The Limits of Femininity in Vergil’s Aeneid

Abstract

This work seeks to verify and unfold the thesis that the female characters of the Aeneid who go beyond the desirable limits for the prototype of an ideal Roman end up ill-fated. Therefore, in a first moment, it recovers in the Vergilian text the characterization of Cassandra, Pentesileia, Creusa, Andromache, Dido, Sibila, Camilla, Lavinia, Amata, Juturna, Juno, Venus and Deiopeia. Then, it analyzes, from the characterization made, if these characters: fit the expected prototype; they assume virtues reserved only for men; have addictions typically attributed to women; and end up ill-fated or not. The main conclusions indicate that: (1) the female characters in the Aeneid can have a bad fate both for exceeding the limits of femininity and invading the dominions of men and because of vices typically attributed to women; (2) invariably, the portrait of all female characters has vices typically attributed to women, which indicates that women, in the ancient ideology represented by the Aeneid, are essentially vicious or problematic; (3) the main divine characters resemble the Roman aristocrats, that is, the goddesses act as aristocrats acted in the view of men: they are futile, vain and avaricious and govern behind the scenes, on the basis of sexual currency, intrigues, machinery and blackmail.