Meta Description: Join Dr. Jeff Winkle and Dr. David Noe in Ad Navseam Episode 91 as they dissect the tragic sham marriage of Dido and Aeneas in Aeneid Book IV. Explore the psychology of the ultimate rebound relationship, the terrifying monster of Rumor, and Mercury’s brutal wake-up call to the wandering Trojan hero. Plus, a dive into Roman Law and the Latin language.
Introduction: Bridesmaids, Perambulations, and Comedy That Ages
Welcome back, classical gourmands, to Episode 91 of the Ad Navseam Podcast!. Broadcasting from the subterranean safety of Vomitorium South (affectionately known as the bunker, safe from the attacks of critics), your hosts, Dr. David C. Noe and Dr. Jeffrey T. Winkle, are kicking things off with a cinematic surprise.
For the first time in the show’s history, the episode begins with a harvested, copyrighted audio clip from the internet: Peter Cook’s famous “Marriage is what brings us together today” speech from the beloved film The Princess Bride. This prompts a humorous debate about whether the hosts qualify as “bridesmaids” (the term for die-hard fans of the highly quotable movie) . While Dr. Noe refuses the title of “bridesmaid” out of a contrarian instinct against universally loved things, they both admit the clip perfectly frames today’s topic of ancient matrimony. The hosts also reflect on how comedy ages; Dr. Noe notes that while he once viewed Monty Python as the absolute pinnacle of comedy at age 20, rewatching it decades later leaves him wondering what was wrong with his younger self.
Meanwhile, Dr. Winkle has been aggressively keeping up his walking regimen, perambulating all over downtown to get 10,000 to 12,000 steps in before the recording session. Dr. Noe spent his morning engaging with the Latin language, tutoring a disciplined friend in Alabama by translating beautiful 16th-century texts involving “groans and fervent prayers” .
The Shout-Out: The Polymath of Dundee
This week’s official shout-out goes to an international listener: Martine van Ittersum, who resides in Scotland. Martine is the wife of Jaap Jacobs, making them the first husband-and-wife team to be featured on the podcast. Martine teaches early modern history at the University of Dundee and holds an incredibly fascinating, highly specific specialization: Dutch overseas expansion in the early modern period and its implications for political thought . She is also a book historian focusing on the materiality of texts, and is currently finishing a book on the transmission of the papers of Hugo Grotius . Grotius was a brilliant, controversial 17th-century Dutch jurist, remonstrant, and polymath whose insights in the Latin language are still quoted in biblical commentaries today. The hosts note that Martine, having spent years at an American university for her Ph.D., fully “gets” their jokes (unlike her husband), cementing her status as the current favorite of the household.
The Otis Assessment: Aeneas on the Rebound
Diving back into the penultimate episode on Book IV of Vergil’s Aeneid, Dr. Noe sets the stage with a quote from Brooks Otis’s essential 1964 work, Vergil: A Study in Civilized Poetry.
Otis argues that Aeneas’s passive, unheroic behavior in Carthage stems from a profound psychological vulnerability. Throughout his grueling journey, Aeneas’s only secure emotional anchor (pietas) was his deep reverence for his father, Anchises. When Anchises died at the end of Book III, Aeneas lost his moral compass and became emotionally dependent and devastated. Consequently, his conscience is “no match for Eros”. Dr. Winkle perfectly distills this into modern dating parlance: Dido is essentially Aeneas’s rebound relationship. Aeneas falls into her tempestuous passion simply because it fills the massive emotional void left by his father, leaving him entirely blind to his own divine destiny.
The Pseudo-Marriage and Roman Law
Vergil describes the fateful union between Dido and Aeneas in a cave during a storm orchestrated by the goddess Juno. Dido immediately calls the union a “marriage,” using the word to cloak her culpam (guilt/sin) regarding the vow she made to her dead husband, Sychaeus. But is it actually a marriage? To answer this, the hosts turn to William Anderson’s 1969 book, The Art of the Aeneid, and a 1907 article from the Yale Law Journal titled “Marriage in Roman Law”.
Anderson points out that 19th-century commentators focused far too heavily on Dido breaking her vow of fidelity. In the ancient world, remarriage for a widow was completely natural and politically astute (as Dido’s sister Anna argued). The true tragedy is that Dido entered into a “pseudo-marriage” that destroyed her honor. Despite Juno providing all the atmospheric elements of a Roman wedding (flashing lights, wailing nymphs), the cave rendezvous was a total travesty and a parody.
