAeneas
causes ofherunhappiness
buttheimmediate
areno mystery.
himself,
Havingesandfoundedwhatlooksto be a greatcityinAfrica,
brother
capedhermurderous
fora manwhosedestinycalls himelsewhere,even as hers
she fallsdesperately
she
is.
Herresistance
to theonsetofpassiondoes no good at all,
her
where
keeps
and she findsherselfthesubjectof gossipamonghercitizens.Moreover,beginningtheaffairwithAeneashas meantbreakinghervow to herdeceasedhusband
to
Sychaeus.In theend,she killsherselfand damnsAeneas and his descendants
withCarthage.
eternalenmity
issues1,of whichthe
Scholarlydebateon Dido focuseson severalinterrelated
is perhapsthequestionof guilt.Thatis, does Dido deserveany
mostcontentious
blameforthe"marriage"withAeneas and itsconsequences2-ifnotin oureyes
theninVergil'sorthoseofhisoriginalaudience?Thiscan,ofcourse,be extended
theconnecdebateson themissionofAeneasin general3.
tothegreater
Similarly,
has beenexploredbothas a way
tionbetweenVergil'sDido and Romanhistory
of locatingthecharacter
againstthebackdropof RomanrelationswithCarthage
1The
abundant.I have triedto keep citationto a reaon Dido is predictably
scholarlyliterature
ratherthancomto thisarticleis representative
thebibliography
sonable minimum;accordingly,
A
N.
M.
and
see
of
recent
overviews
For
Horsfall,
Companionto
problems,
approaches
plete.
theStudyofVirgil,Leiden, 1996, 123-34,and S. Spence,Variumet mutabile:Voices ofAuthority
in Aeneid4, in C. Perkell, ed., ReadingVergil'sAeneid:An Interpretive
Guide, Norman,Okla.,
of therole of Dido in theAeneid
treatment
1999, 80-95 and 317-19. A usefuland comprehensive
is R. C. Monti,The Dido Episode and theAeneid:RomanSocial and PoliticalValues in theEpic,
usefulon thepoliticalside of Dido and herrelationship
Leiden, 1981; his accountis particularly
withAeneas. For a usefullook at the complexityof Vergil'sDido as partof thedynamiccomand culture,see K. Galinsky,AugustanCulture:An Interpretive
plexityof Augustanliterature
229-31.
Princeton,1996,
Introduction,
2 N. Rudd,Lines of
Enquiry,Cambridge,1976, 32-53 is a perceptivestudyof theconceptof
betweenDido and
guiltas it applies to Dido. Relatedto thisquestionis whethertherelationship
Aeneas can be regardedas a legitimatemarriageby Roman standards.J.L. Moles, Aristotleand
Dido's Hamartia,G&R 31, 1984,48-54 uses Aristotle'sconceptionof tragedyto analyzeDido's
culpa withparticularreferenceto Aen.4.165-72.
3 See C. G. Perkell, On Creusa,Dido, and theQualityof Victoryin Virgil'sAeneid,in H. P.
New York,1981, 355-77; Perkell uses theDido
Foley, ed., Reflectionsof Womenin Antiquity,
episode (along withtheCreusa episode) to explorethequestionofpietas and itspotentialto dehumanize.For theposition,in myview too extreme,thattheDido episode is designedto call into
questionthevalue and ethicsofAeneas' mission,see S. Farron, The Aeneas-Dido Episode as an
Attackon Aeneas' Mission and Rome,G&R 27, 1980, 34-47.
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302
Nappa
Christopher
andtheNearEast,as well as a wayof determining
theoriginalaudience'slikely
responseto herin theAeneid*.Criticsalso continueto debatetheextentto which
herpartin theAeneidowes to earlierGreekandLatinsourcesas well as theway
andbeyond5.
laterDidos in antiquity
theVergilian
Dido is thebasisfornumerous
an active
remain
with
drama
narrative
the
affinities
of
Dido
tragic
Finally,
Vergil's
I
to
adumbrate
will
andfruitful
In thepresent
discussion
areaofresearch6.
tryonly
to addressthelargerquestion
Dido's character
in one respect,without
attempting
of herguiltor of theimplications
of herstoryfora readingof theAeneidas a
butwhat
ofwhatshedoes andsuffers,
because
whole:Dido is infelix,
"unhappy",
one does and suffers
comes at leastin partfromwithin.In whatfollows,I will
ofa debatedphrase(moreferae4.551) forthecharacter
exploretheimplications
ofher
a fewofthewaysin whichthisunderstanding
ofDido andoutline,briefly,
character
can illuminate
herrolein thepoem.The phrasein questionis designed,
I will argue,to suggesta numberof different
readingsof Dido's behaviorand
in
at
this
the
to
evoke
ultimately
juncture
poema setofimagesand allusionsthat
with
associate
Dido
the
wild,uncivilizedworld- a worldthatdiffers
consistently
Rome
sharplyfromboththeCarthagethatshe has triedto createand thefuture
thatgovernsAeneas' destiny.
The passagein question:
sinecrimineuitam
'nonlicuitthalamiexpertem
talis
nee
more
ferae,
tangerecuras;
degere
nonseruatafidescineripromissaSychaeo'.
[Aeneid4.550-52]7
4 See N. M. Horsfall, Dido in the
Lightof History,PVS 13, 1973-74, 1-13 and R. Hexter,
New York, 1992,
Sidonian Dido, in R. Hexter and D. Selden, eds., Innovationsof Antiquity,
332-84.
5 On the
literaryoriginsof theDido storysee Horsfall (n. 4 above) and Hexter (n. 4 above)
336-40. Recently,D. Nelis, Vergil'sAeneid and theArgonauticaof ApolloniusRhodius,Leeds,
2001, 125-85explorestheconnectionbetweenVergil'sDido andApollonius'Argonauticaas does
N. Krevans, Dido, Hypsipyle,and the Bedclothes,Hermathena173-174,2003-04, 175-83. M.
and the Medieval Aeneid,Minneapolis,1994 and
Desmond,Reading Dido: Gender,Textuality,
J.Watkins,The Specterof Dido: Spenserand VirgilianEpic, New Haven, 1995 bothtracepostclassical incarnations
of Dido and herstory.
