Introduction
Virgil was an important poet in the Roman Empire. He was born in Italy, but finally got settled in Rome. Virgil was a favorite amongst the patrons in his time and gained a lot of wealth, fame and emperor’s favors simply because of his writing. Virgil lived through several tumultuous wars and regime changes (one of Octavian’s regimes as well, who was also called as Augustus later). Always being in the good books of the emperor Augustus, Virgil started working on his most famous book the Aeneid, which also immortalized the reign of Augustus. The Aeneid is the story of a Trojan hero, Aeneas. Aeneas is forced to flee from Troy with his father, son and a few other people in search of Italy because the God’s prophesied that Aeneas is destined to find and establish a new kingdom in Italy (which later will be Rome). Within the story, Virgil is seen to foreshadow or hint towards the upcoming establishment of Augustus. Some of the people believe that Virgil’s subtle hints in glorifying Augustus and his ascendants in The Aeneid may stem from the need for Virgil to remain in the emperor’s good books rather than what Virgil himself believed to be truth. This is especially the case because several critics during Augustus’s time criticized Augustus for the bloodshed and treachery with which he occupied the kingdom.
Euripides, on the other hand, was born and brought up in Athens. He was a witness to two of the most major wars during his time and that left him in disgust for politics and wars. Euripides was a social reformer of his time who was never appreciated and least understood. Despite having written more than 90 plays, Euripides only got awarded five times. His contemporaries like Aristophanes made fun of him for his use of language and his ideas. As Socrates and Euripides were friends, both of them shared similar mindset and that liberal mentality was not acceptable to people in the then Athens. This only attracted more ridicule. Even Aristotle did not consider too highly of Euripides and his writing. The point to consider, however, is that Euripides wrote Tragicomedies, a completely new genre and hence, people did not quite understand his plays that well. Secondly, in his plays, the heroes were not so heroic and the plot was also loosely weaved (in the world of Aristotle). Nevertheless, one aspect that is brought to light in Euripides’s plays is the importance given to the female protagonists, the character development and the emotions of each of the characters. In Medea, it was the first time that a female protagonist was given so much power, along with the power of revenge. Today, Medea is a timeless classic.
In the book The Aeneid, the description of Dido, the queen of Carthage itself is a delight.
“The beauteous Dido, with a num'rous train,
And pomp of guards, ascends the sacred fane.
Such on Eurotas' banks, or Cynthus' height,
She walks majestic, and she looks their queen;” (16)
The very description gives the readers an impression of a queen who is majestic, righteous and much loved by her subjects. Dido is also a story of courage and promise. Despite having been precarious circumstances, where her wealthy husband, Sychaeus, was murdered by her brother, Pygmalion, Dido left Tyre with some of her associates and found Carthage. She became the pillar of strength for Carthage and its subjects. She swore to never marry again and remain faithful to the memory of her husband forever.
Nevertheless, falling as a pawn to the Gods who had a larger destiny for Aeneas in mind, she falls deeply and hopelessly in love with Aeneas. As she explains to her sister (Book IV), “She fed within her veins a flame unseen,” and “Her soul with love, and fan the secret fire” (71), she was hopelessly in love with Aeneas. However, she felt she would be cheating the memory of her dead husband. She explains her dilemma as such:
“That, were I not resolv'd against the yoke
Of hapless marriage, never to be curst
With second love, so fatal was my first,
For, since Sichaeus was untimely slain,
This only man is able to subvert
The fix'd foundations of my stubborn heart.” (72)
However, her sister (under influence from the Gods) pushes her to consummate her love for Aeneas. However, as the news of the love affair between Aeneas and Dido spreads, a revolt starts to rise amongst the subjects of Carthage. The suitors negated by Dido, threat to raise an army against Dido and Aeneas, unless Aeneas leaves the city of Carthage. Aeneas is also charged by the Gods for not working towards his goal. Thus, Aeneas decides to leave much to the anguish of Dido. After Aeneas’s departure, Dido feels hopeless and decides to kill herself on a pyre made up of all Aeneas’s things and stabs herself with Aeneas’s sword and dies.
