In addition to Aeneas's irresponsible behavior toward his son, his leadership abilities are also dubious in Book IV. His infatuation with Dido affects not only himself but his people, who languish in Carthage. Although Virgil never directly addresses the Trojans's concern for their leader's welfare, he offers clues that indicate the discomfort Aeneas's people feel. When Aeneas informs three Trojan crewmen responsible for readying the fleet to prepare all ships for departure, they gladly obey and eagerly begin stockpiling the vessels. Metaphorically, Virgil compares the Trojans to ants, who work incessantly and without any rest to collect the food that will enable their colony to survive. The image recalls the Carthaginians in Book I, who built their city like bees constructing a hive. Both metaphors emphasize the organization and order needed if a community — such as Rome — is to prosper and run efficiently.
The well-organized society that Dido had created prior to Aeneas's arrival is drastically changed once she becomes infatuated with him. The building of Carthage comes to a complete stop. Even worse, the city's defense against enemy invasion — a concern that Anna uses to urge her sister to pursue Aeneas — is not maintained. In one of the poem's few instances of overtly moral proselytizing, Virgil warns that passion — love out of control — causes disorder, both physically and emotionally, and even affects one impiously: "What good are shrines and vows to maddened lovers? / The inward fire eats the soft marrow away, / And the internal wound bleeds on in silence." Dido affirms that unbridled love fosters chaos when, raging at Aeneas, she scorns the gods. Her faithlessness in the gods and destiny demonstrates just how psychologically mad she has become.
