Aeneid Book IV Similes

Simile #1) 

Page 79, Line 68

"Dido, unfulfilled, burns and and, in ravaging obsession, randomly wanders through the town, like a deer pierced through by an arrow hit long range, when off guard, in the Cretan woods by a shepard armed for hunt. He has his steel tipped shaft in her body, not knowing he's hit his mark. In her fight, she ranges all Dicte's meadows and woods. Barbed deep in her haunch is the reed that will kill her."

Tenor: Dido's infatuation and obsession with Aeneas

Vehicle: A dear being pierced with an arrow

Event: Venus was afraid that Juno would incite the Carthaginians to harm or attack Aeneas and the Trojans, so she told her other son Cupid to make Dido fall in the love with Aeneas so that he would be safe.

Theme: Plays in to the animal and nature theme that we see in the simile's of the Iliad 

Simile #2)

Page 81, Line 143

"He's like Apollo, deserting his wintertime home by the Lycian stream of the Xanthus to visit his mother's homeland of Delos, where he's the sponsor of the ritual dance. Round his altars there mingle Cretans, tatood Agathyrsians, Dryopes. all. celebrating."

Tenor: Aeneas 

Vehicle: Apollo

Event: They are related through the hunt scene because Apollo is known to be very skilled with the bow.

Theme: In Odyssey, Odysseus is constantly referred to as godlike and is compared to gods (mainly Zeus).

Simile #3)

Page 86, Line 300

"Mind of of control, all ablaze, she screams through the city, Bacchic cries when Thyiad frenzied  by brandished Thyrsus and loud Bacchic cries when Thebes' biennial orgies madden her soul, when Cithaeron's voice howls shrill in the night time."

Tenor" Dido's out of control screams through the city

Vehicle: A crying Bacchic (refers to the god Bacchus who is known for riots and intoxication)

Event: When Dido finds out that Aeneas is about to leave, she practically throws a fit because she is in love with him and was even contemplating marrying him, even though she swore not to remarry after her husband died. 

Simile #4)

Page 89, Line 401

"Into and out of the city you'd see them, everywhere, streaming. Ants getting ready for winter do this: they attack an enormous mountain of grain and they carry it off to the provision their anthill. Spanning fields, their black formation snakes across grassland, hauling spoils: one long slim track."

Tenor: Trojans loading their ships with supplies 

Vehicle: Ants getting ready for winter by gathering spoils

Event: The Trojans were really eager to get to Italy and therefore were not too pleased with Aeneas stalling with Dido. When their relations end, the crew is extremely relieved and excited when he tells them to pack the ships with supplies because they are going to depart soon.

Theme: Animals/nature

Simile #5)

Page 91, Line 441

"So in the Alps, wild gales from the north gust this way and that way, vying among themselves to uproot some vigorous oak tree, massive with centuries' growth: there's a roar and the uppermost foliage flies off and carpets the ground ask the trunk shudders. Yet the old oak tree sticks to the crags, and as high as its crest reaches up towards heaven's brightness, its roots stretch downs as low into Tartarus' darkness."

Tenor: Aeneas

Vehicle: A firmly planted oak tree that cannot be moved 

Event: When Dido tries to convince Aeneas to stay and not go to Italy, Aeneas has to stand his ground because it is his fate set by the gods that he go to Italy, even though part of him wants to stay. 

Theme: Nature