The mythical personages of Dido and Aeneas, who became the protagonists of the legendary opera of the same name. The legend of Dido and Aeneas

G. Purcell opera "Dido and Aeneas": the myth of great love

The plot of the opera is based on love story mythical characters – Trojan hero Aeneas and Queen Dido of Carthage. Many creators of world art, including Homer, Virgil, Dante, turned to this topic, trying to perpetuate it in their creation, but only Henry Purcell managed to do it in full. His opera Dido and Aeneas is considered the best essay in English musical culture late XVII- XVIII century.

Summary

The action of the performance begins immediately in Dido's palace - she is worried because of her sudden love for Aeneas. However, there is no reason to worry, her love is mutual: the Trojan hero confesses his feelings to the queen and offers to tie their fates by marriage. But evil forces are against this union. The witch sends an evil spirit to the enamored Aeneas in the form of the god Mercury, so that he sets out to him the “will of the gods” - by all means, he must leave Dido forever and sail away from Carthage in order to fulfill the mission destined for him by heaven.

Aeneas cannot contradict the will from above and is going on a journey. Dido does not see life without a lover and decides to die. Before throwing herself into the fire, she asks the cupids to shower her grave with fragrant rose petals, velvety, tender, but gradually dying - just like hers. loving heart. This is what she sings about in her famous aria"When I am laid in Earth", called "Dido's Lament".

A photo:

Popular arias

Dido's aria "Ah, Belinda"

Dido's aria "Thy hand Belinda - When I am laid in earth"

Interesting Facts

• The opera "Dido and Aeneas" was composed for a women's boarding school. This explains the "simplicity" of the score of the composition - after all, schoolgirls should be able to perform it. By the way, the original score of the work has not survived, and some fragments of the opera were irretrievably lost.
• The story of the Trojan hero Aeneas is known today in several versions. According to one version, he saved many people from the burning Troy and sailed with them to the open sea, after some time moored to the shores North Africa. The second version tells that Aeneas left Troy even before its capture, and the third one even accuses the hero of surrendering. hometown enemies and subsequent flight.
• The will of the gods, which Aeneas had to fulfill - the foundation of the city of the Latins. The hero and his descendants successfully completed this mission - they built many cities in Italy. After the death of Aeneas, the Italians deified him and began to consider him the God-ancestor of the Roman people. That's how she played her part tragic story love of Dido and Aeneas: the myth had to take place in order to create a world power and the center of Catholicism - Rome.
• But the Spaniards consider Queen Dido to be their founder. This is how Alfonso X writes about it in his chronicle of 1282, The History of Spain.
• The love story of the heroes is perceived by scientists as an encrypted code of subsequent wars between Rome and Carthage - the so-called Punic Wars. After years conflict, the Roman army will still destroy the Phoenician city, despite the current truce.

