Dido's Suicide: A Medium for Control or Helplessness

In class wed we discussed the fallout of Aeneid and Dido's relationship: one that was so delicately forged, and then so violently destroyed. Aeneus and Dido both suffered the crippling despair resulting from their spouse's untimely death. Aeneus arrived in Dido's kingdom as a guest, immediately following escaping his fallen City of Troy. With his family and home destroyed in a blaze of Greek vengeance, Aeneus is forced to start anew, regardless of his obvious vulnerabilities. Dido, fresh off some hardships of her own, has been ruling her kingdom since her plotting brother murdered her beloved husband in an attempt to usurp the thrown. unbeknownst to both Aeneus and Dido, Aeneus' mother, Venus, instructs the God of Love, Cupid, to shoot Dido with one of his magical arrows, immediately causing Dido to fall deeply in love with Aeneus. Dido and Aeneus both struggle to shed their connection in fear of dishonoring their late spouses, but their love proves to be too strong and they forge a relationship. Enveloped completely by their love, Dido loses sight of her goal of rebuilding and restructuring her kingdom, and in turn she loses her public support.
Then, in a divine turn of events Aeneus is visited by Mercury, the messenger God, who tells him that in order to fulfill his destiny he must journey to Italy, where he is to start an empire o previously unimaginable proportions. On cue Aeneus begins ramping up for his voyage. Dido learns if Aeneus' plans to leave and is destroyed. She confronts Aeneus, but to no avail. Crushed again, Dido is left in her kingdom, surrounded by darkness, and encapsulated in fear, she takes her own life atop a makeshift shrine to Aeneus.
Throughout the entirety if the Aeneid is clearly the hero. Still, unlike most works of this time period Dido, a female character, is depicted in a position of power. But, I question whether or not Dido possesses the internal strength to lead, and o web be in control. She is a leader of a kingdom who has survived opposition to rebuild/restructure a paradise in her own likeness, BUT she accepts her destiny as a failure when she takes her own life. In class we discussed suicide as being an exposition in control, but I believe it is in weakness. We have seen our heroes battle monsters, defeat spells and curses, escape the clutches of demigods, and even laugh in the face of the gods themselves; but when Dido, a 'female heroin', is faced with another heartbreak and a displeased kingdom she takes the easy way out and removes herself from
The situation, rather than fight for herself. Suicide is an escape, and some may say that staging an escape is an exercise in control. But, is it really, when what you are escaping from is helplessness?

What Makes a Hero?

For a majority of class Wednesday we focused on the theme of heroism, and more specifically in regards to Odysseus.  Personally, I have always viewed Odysseus as a heroic character, especially considering The Odyssey is an epic poem, but not all of you were quite as convinced.  And, that made me think - What makes a hero?  Must a hero have a specific goal or drive?  Are heroes a product of their environment/culture?  Is one's hero all's hero?
In my eyes, a hero is more than a winner.  My hero does not have to be the biggest, strongest, or fastest; nor does he need to be the richest or most powerful.  For me, heroism is most synonymous with leadership.  Leaders and heroes are competetive without depending on success, demanding but still caring, strong but still in touch with emotion, charismatic without being austentacious, and most importantly leaders and heroes perservere.  Odysseus, is a hero.
Against all intuition Odysseus leaves his kingdom, embarking on a journey towards Troy, where he fights and wins the Trojan war.  But Odysseus' win at Troy was just the first step in a journey that would ultimately take him over 20 years to complete.  For 20 long, arduous, bloody years Odysseus struggled to return home to his wife and his son.  At every turn he was led further astray from his path, and further away from his family.  He battled against the strength and brutality of the cyclops, the tempting, compelling words of Circes, endured 7 years of capture with the demigod Calypso, and endured years upon years of lost fatherhood and husbandry.
But what did Odysseus do? - He perservered.  Odysseus, after 20 years of travel returned home to his son, his wife, and his kingdom; but, no before outwitting and crushing all opposition of the suitors that had inhabited his palace.  I realize that Odysseus has flaws, and in heinsight there are points during his journey which differen't and perhaps more time and effort economical choices could have been made, but he is human.  And, while some may argue that in this world of Greek mythology that human are merely pawns of the Gods, this pawn conquered, this pawn forged past the knights, past the bishops and rooks, and past the queen to the king.  Check mate.

Polytheism the Issue

This week I would like to concentrate on Book V of Homer's The Odyssey, more specifically how the polytheistic beliefs of the Greeks, and most specfically Odysseus, weaken his character as a true hero.  I fully realize that in the time of Homer not only did the Greeks, and most of the Western World, believe that divine intervention was a true and realistic possibility, but also that it serves for entertaining text; however, to me, it serves as a hero's crutch.  In Book V, The Odyssey picks up with Oysseus in the midst of his own hell:  he has been marooned on an island, a slave of the irresistbale nymph Calypso.  In short, Calypso holds Odysseus captive on her island.  Every night she lures him to her bed, and every day he weeps in regret and pain.  And, at the conclusion of Book V Odysseus, with the help of Hermes, is able to trick Calypso into allowing his freedom from the island and more importantly her temptuous grasp.  Here, where most see a mortal man who, with his cunning, has worked his way to being one step ahead of the demigod Calypso, I see an easy way out.  Calypso, or any demigod or God for that matter, are excuses.  Excuses for action and poor excuses for escape and weakness.  To me, a true hero does not need infallable, divine enemies to conquor in order to be great, a true hero needs cunning, guile, strength, and honor.  Odysseus' true enemy should lye more in the Trojans - fellow men, who like Odysseus bleed, smile, and weep.  In all honesty, I feel the impossiblity of theses divine interventions take away from the truly epic hero Odysseus could be.