6 See most
recentlySpence (n. 1 above) 85-90 and V. Panoussi,Vergil'sAjax: Allusion,Tragedy,and Heroic Identityin theAeneid,CA 21, 2002, 95-134 (withusefulbibliographyat 95 n.
in Aristotelianideas of
interested
1). Rudd (n. 2 above) and Moles (n. 2 above) are particularly
hamartiaand thetragic.See also A. Wlosok, VergilsDidotragodie:Ein Beitragzum Problemdes
Tragischenin der Aeneis, in H. Gorgemannsand E. Schmidt,eds., Studienzum antikenEpos,
Meisenheimam Glan, 1976, 228-50; W. Clausen, Virgil'sAeneidand theTraditionof Hellenistic
Poetry,Berkeleyand Los Angeles, 1987, 53-60; and E. L. Harrison,The Tragedyof Dido, EMC
33, 1989, 1-21.
7 Citationsare fromMynors' Oxford
are myown.
text;all translations
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Unmarried
Dido: Aeneid4.550-52
303
The odd statement
above has puzzledVergil'sreaders,and whilecommentators
have sometimesexplainedthe lines to theirown satisfaction,
Dido's meaning
On thefaceof it,Dido wouldseemto complain
hereremainssomewhatmurky.
likea wildanimal,
thatshehas notbeenallowedto liveherlifewithout
marriage,
in
situation
which
she
has
the
twice
found
once
herself,
thereby
escaping painful
now againwhenherloverAeneasis
whenherhusbandSychaeuswas murdered,
to departin orderto fulfila destinythatdoes notincludeher.Contropreparing
on
on thephrasemoreferae,andwhileall majorcommentators
versyhas centered
is in order.A clearer
theseversestendtowardsimilarconclusions,a re-evaluation
associationswill shedlight
of Dido's wordsand theirintertextual
understanding
andfate.
on hercharacter
inbutcomplementary
It is of coursetruethatanytextmayreceivedifferent
it
that
here
is
in
case
of
Dido's
but
the
especially
likely
complaint
terpretations,
thelinescannotbe pinneddownto onlyone setof associations.As Book 4 proandanyonewhowishestointerpret
irrational,
gresses,Dido becomesincreasingly
understand
hereshouldrealizethatsheherselfmaynotcompletely
herstatement
that
to decidebetweentheinterpretations
whatsheis saying.Thus,evenin trying
membersof Vergil's
we will have to realizethatdifferent
scholarshave offered,
audiencewill have understoodDido to mean different
things.These different
defined
commentators
well
a
lie
I
beginning
by
meanings, think, along spectrum
to say"I was notallowedto
be understood
Dido can legitimately
withQuintilian.
or"I was notallowedto go on
remainunmarried,
period"(animalsdo notmarry),
as an honorablewidow"(as even someanimalsdo), or even"I was notallowed
fromsocialconstraint"
to livewithcompletefreedom
(animalsdo nothavesocial
constraints).
ofthepassagespeakonlytothequestionofwhatthe
All oftheseinterpretations
to say,butbeyondthatquestionthereis another.
Dido is herselftrying
character
can
a speechdeliveredbya character
haverecognized,
ofnarratology
As students
motives:thatof thespeakingchaarisefromtwo separate,even contradictory,
who standsoutsideit8.Thus
and thatof thenarrator
racterwithinthenarrative
toAnna,butVergilmayuse herwordsto convey
Dido triesto conveysomething
we acceptor reject
all sortsofmessagesto his audience.In otherwords,whether
aboutAeneid4.550-52,we are stilldealing
theideas of anygivencommentator
to say
to
is
to
what
Dido
with
Anna,notwithwhatVergilis trying
say
trying
only
to
Dido was trying
scholarshave thought
to us. Afterreviewingwhatdifferent
what
she
has
her
of
the
will
turn
to
I
in
these
at
lines,
say
question whyVergil
get
does.
8 See I. de Jong,A NarratologicalCommentaryon the Odyssey,Cambridge,2001, xii (s.v.
"'argument'function"),xiii-xiv(s.v. "embeddednarrative"),and xv (s.v. "'key' function")with
These termshave been developedto talkaboutstoriesembeddedin largernarratives,
references.
butthebasic premiseapplies to non-narrative
speechas well.
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304
Nappa
Christopher
Commentators
have offereda varietyof suggestionsforthemeaningof the
phrasemoreferae9.Quintilian(9.2.64) takesDido to mean thatshe longsfor
a lifethatis withoutmarriage,and thus,as she sees it,like thatof animalsratherthanhumanbeings10.Unfortunately,
's commentsare themselves
Quintilian
several
different
and
he
has
been
made
to
controversial11,
thingsby critics
say
citinghimin supportoftheirownviews.Serviusclaimsthatmoreferaerefersto
monogamousdevotion,even afterthedeathof thespouse;his evidenceforthis
to ourtext13.
odd claimis thelynx12,
a/era,butnototherwise
pertinent
certainly
Forbigertakesthephraseto meanthatDido suggeststhatshe shouldhave lived
likea beast,nota humanbeing,so thatshe mighthave resistedthejoys of love
andmarriage14
andthus(presumably)
avoidedthepainof losingthem.Similarly,
forHeyneand Conington-Nettleship,
Dido's phraseindicatesonlythatshe is
suchas marritheuncivilizedworldthatlacksbothhumaninstitutions
imagining
entail15.