Legend of Dido and Aeneas
When, after a shipwreck, the Carthaginians said: lifewreck! - Aeneas, the hero of the Trojan War, in which the Greeks killed the Greeks, the only one who was saved by the Great Blue Sea - as the Carthaginians called the Mediterranean Sea - was thrown by the waves onto an unknown shore, then his lifeless body was taken by fishermen to the palace of his ruler.
So he ended up at the feet of Queen Dido, who began to build great city Carthage in 825 new era. This date was invented by completely different people, so the queen built her city, following only the dictates of her time and her heart.
Having lost everything and no longer expecting anything good from Fate and the Gods, Aeneas, when he opened his eyes, fell in love with the beautiful Dido, his savior, at first sight and decided to achieve her intimacy. Of course, only as a token of gratitude for his salvation, as every man who respects himself and does not respect a woman does.
But Queen Dido was busy all the time: she was building what she wanted to build. And only then, many years later, completely different people will write that the queen built the great Carthage, the city that gave the name to the Great Civilization!
One day, Aeneas, as soon as he got to his feet and felt that he was again a man, whose main purpose is to win and conquer the heart of a beauty, asks Dido. But he is refused: “There are a lot of things!”
Seven days have passed - every man knows that after seven days he is completely unbearable - he again sends her a message on parchment. So in those distant times they called SMS. And again refusal.
A month later, he himself went to the city, made his way through the crowd of builders that surrounded Dido, stretched out his hands to her, standing, of course, on his knees and trying to hug, to the general surprise of the Carthaginians, her knees, and says:
- Dido, beloved, incomparable, priceless, I would like to meet you!
After each adjective, of course, he added the word “mine” in order to emphasize to whom this priceless property belongs, but ...
"I'm sorry, can't you see I'm busy," Dido replied coldly.
Remember, dear: if modern woman, as in ancient times, says "I'm busy!", This means that she sends you - very politely - to all four directions!
Well, Aeneas went. What he did next is unknown. They say that he composed something, the very one that Virgil later found and rewrote into the poetic epic "Aeneid". But Aeneas, you understand, did not know about this. Men also do useful things, for example, begetting those who then become a great man. But tell me: who, singing the genius, the master, the creator, also exalts with pathos the one who conceived him, without even thinking about what a good deed he is doing.
A year later, Aeneas again came to the construction site. And he sees the same picture: Dido is laying new temples and houses, building a port, paving roads, work is in full swing, arguing. And everything is led by the beautiful Dido, and everything obeys her. The city of Carthage is growing higher and wider, not knowing that it will forever go down in history not only by its birth, but also by death!
Aeneas again rushes towards her, such a stubborn, stubborn one, all about his own, and again, kneeling, stretches out his hands:
- Dido, I beg you, find a window, stay with me for a while.
“I’m busy,” Dido replies, “how can they manage without me?” And anyway, do I owe you something? Saved you, brought you back to life - and be healthy!
Aeneas wept with grief, completely distraught with passion for Dido, boarded a ship and sailed out of despair to the Italian shores to build his city, Eternal Rome, as a symbol of his unchanging and unrequited love to Dido. And indeed: you can hang anything and any spaghetti about the worthlessness and uselessness of men on your ears, but Aeneas built his city! Furthermore! He remained faithful to his Beloved!
And it has nothing to do with the three Punic wars that Roman men started against Carthaginian women!
Having completed the construction of the great Carthage, Dido ordered to arrange great holiday, invite your beloved Aeneas to him and play a wedding with him in the Carthaginian library. Then the most revered place was the Library, the most large building, which contained the main treasures of human genius.
But…
Dido heard back sad story about the fact that Aeneas, upset in his feelings, left a long time ago, and leaving the Carthaginian coast, all the time he sang songs about love and shed bitter tears. Here, he left the parchment with verses, all tear-stained, you can only read the title, “You are my Sun!”
And then such anguish seized Dido that Carthage became not dear to her, her industrious strong arms built. And such love broke out in her soul and body that for all subsequent centuries every man who considers himself a poet sang it in his works. BUT a real man always writes poetry, even if he does not admit it to himself!
And Dido went to long journey to find your lover and hug him with your feminine arms and never let him go again!
So let's drink to the fact that, no matter what projects beautiful woman She didn’t put it into practice, no matter how passionate she was about her work, she never forgot that he was nearby, the only man in love with her who idolizes her, adores her and burns with desire!
And let the female hand always answer the outstretched male hands.
"AMO ERGO SUM!"
"I love - it means I exist!"
This is what men in antiquity used to say, raising their glasses of wine to beautiful ladies in Carthage. And be sure to add:
"And we will be happy!"

Rewritten from parchments found during excavations of Carthage destroyed by the Romans, and translated from Punic into Russian
Evgeny Larin.
November 9, 2014

Juno, seeing from the height of Olympus, that Trojan fleet, sailing from Sicily to Italy, close to her goal, inflamed with anger and hurried to Aeolia to the king of the winds. She asked him to release the winds and sink the Trojan fleet. Eöl obeyed and opened the cave where the winds were locked.

The sea god Neptune, noticing this, ordered the winds to leave his domain and pacified the angry waves. Triton and Nereid Kimatoya, on the orders of Neptune, removed the ships from the underwater reefs, and he himself moved those that ran aground with his trident.

Aeneas with difficulty gathered only seven ships from the entire fleet and landed with them on the near shore. It was Libya. The bay into which they entered was calm and safe, surrounded by rocks and woods. In the depths of it one could see a spacious grotto - the dwelling of the nymphs - with the purest stream and stone benches. Here the Trojans landed on the shore to rest from adversity. Akhat, the constant friend of Aeneas, struck a fire and built a fire, others took out soaked wheat from the ships in order to dry it by the fire, grind it and cook their own food. Aeneas, meanwhile, accompanied by Akhat, climbed onto a nearby rock to look out from there for some remnants of his fleet, but did not see a single ship, but noticed a herd of slender deer grazing in the valley below. Immediately they went downstairs and killed seven of the largest animals from the herd with bows. Then Aeneas divided the booty so that each ship had a deer. The travelers brought wine and, lying down on the grass, enjoyed delicious food and drink until nightfall. But the feast was gloomy, for everyone was saddened by the thought of their lost friends.

