Many scholars have debated the role of women in politics over the ages. The reason for this is that the women’s intellect has been compared with her potential to also trick male leaders into failing in love with her. Throughout the ages women have played both roles. Before Christianity, women have been heavily involved in politics and political theory. It was not until the dark ages, that women took a more backseat role to those aspects of politics that they are just beginning to come back from today. In the books of the Aeneid, Virgil absolutely compares women to the downfall of politics by utilizing the story of Dido and Aeneas to depict how a woman can clearly have an influence in politics and the mind of a ruler.
One of the prime influences in the Aeneid is the relationship between Dido and Aeneas, (“The Aeneid: Books Four and Five”). The The story behind Dido and Aeneas is that Dido was a damned African queen that Aeneas fell in love with, (“The Aeneid: Books Four and Five”). Aeneas was subsequently summoned to go and found Rome, which he did and escaped his love affair with the damned queen, (“The Aeneid: Books Four and Five”). Even though Aeneas did escape, the love affair as written in the Aeneid depicts the influence that women have over corrupting or altering politics. Aeneas was in fact tempted to not go to Rome by the love he had for Dido, (“The Aeneid: Books Four and Five”). This demonstrates how strong Dido truly was because of her power that she had over a man who had such a political destiny to found one of the greatest civilizations that ever lived. That being said, this part of the play has an irony because Dido ends up taking her life, which also shows her weakness to the love that she felt for Aeneas, (“The Aeneid: Books Four and Five”). She could not bear being separated from him even though he chose his politics and loyalty to his people over their love affair, (“The Aeneid: Books Four and Five”). The theme presented between Dido and Aeneas shows the duties of kings and queens to their people as a stark contrast to the duty of kings and queens to their hearts. Throughout history, we have seen this debate in many stories because there is always a struggle with rulers between the heart and the craving for power and satisfying the obligations of one’s family. The story of Dido and Aeneas is a direct inspiration for these debates that have plagued monarchs for ages.
The primary quote that lures Aeneas is the quote from the speech that Anchises delivers to Aeneas that depicts his destiny. The quote states that “Roman, remember by your strength to rule the Earth’s peoples – for your arts are to be these: To pacify, to impose the rule of law, To spare the conquered, battle down the proud, (“The Aeneid: Book Six). This speech is symbolic in many ways because of the key diction in the sentence regarding to “ruling by strength.” This strength is not only geared towards the art of ruling; it is also referring to the theme of selflessness that a ruler must possess. In the case of Aeneas, this is referring to having the selflessness to leave his love Dido and be the ruler for the greater good of his people.
Even though this quote provides a strong argument of the influence that the women could have on the human heart and also politics, there is also a counterargument to be analyzed her in that the quote is also referring to how politics has no bearing on women in general. The quote speaks to Aeneas as a male and a ruler, not as a lover or husband. The quote explains his duties and nothing more. The beauty in this quote depends on the reader and how they interpret the words here because even though the quote appears on the surface to be having a meaning that is geared at Aeneas’s love towards Dido; however, there is also a side to this quote that denotes the purpose of politics to be only for the man and to not have the women’s interests or desires factored into the role of politics. That being said, from the reading of this quote, it is likely that the former argument towards the quote having a veiled meaning seems more plausible given the conflict of the romance between Dido, Aeneas, and Rome.
The Aeneid is one of the most fascinating books of literature that has ever been written. The reason for this is that the themes of love, women, and politics create a prominence that the literary field has loved to explore over the ages. The Aeneid depicts women as both weak and strong. The passages relating to Aeneas and Dido do show a great juxtaposition between the role and influence that women have on political leaders. Based on the comparison between Dido and Aeneas a reader can truly make an inference based on both women and the effect that they had on each ruler that they were in love with. On the one hand, Dido failed at having the power to bend a political man’s will to abandon his obligations. This shows how the female form can define rulers and also how they can fail to define rulers. Based on this inference from the Aeneid, there can be an argument made for the love of a romance and how it shifts politics and the love of a republic that supersedes the love and influence of a woman. This is precisely why this theme keeps being debated throughout history because there is no concrete answer to how the mystery of love and power equates to the rationalization of the decisions that prominent politicians have made over the ages. Even though Aeneas chose Rome over Dido, the Aeneid creates a fascinating demonstration of how love can challenge a ruler’s obligations in the political realm so much so, that they can be tempted to risk and lose everything.
References
“The Aeneid: Books Four and Five.” Excerpts Provided by Course Professor.
