This paper examines how in Virgil's "Aeneid" Book 4,
epic and tragedy, are inextricably linked by the use of similes, the
relationship between civic duty and responsibility and the intervention of fate and the gods. It looks at how Aeneas, whose
epic journey carries him past Carthage, inspires
love in Dido who suffers a whole range of emotion, from love, to confusion, to hatred. It also explores the tragic element with Aeneas, who must sacrifice his love for Dido to pursue his destiny to found Rome.