Henrysees in
the
and
and,
age
accordingly, suffering anguishtheymay
moreferae a reference
to innocence,and alongthesame lines,Page sees in the
lifeof a beasta reference
butto "simple,untrained,
notto brutality
uncorrupted
nature. . ,"16.Pease, followingOgle17,takesthepassageto meanthatDido "now
9 The
and twentieth-century
are addressedbelow. For good
commentators
majornineteenthsee C. Buscaroli, ed., II
surveysof opinionsup throughthe firstthirdof thetwentieth
century,
librodi Didone, Milan, 1932,385-88 and M. B. Ogle, On a Passage in Vergil,AeneidIV, 550-51,
TAPA 56, 1925, 26-36. For a possibleconnectionbetweenourpassage and theoldertradition
acIarbas,see W. F. J.Knight,RomanVergil,
cordingto whichDido killedherselfto avoid marrying
New York,1966, 126-27.
10
Quanquam enimde matrimonioqueriturDido, tamenhue erumpiteius adfectus,ut sine
thalamisuitamnon hominum
putet,sedferarum.Quintilianis discussingemphasis,thefigureby
whichhiddenmeaningis drawnout of a phrase.
11See, for
example,Ogle (n. 9 above) 32-34 and R. G. Austin,ed., P. VergiliMaronisAeneidos liberquartus,Oxford,1955, ad loc.
12On more
ferae Serviussays "Pliniusin naturalihistoriadicit,lyncaspostamissos coniuges
aliis non iungi".No suchpassage of Plinysurvives.
13In a recent,as
yetunpublished,paper R. Monti has given a credibledefenseof Servius'
of
position.CitingPlato,Euripides,and otherGreekauthors,he showsthatServius'interpretation
moreferae,ifnothis specificreference
to thelynx,is groundedin one ancienttradition
ofthought
aboutanimals,namelythattheycan represent
a moremoralway of lifethanhumanbeings.
14A.
Forbiger,ed., P. VergiliMaronisopera,Leipzig, 1873, ad loc.
15C. G. Heyne,
ed., PubliusVirgiliusMaro,Leipzig, 1832,ad loc; J.Coningtonand H. Nettleship,eds., The Worksof Virgilwitha Commentary,
London, 1884, ad loc.
16J.Henry,Aeneida,or
Critical,Exegetical,and AestheticalRemarkson theAeneis,Dublin,
1878, vol. 2, 789-98; T. E. Page, ed.,The AeneidofVirgil,London, 1894, ad loc. This is essentialDiana", Vergilius15, 1969,33-41 and Knight
lytheview also ofG. S. Duclos, Dido as "Triformis
(n. 9 above), 126-27. Buscaroli (n. 9 above) 386, citingLucretius'discussionof earlyman,also
sees moreferaeas indicatinga stateof nrimitive
innocence
17Ogle
(n. 9 above) and A. S. Pease, ed., P. VergiliMaronisAeneidos liberquartus,Cambridge,Mass., 1935, ad loc. are followedby T. E. Kinsey,Virgil,Aeneid4.550-1, LCM 7, 1982,
14; F. Klingner,Virgil:Bucolica, Georgica,Aeneis,Zurichand Stuttgart,
1967, 455-56; B. Otis,
Virgil:A Studyin Civilized Poetry,Oxford,1964, 269 n. 2; and C. Segal, Dido's Hesitationin
Aeneid4, CW 84, 1990, 9 n. 23.
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Unmarried
Dido: Aeneid4.550-52
305
sees thatshe shouldnothave triedto have anymaritalrelationswithAeneas,in
viewof herfaithpledgedto Sychaeus,forbydoingso she has degenerated
from
of a civilizedhumanbeingto thelower(becauseless intelligent
theself-restraint
and less morallycontrolled)level of thebrute".For Ogle and Pease moreferae
sincewildanimalsdo nothave legitimate
is Dido's own self-reproach,
wedlock,
over pointsof detail,
onlypromiscuouspassion.Whatevertheirdisagreements
thesecommentators
agreethatDido wishesto havebeenallowedto live without
thepainbrought
aboutbyherdealings,lawfulor not,withmarriageand itsequito thatview,
valents.The otherdetailsof theselinesare generallysubordinated
commentator
thinksDido is primarily
concernedwithher
whether
theparticular
orwithguiltoverherbrokenpromisetoSychaeowndistressaboutabandonment
itsmerits,
butitdoes notreallyexplainwhy
notwithout
us. Thisviewis certainly
Vergilhas chosenthephrasemoreferaein particular.
I will directthe
Since Austinis themostrecentof themajorcommentators,
to
his
has
identified
three
He
of
comments
problematic
analysis.
majority my
and moreferae',I thinkwe need to look
phrases:non licuit,thalamiexpertem,
at themeaningof sine crimineas well. The meaningof non licuitdecarefully
I willtake
andtherefore
on thefollowingthalamiexpertem1*,
pendssubstantially
the
bed"
can
with
thesecondphrasefirst.
only
suggest
marriage
"Unacquainted
that
when
He
have
widowhood19.
as
Austin
would
uidua,
it,
not,
argues
virginity,
and he is right,
butit is
used of vines,meansnot"widowed"but"unmarried"20,
onethingtoshowthata particular
phrasemeaning"widowed"can also mean"unwillreadilysuggest
another
toprovethatphrasesmeaning"unmarried"
married",
nottempo"widowed".Expers21
suggestslackofanyexperienceorparticipation,
thalami
R.
D.
takes
followed
Servius
lack
of
contact.
Williams,
Auctus,
by
rary
a
since
woman
too
is
but
this
refer
to
to
strained,
only remarriage22,
expertem
be
thalami
can neveragain
oncemarried
expers.
We returnnow to non licuit:whom does Dido blame withthese words?
Austin'ssolutionis Anna,theaddresseeof theprecedinglines,butifwe reject
Annabecomesan odd choice.Dido can blame
his readingof thalamiexpertem,
herto marry
heraffairwithAeneas,butnotforforcing
Annaforencouraging
Sy18See Segal (n. 17 above) 9-10 on themaritalassociationsof thalamusin Aeneid4.
