Dido and the Motif of Deception in Aeneid 2 and 3

Abstract

summary: This paper examines how stories of deceit in Aeneid 2 and 3 influence perceptions of the relationship between Aeneas and Dido. Aeneid 1 explicitly addresses Dido’s being deceived by Venus but also raises the possibility of Dido’s deceiving Aeneas with the help of Juno. Deception scenes in Aeneas’s account of the fall of Troy and of his subsequent wanderings keep the framing deceptions in mind, propose ethical evaluations for them, and generate suspense by suggesting that Aeneas and Venus will succeed in deceiving Dido one moment and that Dido and Juno will deceive Aeneas the next.