Classical Mythology

(^652) THE NATURE OF ROMAN MYTHOLOGY
for Dido before he did for Christ. As with Aeneas and his legend, Vergil took
the traditional story of the founding of Carthage by the Phoenician queen Elissa
and transformed the saga into profoundly moving tragedy.
OTHER CHARACTERS IN THE AENEID
The Aeneid is full of characters and scenes that have become part of traditional
Roman legend. Besides the fall of Troy, Vergil takes Aeneas to the future site of
Rome, where he is welcomed by the Arcadian king Evander and hears the story
of Hercules and Cacus. We have seen in Chapter 15 how Aeneas visits the Un-
derworld. In Book 7 we see how Juno rouses the malevolent powers of the Un-
derworld in her attempt to thwart the fulfillment of destiny. Aeneas' enemy Tur-
nus is, like Dido, a victim of destiny, both a cruel warrior and a gallant champion
of his people. Mythical Italian characters are vividly portrayed, Nisus and and
his lover, Euryalus, who died tragically during a nocturnal patrol; the warrior
maiden Camilla, leader of the Volscians, who could run over the fields of ripe
grain without bruising the crops and over the waves of the sea without her feet
touching the water (7. 808-811); Mezentius, "despiser of the gods," the Etruscan
leader who in other versions of the saga survived the war and was later killed
by Ascanius. In the Aeneid, both he and his son, Lausus, are killed by Aeneas.
Camilla is killed by the Etruscan Arruns, who is himself killed by Diana's fol-
lower Opis in punishment for killing her favorite.
THE DEATH OF AENEAS
The Aeneid ends with the death of Turnus. The saga continues with Aeneas' mar-
riage to Lavinia and his founding of Lavinium. He died in battle after only three
more years and became a god, being worshiped with the divine title Indiges.^8
ANNA AND ANNA PERENNA
The myth of Anna, Dido's sister, is related by Ovid (Fasti 3. 523-656) in con-
nection with the New Year's festival (celebrated in March, originally the first
month of the Roman calendar) in honor of Anna Perenna. Anna fled from
Carthage, which had been occupied by Iarbas, and came to Melita (Malta). Here
her brother Pygmalion, who had killed Dido's husband Sychaeus and driven
her from Tyre, found her and demanded that she be handed over. Fleeing again,
she was shipwrecked off the coast of Latium, reaching land in Aeneas' territory
in the ager Laurens. Aeneas found her and gave her a refuge in his palace, but
Lavinia out of jealousy plotted to kill her. Warned by Dido in a dream, Anna
fled once more and came to the bank of the river Numicus, where Aeneas' fol-
lowers searched for her. Here is how the story ends (Fasti 3. 651-656):
f
They came to the banks [of the Numicus], where her footsteps were. The river,
which knew [what had happened], stopped the flow of his silent waters. Anna