19Pace Ogle (n. 9 above) 35 who
pointsout thatthalamiexpersshouldmean "notjoined in
since it could indicate
lawfulwedlock".On thisreading,thephrasemightindicatepromiscuity,
quasi-maritalrelations.If Ogle is rightto stressthatthalamussuggestsa legitimatemarriedstate,
seems to strainthemeaningof expers,whichmorecommonlymeanssomething
his interpretation
like"untouchedby" ratherthan"notcompliantwith"vel sim.Similarto Ogle on thispointare K.
London, 1963, 55 and Wlosok
Quinn,Latin Explorations:CriticalStudiesin Roman Literature,
(n. 6 above) 246.
20Austin(n. 11 above) 163 refersto theuse of uidua of a vineat Catullus62.49. Viduais never
used by Vergil,thoughhe does use theparticipleuiduatus.
21On
experssee TLL s.v.,passim,butespeciallyI.A.2.III.D.
22Serviuson thalami
expertem:"non omnino,sed postSychaeum".
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306
Nappa
Christopher
chaeusyearsearlier.Thisdecisionwas herfather's(as 1.345-46makeclear),and
it seemsratherforcedto inserthimintoherspeechhere.Othershave suggested,
andthusnonlicuitmustbe
moreplausibly,
thatitis directedat thegodsorfate23,
to remaina virgin"because,
addressedto theworldat large:"I was notpermitted
to consider
by and large,princessesare made to marry.It maybe worthwhile
Ogle's suggestion24,
thatnon licuitdoes notso muchmean"I was notallowed
by you (or by fate,etc.)" butrather"it wasn'tpossibleafterall (as youor others
Itis thisunderstanding
ofthephrasewhichallowsOgle (and
mayhavethought)".
thusPease) to arguethatDido reproaches
herselfwiththeselines,but,as oftenin
of an
exoticunderstanding
of thispassage,itrequiresa distinctly
interpretations
Latinphrase.
ordinary
Now forsinecrimine:Catullus6225,thesamepoemthatAustincitestojustify
to mean"widowed",makesitclearthata certainblametakingthalamiexpertem
to womenwho remainedunmarselfishness
worthy
mighteasily be attributed
ried.Austinand othersseemto takethephraseto meanno morethan"without
disapproval"byAnna(or forthatmatter
by anyone),whileHenrygoes so faras
to translate
it as "innocent".
Yet crimenis a strongwordforsuchdisapproval;it
and thatis perhapswhysomecomsuggestsinsteadaccusationsof wrongdoing,
mentators
have triedto explainournextphrasemoreferae as meaning"promisattributed
toQuintilian'sdiscussion.On this
one oftheinterpretations
cuously"26,
withAeneasand
herrelationship
not
have
Dido
now
sees
that
she
could
reading,
getawaywithit.
Austinis rightto denythisreadingof moreferae,buthis suggestion"like a
"in themannerof a wild
woodlandcreature",
is littlebetter.
Moreferae,literally
as much
a
if
in
is
the
female
beast,ferocity
female"27,
mightsuggest,
question
as promiscuity:
does Dido, then,wantto be a savage?It seemsclearthateither
moreferaeheremustmeansomething
orthefemaleinquestion
different,
entirely
is not,or at leastis notonly,a beast.As we have seen,mostcommentators
have
and presumably
understood
thephraseto indicate,in some form,thesimplicity
23T. Ladewig,C.
Schaper,and P. Deuticke,eds., VergilsGedichte,Berlin,1912, 184; Quinn
(n. 19 above) 55.
24 Ogle
(n. 9 above) 35-36. These are myparaphrasesand notdirectquotationsfromOgle.
25See Catullus62.56-61.
26Ladewig,Schaper,and Deuticke
(n. 23 above) 184; Ogle (n. 9 above) 35; Buscaroli (n. 9
above) 387-88; Pease (n. 17 above) 449; K. Quinn,Virgil'sAeneid:A CriticalDescription,Ann
Arbor,1968, 336-39; and Wlosok (n. 6 above) 246.
27Formsof
timesin theAeneidaside from
ferus(adjectiveand substantive)occurtwenty-four
ourpassage. Nineteenoccurrencesreferto animals,thoughof these,fourare in some ways ambientities;theseare2.5 1 (theTroguousin thattheyhave linksto humanbeingsor anthropomorphic
jan Horse), 6.285 (monstersin theUnderworld,
includingScylla, theHarpies,and theGorgons),
7.20 (menwhomCircehas turnedintobeasts),and 7.489 (Silvia's stag).Five instancesreferto humanbeingsor gods: 2.326 (Jupiter),
4.466 (Aeneas), 6.49 and 6.80 (theSibyl,or literallyherfera
corda), and finally10.12 (Carthage,whichcan onlybe viewed as a collectiveforitscitizens).
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Unmarried
Dido: Aeneid4.550-52
307
natureof animallife.Yetthisinterpretation
is difficult
sinceitis unanxiety-free
clearwhyVergil'saudienceshouldmakean automaticconnection
betweenmore
Criticssuchas Conington-Nettleship,
Henry,and
feraeandemotionalfreedom.
on firmer
mention
the
wild
DeWitt are,I think,
when
life
of women
ground
they
likeCamilla28,
forelsewherein thepoemDido is also associatedwithhuntresses
likeCamillaandwiththewildworldin general.
on thepartofDido,
We neednottaketheallusiontobe a consciousformulation
all theimplications
of herstatement.
who clearlydoes notunderstand
Quinn's
is
with
in
the
but
is
Dido
useful:
4.550-51,
truth,
fumbling
uttering
explanation29
at leastnotfullyand consciously.She says,
she does notunderstand,
it is a truth
"likea beast",butVergilpointsto
awarenessoftheimplications,
perhapswithout
a greater
complexofmeaningsalso.
theidea thatmoreferae connectsDido to womenasLet us considerfurther
in Book 1,
sociated,likeCamilla,withlifein thewild.WhenDido is introduced
thatlooksbackto a famouspassagefromtheOdyssheis describedbya simile30
sey?1
28See N. W. DeWitt,AeneidIV, 55 1: moreferae,AJP45, 1924, 176-78who thinks/era
refers
in thewild.
to a kindof lifeof proudvirginity
29
Quinn(n. 26 above) 336-39.
