Aeneid Books III-IV

Andromache was one of my favorite characters in The Iliad, so I was excited to see she was in The Aeneid. I read it and couldn't help but be disappointed. I don't think Virgil was true to the character Homer created. Andromache seemed like such a strong woman and unwilling to simply allow the Greeks to destroy her hope. After Hector's death, we do see her drop her veil—this action shows that she realizes her life will be forever changed. The veil represented her virtue. Hector could no longer protect her from predators; she acknowledges with this one act that she is now vulnerable, but I do not believe she would still act as she does in The Aeneid. When seeing Aeneus' clan of fighters, "she faints, and after a long pause barely finds the breath to whisper" (Book 3, Lines 369-370). Why does she faint? Is she overcome with fear? Joy? Or has she simply become such a weak woman that the slightest surprise causes her to lose control over her facilities? Andromache has become a lady in need of smelling salts! She weeps and is "inconsolable" (Book 3, Line 376). The love between Hector and Andromache was amazing, but I always expected her to have better coping skills after Hector's death. I hoped she would still remain the strong woman Homer introduced in The Iliad.