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Complete 4 page APA formatted essay: Helen in the Iliad and Dido in the Aeneid.

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She is a symbol of the woman bringing grief to the men loving her, but she is also a symbol of beauty and passion. The Aeneid, on the contrary, has a theme of woman subordination and exclusion as one of the major plot themes. Dido became one of the literature characters, symbolizing abandoned women, who repented of adultery and returned back to their husbands, although Dido did it after her death.

Dido is not just a character of a nice young woman who is unhappy with love. This character is much more complicated. The author describes her as a loving woman but he also portrays her so that the danger she may cause to Aeneas becomes evident for the reader. One of the examples is her anger when Dido is about to commit a suicide:

This is the thing that makes Dido be similar to the character of Helen from Iliad. Both women symbolize beauty and danger to men characters of these writings. But at the same time, she is sad and unhappy with Aeneas’ departure after he had been provoked by Venus and decided to leave for Italy.

Despite a funeral pyre is unusual and even choking for a Roman court, being regarded as the witchcraft, Dido calls understanding and sympathy. Readers appreciate her devotion and love and condemn Aeneas for leaving her, her grieve makes the reader not notice a negative undertone the author uses in describing this character.

In general, Virgil uses this char…

In general, Virgil uses this character for two different goals. The first of the goals is to reflect the relations between Carthage and Rome via the romantic relationship of Dido and Aeneas. The second one is to point out Aeneas’ human nature. It was usual to depict the main protagonist as a person of perfect moral and physical qualities. The situation where Aeneas expresses weakness of the character, leaving Dido, shows that the hero is not a perfect hero, born by a goddess, but an average person with lacks that are inherent to human nature.

The character of Helen in Iliad is to be observed from several angles of vision. The writing has a lot of negative remarks, pronounced by the heroes that mention her name. Helen understands and realizes her guilt, and the scandal she caused by leaving a husband for a warrior from a foreign country. The author appreciated honour as one of the most precious virtues, and shame is one of the most vivid emotions that reveal in Helen. The author burdens her guilt by pointing out that she disgraced not only herself but also the people of Hellas who were involved into war because of her adultery: “…if only death had pleased me then, grim death, the day I followed your son to Troy, forsaking my marriage bed, my kinsmen, and my child” (Iliad, book 3)

However, Helen is not a cause of the war, but she is also a victim. Her behaviour is determined by Venus, she is not fully responsible for herself, and she becomes a symbol of a woman who causes woe to her men: “terrible is the likeness of her face to immortal goddesses.” (Iliad, book 3). The critics do not agree whether Helen was forced by Venus to leave her husband or not.&nbsp.