The next morning, Aeneas and Akhat went to inspect the surroundings. Entering the thicket of the forest, they met the goddess Venus, the mother of Aeneas, in the form of a young maiden in hunting attire. "Did you meet any of my friends?" the goddess asked them. “No,” replied Aeneas, “we didn’t meet a single one, oh maiden, I don’t know what to call you, but in appearance, in voice you are not from mortals ... you are a goddess! .. Perhaps a sister of Apollo or a nymph? But whoever you are - be merciful to us and help us in our trouble; tell me what country we are in. A storm drove our ships to this land, and we do not know where we are.

“You are near the city of Carthage,” said Venus. - This land is called Libya and is inhabited by militant Libyans. Queen Dido rules in Carthage; she, pursued by her brother, fled with her friends, seizing her wealth, from Tire, from the Phoenician country, and built a city here on the land she had bought from the Libyan leaders. But tell me: who are you, from where and where does your path lie?

Aeneas told her everything. Then the goddess revealed to them that in Carthage they would be received kindly, and gave them hope that they would see their missing comrades there - the birds foretold so, for at that time twelve swans, pursued by an eagle, rustling their wings, sank to the ground. Having said this, the goddess withdrew, assuming her form again, and the air was filled with the fragrance of ambrosia.

Aeneas went with Ahat to the walls of Carthage.

Having ascended the hill, from where both the city and the palace were visible, Aeneas was indescribably surprised at the huge buildings, gates, streets lined with stone. Everywhere boiled flurry of activity- walls were erected, loopholes were erected; some carried heavy stones, others hewed columns to decorate the theater, in one place they began building a new house, in another they dug a harbor. "O happy people, you are already building the walls of your city!” - exclaimed Aeneas, looking at the battlements, and went with quick steps through the crowd, no one noticed. In the middle of the city, in a small grove, a magnificent temple was erected to the goddess Juno. Going up to him, Aeneas was surprised to see a number of paintings depicting and heroic battles, and the suffering of the Trojans. It was gratifying to him that the Carthaginians sympathized with his people.

While he was admiring the pictures, Queen Dido appeared, accompanied by armed youths, with beauty and a figure similar to Venus. Entering the porch of the temple, the queen sat on the throne and began to judge the people and distribute work. At this time, Aeneas and Akhat, with surprise and joy, saw their missing friends in the crowd surrounding the queen.

They approached Dido, told her that they were sailing with Aeneas, but their ships were separated by a storm, and asked her for protection and permission to repair the ships in order to sail to Italy if King Aeneas joined them again, or if he died, in Sicily to King Acestus.

The queen graciously listened to their request and promised patronage and help. “Who does not know,” she said, “the great Aeneas, beautiful Troy and her sad fate? We do not live so far from the rest of the world as not to hear of your glory, and our hearts are not so cruel as not to sympathize with your sad fate. If you want to leave for Hesperia or Sicily, then I will send you there, providing you with supplies; if you want to stay with us, then look at my city as your own. Why isn't Aeneas here with you? I will now send reliable people around sea ​​shore to find your king." But then Aeneas himself appeared.

Dido was captivated by the beauty and masculinity of Aeneas. She greeted him in a friendly manner and invited him, along with her companions, to her palace, where she ordered a rich feast to be held in honor of their arrival. The people of Aeneas, who remained on the ships, she ordered to bring various supplies. Aeneas hastily sent his friend, Ahat, for Ascanius and for rich gifts, which he saved from the devastated Troy.

Venus and Cupid. Lucas Cranach the Elder

Venus, fearing for the safety of Aeneas in Libya, asked her son, Amur, to take the form of a young Ascanius and hit Dido's heart with his well-aimed spear, and she would fall in love with Aeneas. The god of love willingly agreed and, assuming the form of Ascanius, whom Venus had meanwhile transferred sleepily to the fragrant groves of Italy, went with Akhat to Carthage. Arriving at the palace, they found the Trojans and the most distinguished Tyrians already at the table. The queen, fascinated by the young man, did not let him go all the time of the feast and fell under the power of the god of love. When they began to distribute the goblets, and Aeneas began to tell, at the request of Dido, about the fate of Troy and his own, a fiery love for the hero arose in the heart of the queen, and the more the queen looked at him, the more her passion flared up. When the feast ended late at night and everyone went to rest, the only thought of the queen was the thought of Aeneas.

