Cover Image
QR Code

Magic and Memory: Dido's Ritual for Inducing Forgetfulness in Aeneid 4.

In this article, I examine the nature of Dido's magic ritual in Aeneid 4, reading it as a magic ritual aimed at inducing forgetfulness. I argue that in burning his belongings, Dido intends to forget Aeneas and not to destroy him; for this purpose, I study this episode in the light of non-literary so...

Full description

Published in:Mnemosyne Vol. 74; no. 6; pp. 1001 - 1015
Main Author: Silva, Gabriel A.F.
Format: Article
Published: Brill Academic Publishers 2021
Subjects:
Memory loss
Magic
Aeneas (Legendary character)
Dido (Legendary character)
Social belonging
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Summary:In this article, I examine the nature of Dido's magic ritual in Aeneid 4, reading it as a magic ritual aimed at inducing forgetfulness. I argue that in burning his belongings, Dido intends to forget Aeneas and not to destroy him; for this purpose, I study this episode in the light of non-literary sources and of the poetic tradition concerning love magic and the obliteration of memory.