Aeneid Books VII-VIII

I have two bones to pick with Virgil.
#1 What is up with snakes? I never realized snakes were so prominent in the Mediterranean. It seems like every book, a snake appears and it acts as an omen or fulfills some type of prophesy. It seems really strange.
#2 Why does Virgil hate women? I cannot recall a woman who was represented as an intelligent, rational, powerful individual throughout their entire role in The Aeneid. From Dido to Helen, the role of Virgil's women is to bring down the men. A strong man-like Aeneus-is able to overcome the vile vixens who plague mankind.
The section in that spurns this train of thoughts was the death of Amata. She's upset that her daughter Lavinia will marry Aeneus so a "viper breathes its fire through the frenzied queen" (Book 7, linme 410). In one sequence, Virgil is able to utilize his trademark snake to destroy his sworn enemy-a woman. But the snake does not just kill the woman: it seems to almost become an intregal part of her. After all, "she feels nothing, no shudder...senses nothing at all" (Book 7, lines 408-9). The snake becomes part of her adornment. It is her choker and her headband.
The once-proud queen's existence ends in a most curious manner. She spins around like a top. But Virgil elaborates upon this simile for seven lines. Her life ends and she is being compared to a child's toy. This seems to be the ultimate degradation.