Human Decision Making In Virgil's Aeneid

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Virgil’s Aeneid is a tale of many heartbreaks, downfalls and successes and in the end, against Virgil’s wishes, ended up being the official epic of Roman history, while Virgil wished it destroyed. The Aeneid: Book II tells the Trojan’s side of the story of the downfall of Troy, attempting to lessen their embarrassment by glossing over some key details. Book IV, however, focuses on the tale of Aeneas, the man believed to be the founder of Rome, and his lover, Queen Dido, whom he must leave to fulfill his fate as the founder of Rome. Virgil uses Queen Dido’s severe reaction of Aeneas’ leaving to show how human emotion can affect human decision making.
After Dido’s first husband dies, she waits years to remarry to Aeneas and only after extreme convincing …show more content…
During this time, she also loses many chances to remarry and help her city. In Book IV of Aeneid, Queen Dido has previously lost her husband and does not wish to remarry and is only convinced by her sister to remarry for the good of the city she rules. “Dearer to your sister than daylight is, will you wear out your life, young as you are, in solitary mourning, never to know sweet children, or the crown of joy that Venus brings?(Virgil Lines 40-44). In this quote from the Aeneid, Queen Dido is mourning her late husband and her sister Anna is trying to convince her to take one of her suitors in marriage. After Dido loses her husband, she spends a long period of time mourning instead of trying to find another husband to help lead the city. Every time Queen Dido turns down one of her suitors, she wastes another chance to help her city as a queen. “Granted no suitors up to now have moved you...their triumphs have enriched--- will
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