flashback

• books 2 & 3 are flashback
• at Dido's request, Aeneas tells the story of the fall of Troy and his adventures before arriving in Carthage
• this echoes Odysseus' tale to the Phaeacians in book 9-12 of the Odyssey
• increases the tragedy: the story is overlaid with the narrator's knowledge of the final outcome of events
• 'if divine fate, if the minds of the gods had not been set against us, Laocoon would surely have forced us to tear open the hiding places of the Greeks with our swords, Troy would still be standing and the high citadel of Priam would still be in its place'
• gives us a precise perspective: we share Aeneas' impressionistic picture of darkness pierced by glinting helmets and engulfing flames as he sees the Greeks from his house, and his birds's eye view of Pyrrhus breaking down the palace door and forcing his way towards the altar
• is Aeneas' story to Dido: does he have any motive for putting a particular spin on his story?
• the flashback gives Dido the time to hear about Aeneas' adventures, admire his courage and submit to the effects of Cupid's poison