Juno, ready to do anything to prevent Aeneas from reaching Italy, suggested to the goddess Aphrodite that Aeneas marry Dido. The goddess Aphrodite agreed, because in this way the unfortunate wanderings of her son would stop, and he would acquire a rich state.

Aeneas was lured into a net by goddesses; seduced by the virtues of the queen, he forgot about the great promises given to the family, and decided to share power over Carthage with Dido. But Jupiter, holding in his hand the fate of the world, did not wish that the plans that appointed the Aeneas family to lay the foundation of a new state in Italy remained unfulfilled, and sent with Mercury an order to Aeneas to hastily leave Carthage and sail to Italy.

Aeneas obeyed Jupiter with a heavy heart, ordered secretly to build a fleet and, deaf to Dido's pleas and reproaches, set off. Then the abandoned queen decided to die. By her order, a high fire was laid in the courtyard of the palace; Dido climbed on him and, when the fire blazed, she pierced her tormented heart with a sword. And the last, dying glance of the dying woman was turned in the direction where, in the distance, barely whitening, the sails of the ship could be seen, rapidly moving away from the Libyan coast.

This story was first described by Nevius in the III-II century BC. Later, Virgil included it in his epic "Aeneid" (written approximately in 29 BC). Virgil's work was so popular that the inhabitants of Pompeii decorated their homes with quotes from it. During the Middle Ages (circa 1689) English composer G. Purcell wrote the opera "Dido and Aeneas" ... And the lines from the works of Russian authors who also addressed this topic make an equally strong impression on us, their contemporaries.

After the incident with the apple, which the Trojan Paris gave not to her, but to Venus, Jupiter's wife Juno hatched plans for revenge on the Trojans. In addition, she was aware of the prediction that her beloved Carthage was to die as a result of a conflict with the state, which was to be founded by the descendants of the Trojans who survived the fall of Troy. Therefore, when the ships of Aeneas, who was not only a Trojan, but also the son of the hated Venus, set off in search of a new homeland, Juno made a terrible storm. Many ships sank and many people died as a result of this storm. Everyone would have died, but the ruler of the seas, Neptune, intervened in time, calming the sea and directing the surviving ships to the shores of Africa, where Queen Dido ruled. The inhabitants of Carthage warmly welcomed the guests, and the beautiful Dido, who survived a terrible personal tragedy and never knew family happiness, was simply captivated by the courage of Aeneas, who told her about the Trojan War, the sea adventures that she herself had once experienced and about how saving his father and son, Aeneas lost his beloved wife in the defeated Troy. Many rulers of neighboring states wooed the beautiful Phoenician, but everyone invariably received a refusal. Dido did not know that she owed her love to Aeneas to his mother, Venus, as she did not know that she would fall victim in a fierce struggle between the two goddesses. For a long time she resisted the surging again and almost forgotten feeling. But in the end she agreed to marry a Trojan. And happiness came to the beautiful palace of Carthage. Love for her husband, strengthened by previous years of loneliness and truly mother's love to his son from the deceased Trojan woman Creusa - all this became the meaning of her life, relegated to the background concerns about the state she founded. But this happiness was short-lived - the messenger of Jupiter Mercury appeared to Aeneas and ordered him to continue on his way to the shores of Italy, where, according to the prediction, the Trojans were to find new home. The same prediction said that Aeneas would have a third wife. Consequently, Dido could not be taken with him... But how to leave her beloved, how to tell her, who had only recently found happiness, about eternal separation?!... Aeneas did not want to lose Dido, but, as often happens, the sense of duty turned out to be stronger than love. Aeneas and his ships began to prepare for a secret departure ... But either someone told, or a loving heart suggested - the queen found out terrible secret husband. Where? What for? Why without her? No less upset, Aeneas replied that he could not resist the will of the gods and only prayed for his beloved for forgiveness ... Afraid to change decision, Aeneas went to the ship. There he was again visited by Mercury and reminded of the will of the gods. In the morning the ship went to sea. Casting a last glance at the city he was leaving, Aeneas realized that something terrible had happened. He did not know that, not being able to survive the new terrible loss, Dido plunged the sword he had forgotten into her heart and threw herself into the flames of the sacrificial fire ... Here is what Joseph Brodsky writes:

"great person he looked out the window, and for her the whole world ended with the edge of his wide Greek tunic, with an abundance of folds like a stopped sea. He looked out the window, and his gaze was now so far from these places that his lips froze like a shell, where the rumble lurks, and the horizon in the glass was motionless. And her love was just a fish - maybe capable of launching into the sea after the ship and, cutting through the waves with a flexible body, it is possible to overtake it - but he, he mentally already set foot on land. And the sea turned into a sea of ​​tears. But, as you know, it is in a moment of despair that a fair wind begins to blow. And the great man left Carthage. She stood in front of the fire, which her soldiers kindled under the city wall, and saw how in the haze of the fire, trembling between flame and smoke, Carthage silently disintegrated long before the prophecy of Cato.