30On thissimile,see
especiallyV. Poschl, The ArtofVergil:Image and Symbolin theAeneid,
AnnArbor,1962, 60-68; M. K. Thornton,The Adaptationof Homer'sArtemis-NausicaaSimile
in theAeneid,Latomus44, 1985, 615-22; and Duclos (n. 16 above) 33-34. The Homericmodel: oit| 8' "Apxeuic;eiai kcit'ovpea ioxeaipa,/ f| icaid TrpryeTOv
fj'Ep\>uav0ov,/
rcepiuTiKetov
Koupai Aioq aiyioxoio,/
KdTipoiaiKai ©Keltic;'etax<}>oiai7xfj8e 6' a|ia vtjuxjhxi,
T£p7iou£vri
rcaadwv8 urcepfiye Kdpr|exei Tl8euexama,/
ATyca>7
dypovouoinaitpvov yeynGe8e xe <J)peva
8e
te
Kataxi
x
naaav/
d8|if|c;
\ietenpenercapOevoc;
©<;f|y du<l>i7i6A,oiai
peld dpiyvamiTreXexai,
{Od. 6.102-9).
31Even as workon intertextuality
therelahas opened up new possibilitiesforunderstanding
wordtionshipbetweentheVergiliantextand itspredecessorsand successors,workon etymology,
of
to
Latin
the
demonstrated
has
conceits
verbal
and
other
very
poetry apparently
importance
play,
subtleverbalclues. In particular,
Vergilhas been shownto lean heavilyon his audience's knowwith
ledgenotonlyofGreektextsbutalso of specificGreekwordsand phrases.Whenconfronted
itmakessenseto look fora possibleGreekversionthat
an inexplicableVergilianphrase,therefore,
can be foundin a textobviouslyknownto Vergil.This techniquewill notalwaysproduceresults,
resemblestheGreekdypovouoc;,
buthereit maybear fruit.The collocationmoreferae strongly
a wordappliedat Odyssey6.105-06 to thenymphswho huntwithArtemis:tx\8e 0' ductvtjuiJxxi,
Koi3paiAio<;aiyioxoio,/dypovouoinai^ovai ..."and withherfrolicnymphswho dwell in the
wild,daughtersof aegis-bearingZeus".
If I am rightthatVergil'smoreferae is a referenceto theHomericdygovofioc;,thentheVerof each elementof theGreekdypovouog, and in
gilianphrasereflectsa particularunderstanding
factmoreferae notonlyreflectsHomer's nymphs-it also allows thereaderto see thatthedifferentcontexthas activateda perhapslatentsetof associations.Dido's phraseis nota caique in the
Whereas
translation
of Homer's dyQOVOfiog.
it is an interpretive
strictsense of theterm;rather,
Homer'swordmightbe translated
simplyas "dwellingin thewild",Vergilhas chosento makeuse
of a broaderset of associationsforboththefirstelement(since theGreekrootagr- can suggest
thebestialas well as therustic)and thesecond(since nomos,liketheLatinmos,can suggestboth
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308
ChristopherNappa
qualis in Eurotaeripisaut periuga Cynthi
exercetDiana choros,quam millesecutae
hincatque hincglomerantur
Oreades; ilia pharetram
fertumerogradiensquedeas supereminet
omnis
(Latonae taciturn
pertemptant
gaudia pectus):
taliseratDido . . .
[Aen. 1.498-503]
Justas on thebanksof theEurotasor overtheridgesof Cynthus
Diana exercisesherband; followinghera thousand
Oreads throngon thisside and that;she wearsherquiver
on hershoulderand,as she walks,standsabove all thegoddesses
(joy assails Latona's silentheart):thuswas Dido . . .
The ] 'era Dido wantsto resembleis not- or not only- an animal,but one of
Thussine
thevirginalhuntresses
of Diana's band,perhapsevenDiana herself32.
criminerefersnotonlyto thedisapprovalof a meddlingsisternorto thebroken
the
promiseto Sychaeus,butalso to thesocial censureof a womanwho prefers
somewhatmannishlifeofa virginhuntress.
Dido does notmerelywishshecould
havebeen leftas an uniuira33
butthatshe couldhave fullyenteredthesymbolic
inthewild,a womanseimageryso oftenassociatedwithher,thatofthehuntress
theviewpretodifferentiate
fromtheworldofmen.Itis important
parateentirely
sentedherefromthevariousversionsof theconsensus,thatis, thatDido wishes
thatshe mighthave remainedunmarried
as an escape fromthepainthather"cito say,
vilized"lifehas brought
her.WhateverDido herselfis consciouslytrying
on
thepatternof Diana imagerythatsurrounds
herstrongly
impliesthat, some
fromhererotic
level,Dido does notsimplywishthatshe had nothad to suffer
in thefirst
butthatshehad nothad to have suchattachments
place.
relationships,
habit- thenymphsspendtimein thecountry-and character).Thus,Dido's moreferae is notso
mucha Latintranslation
of a Greekwordas a Latinateinterpretation
of thephraseand itscontext.
text
that
its
thatDiana's nymphsshould
what
is
in
i.e.,
Vergil's
recognizes
benign
properplacebe &yqov6|ioi- becomes dangerousand disturbing
whenfoundelsewhere.Dido's wishthatshe
could have lived moreferae pointsup thefundamental
lack of fitbetweenhercharacteras an individualand herlifeas a memberof,indeedas thehead of,hersociety.
A comprehensive
listof relevantworkson Vergil'suse of such featuresof languageis beyond
thescope of thispaper.For a similarexampleof bilingualwordplay,see C. Nappa,Cold-Blooded
bookVirgil:BilingualWordplayat Georgics 2.483-9, CQ 52.2, 2002, 617-20. Two important
lengthstudiesare J.J.O'Hara, TrueNames: Vergiland theAlexandrianTraditionof Etymological Wordplay,
AnnArbor,1996 and M. Paschalis, Virgil'sAeneid:SemanticRelationsand Proper
Names,Oxford,1997.
