Antony and Cleopatra and The Aeneid

Rachel Scholla 2009

There are two reasons why The Aeneid is associated with the Shakespearean play Antony and Cleopatra. First, The Aeneid was written by a Roman named Virgil who, among many other reasons, wrote it as a tribute for Augustus Caesar, the leader of the Roman Empire. Augustus Caesar was formally named Octavian and is a character in Shakespeare's play. Secondly, both The Aeneid and Antony and Cleopatra share a common theme of a patriotic, heroic man having to choose between duty to his country and the passionate love of a beautiful, foreign and strong queen. In The Aeneid, the lovers are Aeneas and Dido and Antony and Cleopatra are the lovers in Shakespeare's play.

First, an overview of the books of The Aeneid in which Aeneas is with Dido is needed in order to fully understand the historical connection, and the thematic comparison to Antony and Cleopatra. "The Aeneid tells the story of the Trojan hero Aeneas's perilous flight from Troy to Italy following the Trojan War. In Italy, Aeneas's descendents are destined to found Rome" (Sparknotes). However, Aeneas does not go straight to Italy because having been blown off course by a storm, he makes a stop at Carthage and allows himself to stay there and fall in love with the leader of Carthage, Dido (Slavitt 103). Dido is a "Phoenician princess who fled her home and founded Carthage after her brother murdered her husband" (Sparknotes). While in Carthage, Aeneas recounts the story of the Trojan War. Impressed by Aeneas's adventures and sympathetic to his suffering, Dido falls in love with Aeneas. They live together as lovers for a period, until the gods remind Aeneas of his duty to found a new city. Upon this reminder from the Gods, Aeneas leaves Carthage and sets sail to Italy. Dido is devastated by his departure, and kills herself with the sword Aeneas leaves behind (Sparknotes). Aeneas eventually reaches Italy and establishes Rome.

The first reason why The Aeneid is associated with Antony and Cleopatra is because a character in Antony and Cleopatra, Octavian, later known as Augustus, is the leader of the Roman Empire during the time when Virgil wrote The Aeneid and for whom it was written. Historically, before Augustus became emperor, internal strife plagued the Roman government. During Virgil's youth, the First Triumvirate which included Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus governed the Roman Empire. Crassus was killed around 53 B.C.E., and Caesar initiated civil war against Pompey. After defeating Pompey, Caesar reigned alone until the Ides of March in 44 B.C., when Brutus and Cassius, two senators, assassinated him. Civil war erupted between the assassins and the Second Triumvirate which included Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus. By 36 B.C.E., only Octavian and Antony remained, and they began warring against each other. At the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C., Octavian defeated Antony and his ally Cleopatra of Egypt, finally consolidating power in himself alone (Sparknotes). Shakespeare's play follows the events of the Second Triumvirate and ends when Octavian defeats Antony and becomes the sole ruler. (Although Shakespeare uses historical names and events, the minute details and specific conversations between the characters in the play are fictitious.) Four years after the events included in Antony and Cleopatra, Octavian assumed the title Augustus. Virgil witnessed all this turmoil, and the warring often disrupted his life (Sparknotes).

It was Vigil's particular fate and fortune to have lived and written in this rare and most intense time when the darkness had, for a moment anyway, relented. After years of the aforementioned uncertainty, warfare, slaughter, and anarchy, Augustus Caesar had imposed upon the world a moment of order and peace. Instead of suffering in waste, there was stability and even a fair measure of justice (Slavitt 87). Celebrating this time of peace, the Aeneid honors Augustus Caesar and his government by alluding to the lineage between Aeneas and Augustus (Slavitt 89). The Aeneid celebrates Augustus' victory at Actium when he defeated Antony and Cleopatra (alluded to an especially in the long description of Aeneas' shield in Aeneid 8) (Toohey 135). The shield depicts the story of the Roman glory that awaits Italy. Carved on the shield, among other things, is Romulus being nursed by the she-wolf, the defeat of the Gauls, and more importantly for this discussion, Caesar Augustus as he defeats Antony and Cleopatra at the battle of Actium (Sparknotes). Below is a quote from The Aeneid describing the shield.

"Upon this shield the Fire-god, with knowledge of things to come, / Being versed in the prophets, had wrought events from Italian history and Roman triumphs…/ Centrally were displayed two fleets of bronze, engaged in the battle of Actium…/ On one side Augustus Caesar…is leading the Italians into battle, the Senate and People with him…/ On the other side, with barbaric wealth and motley equipment, / Is Antony, fresh from triumphs in the East…/ Egypt, the powers of the Orient and uttermost Bactra Sail with him; also - a shameful thing - his Egyptian wife…/ And, over against her [Cleopatra], the Nile… / Throws wide the folds of its watery garment, inviting the conquered to sail for refuge into that blue, protective bosom… / Caesar has entered the walls of Rome in triumphal procession, three times a victor… (Virgil 198-200).

Actium, for Romans in the 20s BCE, symbolized the end of decades of bloody civil war and the establishment of a Roman world order. Aeneas is an exemplar of the forces and powers, which lead to the victory, a victory that affirmed nationhood, civilization, and peace (Toohey 135). Therefore, in part, the Aeneid serves to legitimize Augustus's reign as it was foretold to Aeneas in his shield directly from the Gods that he would be a great ruler of Rome (Sparknotes).
The second reason why The Aeneid is associated with Antony and Cleopatra is because they both share a common theme of a patriotic, heroic man having to choose between duty to his country and the passionate love of a beautiful and foreign queen. Both Aeneas and Antony must choose between their country and their queen. The ultimate difference between the two men is that Aeneas chooses duty while Antony chooses Cleopatra. Because of their different choices, their respective outcomes are also different.

In the case of Aeneas, he leaves Dido and lives an honorably and prosperously life founding Rome in Italy. In the case of Antony, he "succumbs to Cleopatra's charms and throws everything away for love of her" ("Great"). Its as though "Antony and Cleopatra is an imaginative sequel to the Aeneid: what might have happened had Aeneas stayed in Carthage and not fulfilled his fate" (Rose 35). But Aeneas has something that Antony doesn't in order to make his decision to leave or stay with Dido. Aeneas leaves Dido because he is under instructions from the Gods. He is a man of destiny, and he receives news from heaven that His duty is to found Rome ("Great"). Mercury came down to Aeneas and says to him:

What do you aim at or hope for, idling and fiddling here in Libya? / If your indifferent to your own high destiny / And for your own renown you will make an effort at all, / Think of you're your young son, Ascanius, growing in manhood, / The inheritance which you owe him - an Italian kingdom, the soil of Rome…(Virgil 89).

Antony however does not have the Gods directly telling him what to do. Although for a moment, Antony does remember his duty to Rome and "insists that he must break off from his "enchanting" queen, echoing Aeneas, constrained by fate to abandon Dido in order to found Rome, Antony never does quite break his Egyptians fetters" (Rose 2). Antony momentarily remembers his duty but ultimately chooses Cleopatra, whereas Aeneas' actions with Dido are the result of a momentary abandonment of his true duties and responsibilities. Aeneas indulges temporarily in the romance and the pleasures of the flesh, but when the Gods remind Aeneas of his destiny, he is dutiful and ready to resume his mission and leave Dido (Sparknotes).\

Love is at odds with law and fate, as it distracts all four of the character from their responsibilities. While with Aeneas, Dido abandons her construction of Carthage. She even admits to Aeneas that her own subjects have grown to hate her because of her selfish actions. The time Aeneas spends with Dido also keeps him from his selfless task of founding an empire. Antony also seems to have happily abandoned Roman law in order to pursue his passion. He declares: "Let Rome in Tiber melt, and the wide arch / Of the ranged empire fall" (Sparknotes). Cleopatra too is distracted from her duties. Both women, Dido and Cleopatra are conscious of their responsibilities as "president" of a kingdom. Both belong to the company of "the greatest," and both have a high regard for reputation for fame (Rose 35). But even though the characters are aware of their duties, responsibilities and/or fates, they ignore them, ateast for a moment. Like previously mentioned, Aeneas does ultimately leave Dido and choose duty whereas Antony chooses Cleopatra. Their different choices can be evident in the below quotes by Aeneas and Antony to their respective lovers. Aeneas says as he is leaving Dido:

Dido, I'll never pretend you have not been good to me, deserving of everything / you can claim. I shall not regret my memories as long as I breathe…/ I did not offer you marriage at any time or consent to be bound by a marriage contract…./ Now Apollo and the Lycian Oracle have told me that Italy is our bourne. There lies my heart, my homeland. / can you grudge us Trojans our vision of settling down in Italy? / Just now the courier of heaven, sent by Jupiter…conveyed to me his orders: I saw the god, as clear as day, with my own eyes, / entering the city, and these ears drank is the words he uttered. . No more reproaches, then-they only torture us both. / God's will, not mine, says "Italy" (Virgil 91-92).

And Antony says the following as he is dying after stabbing himself due to his dishonorable abandonment of his troops in order to follow Cleopatra, "I am dying, Egypt, dying. Only I here importune death awhile, until of many thousand kisses the poor last I hay upon thy lips (Bevington 792). Even as he is dying, all he wants is to kiss his lover.
In conclusion, The Aeneid and Antony and Cleopatra are both timeless pieces of literature with many connections to each other. They share a common theme of a patriotic, heroic man having to choose between duty to his country and the passionate love of a beautiful, foreign and strong queen. And, they are connected through the historical figure Augustus Caesar, for whom The Aeneid honors and Antony and Cleopatra portrays.

Works Cited

Bevington, David, ed. The Necessary Shakespeare. New York: Pearson Education, Inc,

2005.

“Great Lovers: Antony and Cleopatra.” ABC Radio National. 2005. 1 Nov 2006

<http://www.abc.net.au/rn/bigidea/stories/s906515.htm>.

Rose, Mark, ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Antony and Cleopatra. Eaglewood

Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, Inc, 1977.

Slavitt, David R. Virgil. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991.

Sparknotes. 2006. 1 Nov 2006 <www.sparknotes.com>.

Toohey, Peter. Reading Epic: An Introduction to the Ancient Narratives. London:

Routledge, 1992.

Virgil. The Aeneid. Trans. C. Day Lewis. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1953.

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