guidoLaMoto 8 Report post Posted March 17 On 3/15/2024 at 3:32 PM, Pygmalion said: Hi, new here, I am interested in the Aeneid, Punic wars and Latin language. Welcome! In case you hadn't noticed, Aeneas' rejection of Dido in Africa sets the stage for the eventual animosity between Rome and Carthage, poetically speaking. I too would ike to see more discussion of the Latin language here myself. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pygmalion 1 Report post Posted Sunday at 02:50 PM On 3/17/2024 at 12:10 PM, guidoLaMoto said: Welcome! In case you hadn't noticed, Aeneas' rejection of Dido in Africa sets the stage for the eventual animosity between Rome and Carthage, poetically speaking. I too would ike to see more discussion of the Latin language here myself. This Dido figure is still a mystery, was she invented by Romans and did the Carthaginians knew of her. The first chief of Carthage was either Hanno I c. 580 – c. 556 BC Or Magon I c. 550 – c. 530 BCE but nothing is known where these people came from. I have studied Ancient Greek and Phoenician and just now dabbling with Latin. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
guidoLaMoto 8 Report post Posted Sunday at 09:03 PM I thought the common wisdom was that the Carthaginians were Phoenicians (poenus or punicus in Latin, hence Punic Wars). I should think that Dido was a poetic invention of Vergil. That whole dalliance was not mentioned by Dionysus of Halicanarssus in his history of the origins of Rome. Vergil meant the story to be a romantic explanation of the continued competition between the two cities.... He was probably looking forward to selling the movie rights to The Aeneid and figured it needed a love interest to spice it up for improved box office appeal. You know how that goes. Carthago delenda est! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pygmalion 1 Report post Posted Monday at 05:20 PM 20 hours ago, guidoLaMoto said: I thought the common wisdom was that the Carthaginians were Phoenicians (poenus or punicus in Latin, hence Punic Wars). I should think that Dido was a poetic invention of Vergil. That whole dalliance was not mentioned by Dionysus of Halicanarssus in his history of the origins of Rome. Vergil meant the story to be a romantic explanation of the continued competition between the two cities.... He was probably looking forward to selling the movie rights to The Aeneid and figured it needed a love interest to spice it up for improved box office appeal. You know how that goes. Carthago delenda est! Quote Appian, Punic Wars 1 The Phoenicians settled Carthage, in Libya, fifty years before the capture of Troy. Its founders were either Zorus and Carchedon, or, as the Romans and the Carthaginians themselves think, Dido, a Tyrian woman, whose husband had been slain clandestinely by Pygmalion, the ruler of Tyre. According to Appian, Carthage was founded fifty years before the capture of Troy, even though Aeneas, a veteran of this war, had a relationship with Dido, the supposed founder of Carthage. Should make a thread discussing this. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites