Theme Of Love In The Aeneid

Love. What do you think of when you hear that word? Affection, devotion, friendship, maybe even lust? Well, love is a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. Today, people see love as a beautiful thing, that everybody dreams of falling into. Aw, so sweet right? Not quite, love can cause some problems, and sometimes these problems are quite traumatic. In Book IV of The Aeneid, Virgil uses Dido’s strong affection for Aeneas to show that love can lead to complications, even death. Virgil sets up a scenario in which Queen Dido allows herself to fall in love with Aeneas. Fear keeps Dido from loving another man after her husband, Sychaeus, died. Dido explains, “ That man who took me to himself in youth has taken all of my love; may that man keep it, hold it forever with him in the tomb.” (37-38) Dido wants her husband to have her love dead or alive, and she does not want to feel like she has betrayed her husband in any way. Anna, Dido’s sister, plays a major role in telling Dido that she can love again. Anna states, “Never to know sweet children, or the crown of joy that Venus brings? Do you believe this matters to the dust, to ghosts in tombs?” (43-45) What Anna is saying here is that Dido can love again
Romeo and Juliet is about two families that do not get along, the Montagues and the Capulets. Two young lovers, Romeo and Juliet, are from those two different families. Romeo is a Capulet, and Juliet is a Montague. They grew fond of each other at a family ball, but they cannot see each other because of the family feud. The play says, ”Here’s to my love!...O truth apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die.”(Page 1) In this piece of the play, Romeo is drinking a poison to kill himself because Juliet is “dead”. Just like in Virgil’s Aeneid Book IV, a death occurred because of