51
CitingOvid and the Ciris,DeWitt (n. 28 above) 177-78 suggests,as I do, thatfera might
naturallybe takento suggesta followerof Diana.
33On theideal of theuniuirasee G.
Williams,Some Aspectsof RomanMarriageCeremonies
and Ideals, JRS 48, 1958, 23-24; Rudd (n. 2 above) 42-47; and Monti (n. 1 above) 34-55. Monti
offersa usefulcorrectionof R. Heinze,VirgilsepischeTechnik,31915 = Virgil'sEpic Technique,
Berkeleyand Los Angeles, 1993,99.
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Unmarried
Dido: Aeneid4.550-52
309
Her modelis nottheanimalthatnevermarriesbecause it is subhumanbutthe
thevirginallifeof thefollowersof
nymphwho avoidsmenbecause she prefers
stressthatDido's problemis that
So whilecommentators
Diana/Artemis34.
rightly
than
withmen,theproblemgoes further
fromherrelationships
she has suffered
her
own
Whatever
Dido
realizes
about
seen.
have
nature,Vergil
generally
they
withthevirginalfemaleswhoseexistence
letsus see thatshehas strongaffinities
atbesta marginofcivilizedlifeandat worstan
inGreco-Roman
mythrepresents
inversion
of,orchallengeto,it.Ourlinesmightthenbe paraphrased
"I was notallowed to live mylifeas a virginwithoutbeingthoughtimmoralor selfish,like a wild
female(nymph,huntress,
Diana), neverto come intocontactwithsuchanxietiesas these(feelings
of abandonmentoccasioned by both Sychaeus and Aeneas, and feelingsof guiltforbetraying
35
Sychaeus)".
In additionto thesimileof 1.498-502,theimageryof Diana36attachesto Dido
in at leastfourotherways.Beforethequeen herselfmakesan appearance,Venus tellsthestoryof herhusband'smurderand herdesperateflightfromTyre;
Venushas disguisedherselfas a huntress
(Aeneas thinksof Diana or one of her
dressin thismanner(1.335-70).
that
avers
and
customarily
girls
Tyrian
nymphs)
where(4.133-39)sheis arrayed
in
Book
a
huntress
becomes
herself
Dido
4,
Also,
HomericHymn(27.1)
is in thetwenty-seventh
in gold,as Artemisthehuntress
in Book 4
Dido's
Artemis
andCallimachus'Hymnto
(110-12)37.
hunting
partner
is comparedtoApollo,andthustheirhuntevokesthoseofDiana andherbrother
(4.143-50).Finally,at 6.450-55,Dido is comparedto themoon.
^
withtheAmazon renmesiiea,wno is tne last image tnai
Vergils Dido also has affinities
beforethefirstappearanceof Dido. See Duclos (n. 16
Aeneas sees on Juno'stempleimmediately
dirae obscenaeque volucres,Arethusa22, 1989, 51sint
deae
seu
A.
Sive
P.
Miller,
above) 34;
53; J.Pigon,Dido, Diana, and Penthesilea:Observationson theQueen's FirstAppearancein the
Aeneid,Eos 79, 1991,45-53; and Segal (n. 17 above) 3-4.
35 It
maybe worthwonderingtoo if Dido's speech is a way forVergilto announcehis own
literaryindependencefromtradition.Dido seems to have been largelyknownas thetypeof the
honorablewidow,and in thatcase, hercomplaintthatshe has notbeen allowed to remainthatway
mayreferto Vergil's(or thetradition's)revisionof herstory.
36See R. O. A. M. Lyne,FurtherVoices in Vergil'sAeneid,Oxford,1987, 194-98 on hunting
ofVergil'sEpic Simiimagery.R. A. Hornsby,PatternsofActionin theAeneid:An Interpretation
Diana
the
different
of
discussion
is
a
useful
89-100
Iowa
imagerylinksthe
1970,
ways
les,
City,
Hornsbyis rightto notethediscrepancybetweenthe
variousdescriptionsof Dido. In particular,
natureof theimageryand therealitiesof Dido's life.Nevertheless,Hornsby'sview of Dido and
herfateis, I think,muchtoo harsh;thereis certainlymoreto hercharacterand herdownfallthan
the"venomofherself-love"(97). Duclos (n. 16 above) attempts,
thoughnotentirelysuccessfully,
The
thecomplexof Diana imageryin the lightof theconceptof "Diana Triformis".
to interpret
mostrecentexaminationof Diana imageryin Vergil'sstoryof Dido is J.T. Dyson, King of the
Wood: The SacrificialVictorin Virgil'sAeneid,Norman,Okla., 2001, 149.
37In the
openingof the HomericHymn,Artemisis called xQuor]A.axaTO5;in Callimachus'
hymn(lines 110-12),we find"ApTeuxriapOeviTiTitvoktove,xpuaea uev xoi /evxea mi £c6vti,
/ ev 8'epdte\)xpvaeia, 0ef|,Keud8eoai xa^ivd. Cf. Vergil,Aen.
Xpt)oeov5' e£e\)£ao8i<J>pov,
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310
Nappa
Christopher
ThatDido has a strongattachment
to theidea of a lifenevertouchedby marriageis supported
byanotherpassagealso:
'si mihinon animofixumimmotumquesederet
ne cui me uinclouellemsociareiugali,
postquamprimusamordeceptammortefefellit;
si nonpertaesumthalamitaedaequefuisset,
huic uni forsanpotuisuccumbereculpae'.
[4.15-19]
"If it did notremainmyfixedand unmovedintention
thatI wouldjoin myselfto no one in marriage,
aftermyfirstlove defraudedme by his deathifthemarriagebed and weddingtorchdid notirritate
me,
I could perhapshave submitted
to thisone fault".
She says notthatshe is stillgrievingforherformer
husbandSychaeusnorthat
she feelsboundby heroathneverto remarry,
butratherthatshe findsthewhole
idea of marriagehardto tolerate.Her phrasesformarriage(uinclumiugale),for
and forherview
theway Sychaeus'deathaffected
her(deceptammorte
fefellit),
of weddings(pertaesumthalamitaedaequefuisset)pave theway notfora conoffallingin love with
fessionofnewlove,butforthehardlyromantic
description
that
Aeneas:succumbere
from
ofAustinmostobvidiffers
culpae3*.My reading
per se, but
ouslyin thatI see in Dido's wordsat 4.550-51a rejectionof marriage
italso differs
in thatI thinkDido's words
fromtheviewsofearliercommentators
reflect
morethana reactiontothepainthatmarriage
andlovehavecausedher:the
butthat,as Vergil'stextcharacterizes
problemis notonlythatDido has suffered
she
was
never
the
of marriagein thefirst
suited
to
institution
her,
place.
entirely
Atthispoint,itis usefultoremember
thatDido is notconsciouslysayingthatshe
rejectsmarriageand thatVergilis notnecessarilysayingthatDido wouldhave
beenhappyhad she onlyremainedunmarried.
The textdoes,however,acknowto
the
of
a
Didoa
woman
rulerwithstrongaffinities
woman
like
ledge anomaly
Artemisandwildnature-marrying.
Dido has just turnedherangeron Anna,who encouragedherto pursuea relationshipwithAeneas.Withnon licuitshe broadensherattackand also finally
revealsthenatureof theproblemthatwas introduced
intothepoem whenshe
4. 133-39:reginamthalamocunctantem
ad liminaprimiI Poenorumexspectant,ostroqueinsignis
et auro I statsonipesac frenaferoxspumantiamandit.I tandemprogreditur
magna stipantecateruaI Sidoniampicto chlamydemcircumdatalimbo;I cui pharetraex auro, crinesnodanturin
aurum,I aurea purpureamsubnectit
fibulauestem.
For a different,
view of theemphasison gold in the
thoughnotnecessarilycontradictory,
of
see
B.
and
the
Dido,
Pavlock,
Imitation,
Eros,
descriptions
Epic Tradition,Ithacaand London,
1990,76-77.
38For
deceptammortefefellit,see Pavlock (n. 37 above) 78-79. On the phrasesuccumbere
culpae and itsrelevanceto theguiltor innocenceof Dido, see Rudd (n. 2 above) 39-40. On thalamushere,see Segal (n. 17 above) 9-10.
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Unmarried
Dido: Aeneid4.550-52
3 11
Attheendofthesudden,
herselfwas: sheis bynaturelikeDiana andhernymphs.
ofthisaspectofhernature,
whenshecomestothememostatement
unconscious,
her
ryofpastgriefimpliedby tailscuras,Dido reproachesherselfforforgetting
lines
a
transition
between
the
the
not
form
to
only
pain
promise Sychaeus.Thus,
and thatcausedby Sychaeus'death,but
causedbyAeneas' impending
departure
theyalso showthatDido's problemwithmaritallove is notlimitedto thesuffering of an abandonedwomanor grievingwidow.Rather,Dido is best suitedby
but
or"likea woodlandcreature",
natureto livemoreferae: not"promiscuously"
was
In this,she is notunlikeAtalanta,whoselifeof hunting
as a virginhuntress.
to an endbyVenusforthesakeof a hero.
also brought
It will be objectedthatDido says and does thingsthatmilitateagainsta connot
love39.Thisis trueenough,andI wouldcertainly
sciousaversionto romantic
Diawith
character.
Her
thwarted
from
Dido's
the
remove
to
affinity
passion
try
of hernatureanymorethanthe
na and hernymphsdoes notcapturethe"truth"
in the
incidentin thecave does40.YettheDiana imageryis markedas significant
with
and firstmeeting
Aeneas
textsinceitprefacesnotonlyDido's introduction
and
in thecave. ThatDido has such anti-erotic
butalso theirfatefulafternoon
sentiments
anti-marital
maynotdefineher,butitdoes helpaccountforherinner
and itpointsup thecasual crueltyof thegods who needher
and misery,
conflict
to ignorethisaspectofherself.
The patternof imageryassociatedwithDido- the associationwithunmarriedgirls(Nausicaa), and withvirginalnymphsand huntresses
(Diana and her
herroleas a femaleleader.Dido's roleas headof stateis
entourage)-reinforces
severaltimesin theAeneidand is, of course,one of thethingswhich
remarked
of marriageis
rendersheralwaysa bit suspect.Her unease overtheinstitution
with
of
her
union
end
the
to
a
reaction
morethan
Sychaeus;it is also part
tragic
The fact
husbandor brother.
whether
as rulerin place of a man41,
of hercomfort
in partthatDido's tragic
thatJunoandVenuscompelherto loveAeneassignifies
herself.
with
but
fate
or
love
not
with
is
struggle
us tothelovelyyoungmaiWe turnnowto theHomericsimilethatintroduces
was
have
we
as
and
Nausicaa
den
noted,
which,
adaptedby Vergilto introduce
a
Dido in Book 1. Nausicaais superficiallypositivemodel- she is modest,inteland,as faras we know,herstoryhas a happyending.Yet
ligent,and attractive,
39Pavlock (n. 37 above) 72-87 is a sensibleand balanceddiscussionof therole of eros in the
storyof Dido.
40Thus Thornton(n. 30 above) 619 misses the pointof the similethatcomparesDido and
Diana and linksherto Nausicaa. ForThornton,theDiana simileand itsHomericforbearareused
to Diana and hervirginescorts(as well as Nausicaa and her
Dido's dissimilarity
onlyto highlight
companions).This helps,in Thornton'sview,linkDido morecloselywithVenus.
