A royal hunt follows a gorgeous levee: a great storm rocks all of nature which is matched by the storm of passion between Dido and Aeneas, sheltering in their cave. Hear one of Virgil’s greatest set-pieces in Latin and follow it in English here.
Dido loves Aeneas, the Trojan stranger. Virgil tells the story here.
After stabbing herself, Dido lingers on in pain until Juno, Queen of the Gods, takes pity and sends Iris, the Goddess of the rainbow to set her finally free. See and hear the passage here.
Here is a selection of poetry about the Gods – in a variety of moods.
First, Jupiter, King of the Gods, in the mood for love as
After Aeneas and Dido begin their doomed affair, the news is spread by the God of
Aeneas has to be reminded of his divine mission to found a city in Italy by the Gods’ messenger,
All ends badly for Dido. Taking pity, Juno ordains her final release from her agony by
Some deities are more glamorous than others. Aeneas meets the ferryman of Hades,
Horace has a mystical experience with a vision of
Arachne discovers that challenging a God is unwise in the course of her weaving contest with
Juno rouses King Turnus of the Rutuli to arms against Aeneas with the help of
Aeneas receives some welcome strategic advice from
Under Mount Etna, a might forge resounds with the laboursof
Vulcan and his workmen the Cyclopes
See the index to Latin selection pages here.
Today’s poem is taken from Schiller’s free German translation of Book 4 of the Aeneid, in which he describes how the Goddess Juno finally takes pity on Dido as she lingers in her death agony after stabbing herself with Aeneas’s sword and sends the rainbow-Goddess Iris to free her spirit from her body. Hear the German read by Tatjana Pisarski and follow an English translation here.
The great German poet Friedrich von Schiller wrote a thrilling free version of the Books of Virgil’s Aeneid which deal with the fall of Troy and the Story of Dido and Aeneas. This extract from the second – Book 4 – is Dido’s reproof to Aeneas when she discovers he has been planning to leave her. Listen to the German read by Tatjana Pisarski and follow an English translation here.
The illustration shows another famously and justly angry mythical woman – Medea – painted by Evelyn de Morgan.