(Ancient Text by , translated by ) and Hello (Contemporary Song by Adele)
In Adele’s 2015 song, “Hello”, she sings about wanting to apologize to her ex-lover years later after breaking his heart. Unfortunately, he doesn’t answer the phone so she decides to leave a voicemail instead. Similarly, Aeneas finally gets a chance to see Dido in the underworld and wants nothing more than to apologize.
The closest parallel can be drawn from the chorus of the song, “Hello from the other side, I must have called a thousand times to tell you I’m sorry for everything that I’ve done, when I call you never seem to be home…” –This is similar to Aeneas’s begging for Dido’s forgiveness after learning that she committed suicide after he inevitably had to leave to Rome. He cries, “The story then that came to me was true, that you were out of life, had met your end by your own hand. Was I, was I the cause? I swear by heaven’s stars, by the high gods, by any certainty below the earth, I left your hand against my will, my queen.” We can hear the pain in Aeneas’ voice as well as Adele’s as they both are finally able to release their pent up regret and apologies.
However, things take a turn when Dido says nothing, turns away from him, and instead leaves with her beloved husband, Sychaeus. We read this in this Aeneid as “Aeneas with such pleas tried to placate the burning soul, savagely glaring back and tears came to his eyes. But she had turned…her face no more affected than if she were immobile granite or marpesian stone”. –We see the similar parallel in Adele’s song as she describes her ex-lover also being unfazed in the lyrics, “Hello from the outside. At least I can say that I tried to tell you that I’m sorry for breaking your heart, but it don’t matter, it clearly doesn’t tear you apart anymore”
The main difference we see in these two parallels is that in the beginning of Adele’s song, she admits that she hasn’t done much healing despite the amount of time that has passed. However, in the Aeneid, Aeneas ends his visit with Dido with only being “shaken by her ill fate and pitying her”. He doesn’t explicitly still love her or regret breaking up with her, he merely pities her decision to take her own life and wishes it wasn’t because of him.
The Aeneid – VI
-Page 175: Lines 615 to 620
“The story then that came to me was true, that you were out of life, had met your end by your own hand. Was I, was I the cause? I swear by heaven’s stars, by the high gods, by any certainty below the earth, I left your hand against my will, my queen.”
-Page 176: Lines 628 to 633
“Aeneas with such pleas tried to placate the burning soul, savagely glaring back and tears came to his eyes. But she had turned…her face no more affected than if she were immobile granite or marpesian stone”
Page 176 lines 638 and 639
“Aeneas still gazed after her in tears, shaken by her ill fate and pitying her”