41See Panoussi
(n. 6 above) 105-07 on the play of masculineand feminineelementsin the
of Dido.
characterization
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312
Nappa
Christopher
Nausicaa's storyis almosttheoppositeof Dido's in severalimportant
respects42.
Nausicaa is a royalvirginof marriageable
age, whereasDido is a royalwidow
Nausicaais
whohas alreadybeenmarried
once.Moreover,andmoreimportantly,
attracted
to a heroin distressas he triesto reachhomeafterthefallofTroy;he is
womaninhisauthendestinedto leaveheridylliclandandtoendup withanother
behindhim,whatevertritichome- it is his poem,and thegods are ultimately
assistance
bulationstheymayvisituponhimin theshortterm.Withconsiderable
fromheaven,Dido fallshardforherrovinghero,buthis destinyis no less a part
ofthepoemassures
ofthefabricoftheirworldoroftheAeneid.The wholethrust
theaudiencethathe cannotstayin Carthage,andthatshe cannotfollow.If Dido
moreferae,shewouldnotmerely
hadbeenable to live,likeDiana's companions,
shewouldhaveescaped
sideeffects;
haveescapederoticlove anditsunfortunate
theAeneid.Finally,afterthemeetingof Nausicaa and Odysseus,she takeshim
in
to meetherparents,thelegitimatesourceof politicaland military
authority
and
his
her
hercommunity;
takes
to
the
she
along way,
steps preserve reputation
WhenAeneasmeetsDido, on theotherhand,he is meetingwiththepolisafety.
of
ticalauthority
ofCarthage,reginaanddux.The Odyssey'scarefulpreservation
societalnormscollapsesin Dido's Carthage.
Dido as a newNauIf Vergil'suse of thesimilefromtheOdysseyintroduces
eventsoftheAeneiddo notbearthatcomparison
out,foras
sicaa,thesubsequent
thephrasemoreferae,she
we haveseen,Dido is notNausicaa43.Whensheutters
reachesnotforthePhaeacianprincessbutforthenymphswhoresembleherand
heragematesonlyin theirunmarried
state.But whereasNausicaa and hercomwerenot.Nymphsaredivinities
thosenymphs
panionsaredestinedformarriage,
of thewild world,and by associatingDido withthem,Vergilemphasizesthat
In thisregard,one can see a
herconnections
to civilizedlifeare problematic44.
to
numberof connections
betweenDido andferitasin additionto herconnection
at
a
Diana. At4.68-73sheis comparedto a woundeddoe, 4.300-3to bacchant,at
4.465-73tothemadheroesPentheusandOrestes,andat 6.469-71to a rockycliff
inthewild.At6.450-55a similecompareshertothemoon45,
and,inthatpassage,
42See Galinsky
(n. 1 above) 229-30 and Hexter (n. 4 above) 337. Pigon (n. 34 above) 46-48
providesa concise reviewof theancientand latercriticismsofthecomparisonas well as attempts
to refutethem.
43See Pavlock (n. 37 above) 72-73.
^Pavlock (n. 37 above) 69-87 arguesthatvariousaspects of the Dido story- forinstance
excessive wealthand her eventualuse of magic- emphasizeher problematicrelationshipwith
civilizedvalues. See in particular
76: "HoweverappealingDido maybe because ofherimpressive
publicrole and hercapacityforlove, Vergilinsinuatesherambivalentconnectionto thecivilized
values governinghis heroicview".
45Duclos
(n. 16 above) 36-37 readsthefinalappearanceof Dido, and themoon similethere,
in thelightof theDiana imageryelsewhereappliedto Dido. In myview,Duclos' interpretation
of
thiscomplexof imageryis somewhatoverlyschematicand herreadingof Dido's finalappearance
too optimistic.
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Unmarried
Dido: Aeneid4.550-52
3 13
insiluis.In Dido's view(withnonlicuitat4.550),
foundwandering
sheis literally
it mayhave beenimpossibleor ill-advisedto live like afera (whether
thatword
refersto a beastor humanbeing),butthepoem's imageryconsistently
primarily
turnsherintoone.
modelmostcommonlyinvokedin discussingDido is Medea, anThe literary
forced
to fallin love (at leastas Apolloniuswouldhave it46)and
otherwoman
sourand violent.YetDido is also kin
whosetouchingromanceturnsremarkably
to some of theyoungmenof Greektragedy,
Ajax, butalso Hippoparticularly
the
intervention
of Venus,
Diana
who
is
of
another
devote
destroyedby
lytus,
elements
his
arethe
different
Yet
of
in
a
of
struggle
way47.
though, course, vastly
does
not
fit
the
his
of
life
Dido:
chosen
faced
as
those
same
conception
way
by
of a youngman'slifeheldbyhiscommunity
(or,fatally,
byVenus).Dido is neitlike Nausicaa. Though
herpermanently
virginallike Diana nor stillunmarried
is
feelpassionand act
Dido
forced
to
with
such
associated
women,
constantly
herpatrongoddessis nottheuirgoDiana butthematrona
on it- unfortunately,
Juno.The lackoffitbetweenherinnernatureandherworldis at thecenterofher
tragedy.48
Nappa
Christopher
Minneapolis
46In additionto Nelis (n. 5 above) and Clausen (n. 6 above) 40-60, see W. W. Briggs,Virgil
and theHellenisticEpic, ANRW 11.31.2, 1981, 959-69. Krevans (n. 5 above) persuasivelyargues
modelforDido.
thatApollonius'Hypsipyleis also an important
47See Panoussi (n. 6 above) 101-15 foran analysisof Vergil'suse of the tragicAjax in the
betweenVergil'saccountofDido and themythofHipcreationofDido. The complexrelationship
polytus,especiallyas relatedby Euripides'play,has been well analyzedby Dyson (n. 36 above)
149-52and Harrison (n. 6 above), especially8-12.
48For
helpfulcommentson earlierdraftsof thisarticle,I would like to thankN. Krevans,R.
V.
Monti, Panoussi,S. C. Smith,and A. Wilcox.
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