Aeneas and Dido

Venus advised her son to ask the queen for shelter. Aeneas and Ahat immediately hurried into the city and entered it unnoticed by anyone, since Venus enveloped them in fog. Their attention was attracted by the festive appearance of the inhabitants gathered in the square, as well as the beauty of the queen, who was talking with their comrades, who had miraculously escaped during the storm.

The sailors told Dido about their famous leader, rumors about which had already reached her ears, and she gladly promised to send people to find him and, if necessary, give him help.

And I'll send it all over the coast

Heralds and order to search to the extreme limits

Libya: maybe he wanders through the forests or villages.

Virgil

Hearing this, Aeneas stepped forward, the fog cleared, and he appeared before the queen in all his glory.

Dido invited the guests to the banquet hall, where they, eating food and wine, told about their adventures on land and at sea. During the feast, Cupid, at the request of Venus, took the form of Yul, the son of Aeneas, and, clinging to the chest of the queen, shot her an arrow right in the heart, and she fell in love with Aeneas.

Days passed in feasts and entertainment. Aeneas completely forgot that he was supposed to found a new kingdom. He did not want to leave Dido. So a year passed, and the gods finally decided to send Mercury to remind Aeneas of his duty.

In order not to see Dido's tears and not to hear her lamentations, Aeneas prepared to leave secretly and left her when she was sleeping. Waking up and looking out the window, she saw the last Trojan ship disappearing over the horizon.

Hiding her grief and feigning anger she didn't really feel, Dido had her servants prepare wood for the funeral pyre and threw in it all the things that Aeneas had used while living in her palace. Then she lit a fire, jumped into the fire and burned.

Even if I die unavenged, I will die the desired death.

From the sea, let the cruel Dardanian look at the fire,

Let my death be an ominous sign for him!

Virgil

Aeneas saw a column of smoke rising into the sky, and his heart sank - he understood where this smoke was coming from, and sincerely mourned the death of the beautiful queen of Libya.

The Trojans sailed until clouds gathering on the horizon forced them to take refuge in Sicania, where they held traditional games in memory of Anchises, who died here a year ago. While the men competed in rowing, running, wrestling, archery, fisticuffs and equestrian competitions, the women gathered together and, instigated by Juno, began to complain about their hard lot, which forced them to endanger their lives again and again, wandering around seas. Their dissatisfaction reached such a pitch that they set fire to the ships in unison. Aeneas, having learned about this, rushed to the shore, tore off his expensive festive clothes and began to pray to Jupiter for help.

O almighty father! If not all, as one, are hated

The Trojans have become you, if you have the same pity

To human troubles, oh Jupiter, do not let the fire destroy

All ships and save the miserable property of the Tevkrov.

Virgil

Jupiter heard his prayer and sent a heavy downpour to the earth, which extinguished the flames that devoured the ships. Soon after this, Anchises appeared before Aeneas and told him to leave the women, children and old people in Sicily and go to Cumae. Here he had to turn to the Sibyl for help, go down with her to afterworld and receive further instructions from the father.

But before

Descend into the realm of Dita, descend into the depths of Avernus,

My son, look for me there too.

Virgil

Aeneas obeyed the words of his father, but when Venus saw that her son again set off into the will of the waves, she rushed to Neptune and asked to take care of her unfortunate son. Neptune listened to her with sympathy and promised that he would take only one person from the team of Aeneas. It turned out to be the helmsman Palinur, who, having fallen asleep at the wheel, fell into the water and drowned.

Aeneas' fleet reached Qom safe and sound, and Aeneas hastened to the cave of the Sibyl. He told her that he wanted to go down to Hades and asked her to accompany him there. She agreed, but said that first he must get a golden branch of a tree that grew in a dense forest.

But no one will penetrate into the hidden bowels of the earth,

Before he plucks the cherished branch from the tree.

Virgil

Aeneas, in desperation, again turned to the gods for help - how can he find a small branch in the forest without their help? In response, Venus, who never forgot about her son, sent him two snow-white doves, which led him to the right tree and illuminated him. Thanks to this, Aeneas found what he was looking for.