In six pages this essay assesses the Trojan suffering compared with the cost of the Roman state with specific references made to the stories of the Trojan women, Aeneas, and Dido. There are no other sources listed.
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they provide the foundation for the founding of Rome. In this work, Vigil contrasts the glory of their destiny against the human costs of the long journey, which
is considerable. Several ships perish in the first book alone. Additionally, because Aeneas is compelled to follow his destiny, Dido, the queen of Carthage, is destroyed and commits suicide.
The Trojan women who are part of this group of wanderers attempt to torch Aeneas fleet rather than continue. As this suggests, the toll in human suffering in
order to reach Italy and Aeneas divinely assigned destiny is quite high. However, by exploring Virgils use of fire imagery, it becomes evident that Virgil portrays action that distracts
Aeneas and his men from their destiny as antithetical to society. In other words, the glory of the Roman Empire, which will come from the efforts of the Trojan wanderers
and of which Virgils readers are well aware, is considered to have primacy over any suffering that the group undergoes. After surviving the storm that Juno sent against them,
the Trojans find rest and refuse in the city of Carthage in northern Africa. To ensure that the people of Carthage welcome them, Venus, Aeneas mother causes Dido, the
Carthage queen, to fall in love with Aeneas. The entire story of Dido and Aeneas brims with fire imagery that demonstrates both Didos passion and the destructive nature of fire.
First of all, Dido is filled with apprehension at loving again, since she lost her first husband, Sichaeus, when her brother murdered him. "But anxious cares already seizd
the queen:/ She fed within her veins a flame unseen; /The heros valor, acts and birth inspire / Her soul with love and fan the secret fire" (IV, 1-5).