The Yale Law Journal reinforces this. While Roman marriage required a private agreement of consent, it could not exist without traditio (the public exchanging of accessory items) and affectio maritalis (the intent of the husband to elevate the wife to his equal rank). Marriage was legally defined as an individua vitae consuetudo (an indivisible custom of living) and a sharing of divine and human rights. Because Aeneas and Dido are highly public, international figures representing two different cultures with conflicting fates, their secret cave tryst is a massive dereliction of duty and a legal sham.
Rumor and the Wrath of Iarbas
The disastrous consequences of this sham marriage are immediate. Vergil introduces one of his most terrifying creations: the monster Rumor (Fama). Described in a rhyming translation by Len Kryzak, Rumor is a massive beast with her head hidden in the clouds. For every feather on her body, she has a watchful eye, a listening ear, and a babbling tongue. She screeches through the night, blending truth with lies, and effectively strips Dido and Aeneas of any control over their own narrative.
Rumor quickly reaches the ears of Iarbas, a local African king and son of Jupiter. Iarbas is furious because Dido (a “reverse Penelope” who fends off suitors despite actually wanting to remarry) had previously spurned his legitimate advances. In a brilliant piece of ancient trash talk, Iarbas complains to Jupiter, referring to Aeneas as a “Paris with his crew of eunuchs”. He rightly points out that while he has religiously performed all the proper sacrifices, this foreign interloper is stealing the prize.
Mercury’s Wake-Up Call
Jupiter, acting like a sleepy uncle blinking awake on the couch, finally intervenes and dispatches his messenger, Mercury. Vergil treats the audience to a gorgeous, cinematic description of Mercury suiting up. He binds on his golden, winged sandals and takes up his caduceus—the magical wand used to summon pale ghosts from Orcus, unseal the eyelids of the dead, and ferry souls to the underworld. Dr. Noe notes that highlighting Mercury’s role as a psychopomp (guide of souls) underscores the deadly seriousness of his mission; Aeneas is teetering on the knife’s edge of life and death. Skimming the waves like a hunting cormorant, Mercury arrives in Carthage.
What he finds is pathetic. Aeneas is actively building Carthage’s towers, dressed in a Tyrian purple cloak gifted by Dido. Mercury does not mince words—he throws the whole verbal salad in Aeneas’s face. In Lombardo’s translation, Mercury asks if Aeneas is truly wasting his time building a city uxorius (“for a woman”). Dr. Noe highlights Vergil’s brilliant poetic word order: the word uxorius is trapped right between the words for “beautiful” and “city,” physically mirroring how Aeneas is trapped serving a foreign queen. Mercury brutally reminds Aeneas that if he doesn’t care about his own glory, he must at least secure the Roman inheritance for his son, Ascanius.
The Coward’s Escape
Mercury’s blistering rebuke shocks Aeneas out of his stupor. Vergil describes Aeneas as amens—literally out of his mind, choking with fear, and bristling with dread.
However, instead of confronting Dido with the hard truth of Jupiter’s command, Aeneas takes the coward’s way out. He secretly summons his captains—Mnestheus, Sergestus, and Serestus—and orders them to prepare the fleet for “silent running”. He tells them to hide the gear and conceal the true reason for their actions, hoping to sneak out of the harbor and break the news to Dido “gently” at a later time. As Dr. Winkle notes, attempting to tiptoe out of a relationship of this magnitude is a terrible, stupid plan that is destined to end in explosive tragedy.
Sponsors: Fuel for the Classical Renaissance
To survive the emotional devastation of Carthage, the hosts invite you to support the sponsors that make the podcast possible:
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- The Moss Method: Ready to read the classics in the original Greek? Starting August 15th, Dr. Noe is offering a 10% discount on his incredible course modules (normally $325). You even get access to live “Moffice Hours” every Friday morning to read texts directly with Dave. Sign up at mossmethod.com.
The Gustatory Parting Shot
Before leaving the bunker, Dr. Noe provides a Gustatory Parting Shot from Marissa Meyer’s novel Heartless:
“Some say it is better to have eaten and lost than never to have eaten at all.”Dr. Winkle theorizes this means it is far better to eat a massive plate of nachos and lose your friends in the process than to never experience the nachos at all. It is a bold culinary philosophy, but perfectly fitting for the Ad Navseam crew. Valete!
