Probably Aeneas' most heinous act in the Aeneid is his abandonment of Dido(aka Elissa), Queen of Carthage. Not only does he abandon her, he drives her to suicide. In order to fully understand the seriousness of this abandonment, it is necessary to take a look at the back story of Queen Dido.

Dido was originally a Phoenician princess named Elissa. She was married to Sychaeus, whom her brother, Pygmalion, killed. In older myths, Elissa killed herself rather than marry another man. Vergil took this myth and made her flee from her home city of Tyre to the future site of Carthage. There, she tricked one of the rulers, Iarbas, into giving her a site to found a city. Carthage came to be the favored city of Juno; "Samos even was second; and here she kept her arms, and here she kept her chariot, and here, if the fates allowed, she yearned to see a city ruling the world."

Aeneas' ships are washed ashore at Carthage by a great storm at sea. This storm is not an accident, for Juno, queen of the gods, asked Aelous, god of wind and cloudbursts, to raise a great storm to drown the Trojans she hated so much. As he and his sidekick, Achates, go ashore to find help, they come upon Dido's new city. Venus, Aeneas' mother, schemes to help her son by having Dido fall in love with him. She sends her other son, the god Cupid, to impersonate Aeneas' son, Ascanius, and prick Dido with one of his love causing arrows. The queen falls madly in love and can not contain herself. Her mind is fraught with passion, and "in frenzy [she] staggered and reeled through the city"

When Juno perceives what Venus has done, the two goddesses strike a bargain, with the emotions of two mortals as the subjects. Juno will allow Dido to "be slave to a Trojan husband" if Venus will allow that Aeneas will not be ruler of the "new Troy" but instead rule with Dido. Thus, Carthage will become the center of the Mediterranean. To accomplish this end, Juno and Venus conspire to get the two of them alone together in a cave through the subterfuge of a storm during a hunting expedition. The two consummate their relationship, and Aeneas becomes Dido's consort.

However, as is wont to happen, rumours begin to fly. "The queen neglects her duty for her foreign lover', and the like are whispered among the subjects. This news reaches the ears of King Iarbas. Iarbas is semi-divine, the son of Jupiter and a mymph, and has petitioned Dido for marriage before. When he hears that she has taken Aeneas as her consort, he becomes angered and prays to his father to correct this wrong. Jupiter hears his prayers and sends Mercury to command Aeneas to leave the city and fufill his destiny of founding Rome(or at least its ancestor city.)

Now, up to this point, Aeneas has been doing pretty well. He's fallen in love with a powerful queen, and been set up as a consort. He leads a cushy life, supervising construction by day and sharing Dido's couch by night. I have no problem with Aeneas during this time period. He treats Dido well, it would seem, and he's productive, helping make Carthage a great city. But his actions after Mercury commands him to leave are despicable.

Cowed by this apparition, terrified Aeneas Was dumb, his hair stood on end; his tongue clove; He burned to escape, to leave these lotus-lands; Thunderstruck with this stark ultimatum From the god of gods. Oh, God, what can he do? With what words mollify the queen's fury?

Aeneas immediately, like the rat that he is, is concerned with how to abate the queen's fury. There is no question in his mind of whether or not he should go. And it would seem that there shouldn't be, because he is being commanded by Jupiter But mythology gives us many examples of mortals who defy the will of the gods. Admetus, for example, puts off his death not once, but twice in direct opposition to the decree of the gods. (Encyclopedia Mythica) Aeneas does not even fleetingly consider these things. It would not be a betrayal of his piety to entertain a brief dream, would it?

Eeven worse, he does not go to Dido immediately and explain the situation. Instead, he orders his ships to be prepared; to be prepared in secret, without the queen's knowledge. What a horrible choice this, what lack of respect! The queen is a rational person, if Aeneas had gone to her immediately, if he had explained the situation to her-who know how the results might have changed! But instead, he chooses to deceive her. Dido, however, can not be deceived. With the intuition of a lover, she senses that the ships are being prepared and goes to find him.

You traitor! Did you hope to mask such treachery And silently slink from my land?! Is there nothing to keep you? Nothing my life, my love has given you? Knowing that if you go-I cannot but die?

Aeneas denies her pleas cruelly. "Do not ever imagine I came as a prospective husband." Yet Juno herself said that she would recognize Aeneas as Dido's husband after the incident in the cave. Thus, Aeneas is Dido's divinely approved husband, a designation which should be supreme to legal obligation. Even now Aeneas could salvage the situation. If he had picked his words more wisely, if he had soothed Dido, perhaps she might have chosen a different plan. But he hardens his heart and coldly tells her is is obligated to do so. He mocks her: "You are a Phoenician and yet you dote on Carthage, can not a Trojan then have his Italy?" And finally, he says, " It is not by my own free will that I leave for Italy."

To be fair to Aeneas, as much as it pains me, he is obligated to obey the commands of the gods by his piety. However, he does not even try to help the queen. In light of Dido's back story, we can see how serious his desertion will be. She is a powerful queen, yet she is also a new queen. She is surrounded by hotile tribes, and her own people have lost faith in her because of her love for Aeneas. If Aeneas stays, thee two of them can build up Carthage to greatness. Alone, she can no longer lead her people. Their confidence in her is destroyed. Iarbas is on the point of war in his rage, And there is always the threat of Pygmalion.

Dido chooses the one path open to her: suicide. This choice is directly caused by Aeneas' cruelty. If he had offered her advice, if he had taken her with him, if he had promised to return once his city was founded; all viable options which he does not even consider. Aeneas' piety is only a smokescreen for a man who is afraid to go with what his heart desires. If he had desired to stay in Carthage, Juno, queen of Heaven, would have been on his side. We saw in the Iliad that Juno is capable of changing Jupiter's mind if she puts her mind to it. Perhaps she could have done so here.

We will never know, for Aeneas does not bring any of these options into play. Cowed by the gods, he can not think of any way to get around the situation. He does sacrifice or pray that their will might be changed. He does not leave troops to help Dido. He simply sails away like a dog, leaving Dido the mess of her kingdom and a sure prescription for a swift death by her own hand.