The doomed love affair of Aeneas and Dido is, on the face of it, an unusual tale for ancient epic. This lecture shows how Vergil's account of Dido's passion and death relates to Rome's wars with Carthage and to its association with another Eastern queen, Cleopatra VII. This book also introduces the themes of passion and madness into the epic - forces which Aeneas should overcome and reject - while giving us a compelling account of Dido's descent from serene leader of her people to a wild, passionate and suicidal woman.

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