Medea, on the other hand, is a heroine full of guts, cunning and power. She is Princess of Colchis and knows spells and manipulation through which to achieve her means. From the very beginning, we know that she is the one to have marred all the traps the King of Colchis laid for Jason in order to avoid him from gaining the Golden Fleece. Not only does she get the Golden Fleece and give it to Jason, she also flees with Jason leaving behind her kingdom, family and wealth. Such is the strength of her love for Jason that she kills her brother and cuts him into pieces so that the army, instead of following her, stays behind to collect her brother’s pieces and bury them. In the beginning of the book we are made aware that Medea and her husband Jason had developed a life for themselves in Corinth and were highly respected. Medea loved her husband and kids dearly. However, Jason, in his weakness of character decides to divorce Medea and marry Glauce, the daughter of the King of Corinth. Medea is devastated by this and her sorrow is turned into mad fury when King of Corinth exiles her for the fear that she might create disturbances. Her hatred for Jason is thus explained when Medea says to her kids, “how I bless you both not here—beyond every blessing here you father has despoiled (173).” Nevertheless, Medea gains a day’s exempt from her exile and plans revenge against Jason. She gifts poisoned sheath and crown to Glauce which kills her instantly. The King, on his daughter’s death too embraces the poisoned gifts and dies. After this, Medea kills her kids as well in order to induce maximum hurt to Jason and flees from the kingdom on her chariot provided to her by her grandfather, Helios. As Medea says, “Woman, on the whole, is a timid thing: [] but, wronged in love, there is no heart more murderous (31).”
Comparing and Contrasting Dido and Medea
It may be said to some extent that both the heroines have similarities to some extent. Both the heroines are gutsy. While Dido left her home in Tyre and built up a whole new city, Medea too left her homeland for her love. Much like Medea, Dido too was ready to do anything for her love. Both the heroines are extremely emotional and at times, impulsive in blind passion. While Dido loses her life in her impulse to kill herself in the passion of love, Medea kills her kids and the entire Jason family to revenge her spurned love. However, this is where the similarities between the two heroines end.
One of the biggest contrasts between the natures of the two heroines is in their intentions. From the very beginning Medea is seen as a cunning lady, who uses her power of spells and manipulation to get her way done. Medea does not hesitate in killing for love and throughout the play, kills at least seven people. It may be said that people were scared of Medea and her strong personality (as is evident from when the King exiles Medea for the fear of her revenge). Dido, on the other hand, is milder and more considerate in nature. Other than her love for Aeneas, she has always been highly respected and responsible in her actions. She is much loved by all, not out of fear, but because of her nature.
Conclusion
Despite all the flaws of character in Medea, the fact is that in the time when Euripides wrote Medea, she portrayed feminine revolt in a society where women had no rights or freedom whatsoever. A cast-away woman, who is a foreigner in the society and much smarter than the rest – people simply could not accept her. Thus, her actions come out of her fury at all the subjugations she is been forced to accept and still not loved by the very man for whom she left everything.
Dido, on the other hand, is merely a pawn at the hands of God. She is one heroine we feel sorry for as her peace is destroyed by the Gods in a bid to help Aeneas reach his destiny. It also makes us feel how women have been used through the history of time to aid men in their progress, even at their own personal cost.
In both the plays, The Aeneid and Medea, the heroes use females to reach or try to reach their destiny. While Aeneas in The Aeneid uses Dido, Jason in Medea uses Medea and then Glauce to try to move up within the society. This knowledge makes us feel sympathetic towards both the heroines, despite the many flaws and considerations of each. As Medea proclaims, “Of all creatures that can feel and think, we women are the worst treated things alive” (31).
Reference List
Euripides (1985). Euripides' Medea. (Steadman, P., & Diamond, D., Trans)New York: Greek Drama Co., Ltd. (Original work published 431 BC)
Vergil (1909). Aeneid. (John Drydon, Trans) New York: P.F. Collier & Son. (Original work published 29-19 BC)
