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Dido in the ancient sources
20 passages from 3 ancient authors that tell of Dido, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Dido was the founder and first queen of the city of Carthage, according to ancient Greek and Roman mythology. Carthage was located in the modern-day c... For the story in one place, read our article on Dido.
Ovid (3)
- Ovid, Fasti 3.517–656Fasti 3: Anna Perenna (1): Anna, the sister of DidoOvid notes the Equirria on 14 March and describes the Ides feast of Anna Perenna, where people drink in the open. He then tells her story: after Dido's death and the seizure of her realm, her sister Anna flees to Melite, then is driven by storm to Latium. Aeneas welcomes her, Lavinia grows jealous, and Dido's ghost warns Anna, who flees into the river Numicius and becomes a nymph.
- Ovid, Heroides 7.1–196Heroides 7: Dido to AeneasDido writes to Aeneas as he prepares to sail from Carthage for Italy. She reproaches him for breaking his promises, warns him of the sea, and recalls how she took him in and gave him her throne. She asks him to wait a little, or to stay as her guest, and says that a sword lies in her lap and she will die otherwise, giving the epitaph she wants.
- Ovid, Metamorphoses 14.75–157The Cercopes; the SibylAeneas sails past Scylla and Charybdis, is driven to Libya, where Dido, who loved him, kills herself, and comes to the island of the Pithecusae, where Zeus (Jupiter) turned the Cercopes into apes. At Cumae the Sibyl guides Aeneas to the underworld, and tells him how Apollo wooed her and granted her as many years as the grains of sand in her hand, but she forgot to ask for youth. She is now shrunken, and will in the end be only a voice.
Strabo (1)
- Strabo, Geography 17.3.13–15Carthage: Dido, Byrsa and its fallStrabo describes Cirta, Ityca and the bay of Carthage, then the city of Carthage with its wall, its citadel Byrsa, the temple of Asclepius (Esculapius) and the Cothon harbour. He tells how Dido founded Carthage from Tyre, how it rose to rival Rome and how it was destroyed by Scipio Aemilianus after rearming in two months. Rome made the territory that had belonged to Carthage a province and gave the rest to Masanasses and his line, and Carthage lay desolate, like Corinth, until Caesar restored it.
Virgil (16)
- Virgil, Aeneid 4.90–172Hera and Aphrodite; the hunt and the caveHera (Juno) proposes to Aphrodite (Venus) that Dido and Aeneas be joined in marriage, and Aphrodite agrees but says Zeus (Jupiter) must decide. Hera plans a royal hunt on which a storm will drive the pair into one cave. The hunt sets out, Ascanius (Iulus) rides ahead eagerly, and the storm scatters everyone. Dido and Aeneas reach the same cave, where signs mark a wedding, and Dido calls the union a marriage.
- Virgil, Aeneid 1.494–642Dido receives the TrojansDido arrives at the temple and sits in judgment among her people, while the hidden Aeneas sees his lost companions among the Trojan envoys. Their leader Ilioneus asks for repairs to their ships and safe passage to Italy or Sicily, and Dido grants them safety and offers a place in her city. Aeneas then steps out of the cloud and thanks her, and she welcomes him, saying she too has known hardship. She orders a feast, with sacrifices for the Trojans on the shore.
- Virgil, Aeneid 1.643–756Eros in the guise of Ascanius; Dido's banquetAeneas sends Achates to bring Ascanius (Iulus) and gifts saved from Troy. Aphrodite (Venus) fears Dido's people and Hera (Juno), so she puts the real Ascanius to sleep in a far-off grove and sends Eros (Cupid) to take his place. At the banquet Dido embraces the false boy and begins to forget her dead husband Sichaeus. She pours a libation and prays for the Trojans and Tyrians, a minstrel sings, and she asks Aeneas to tell the story of Troy's fall and his wanderings.
- Virgil, Aeneid 4.279–392Aeneas prepares to leave; Dido's reproachAeneas is struck with horror by the message and quietly orders Mnestheus, Sergestus and Serestus to ready the fleet. Dido learns of it through Rumour and confronts him, pleading and accusing him of betrayal. Aeneas answers that he never claimed to be her husband and that the gods and Apollo command him to go to Italy. Dido rages, calls him pitiless, and curses him before her maidens carry her away.
- Virgil, Aeneid 1.305–417Aphrodite as a huntress: the story of DidoAt dawn Aeneas and Achates explore the unknown coast and meet his mother, Aphrodite (Venus), disguised as a young huntress. She tells him that Carthage is ruled by Dido, who fled Tyre after her brother Pygmalion murdered her husband Sichaeus, and Aeneas gives his name and tells of his wanderings. She assures him that his comrades and ships are safe and points to twelve swans as a sign. She then reveals herself, vanishes, and hides the two men in a cloud as they walk toward the city.
- Virgil, Aeneid 4.173–278Rumour, Iarbas and the message of HermesRumour spreads news through Libya that Aeneas and Dido are living together, and it reaches King Iarbas, who angrily prays to Zeus (Jupiter). Zeus hears and orders Hermes (Mercury) to tell Aeneas to leave Carthage and remember Italy and his son's inheritance. Hermes flies down past Atlas and finds Aeneas building walls for the city. He delivers the command and vanishes into the air.
- Virgil, Aeneid 4.393–521Dido's despair and the pyreAeneas obeys the gods and the Trojans launch their ships while Dido watches from the citadel. She sends Anna to beg him for a little more time, but he stays unmoved, like an oak in a storm. Dido, resolved to die, sees dark omens at her altars and hears her dead husband's voice. She tells Anna to build a pyre holding Aeneas's arms and bed, saying a priestess has ordered it, and a rite is carried out beside it.
- Virgil, Aeneid 4.584–629Dido's curseAt dawn Dido sees the Trojan ships far out at sea and strikes her breast in fury. She wishes she had pursued them and killed Aeneas, Ascanius and the crews. She calls on the Sun, Hera (Juno), Hecate and the Furies, and prays that Aeneas suffer war, exile and loss of his people, and die unburied. She orders the Tyrians to hate his descendants forever and calls on an unknown avenger to rise from her ashes.
- Virgil, Aeneid 4.630–705The death of DidoDido sends the nurse Barce to fetch Anna, then runs to the pyre in the palace garden and takes up Aeneas's sword. She speaks a last farewell, saying she built a city and avenged her husband, and falls on the blade. Her maidens find her, and Anna rushes in, mourns, and holds her dying sister. Hera (Juno) takes pity and sends Iris, who cuts a lock of Dido's hair so that her spirit is released.
- Virgil, Aeneid 6.417–476Cerberus, the Fields of Mourning and DidoThe Sibyl drugs Cerberus with a honeyed cake, and Aeneas passes him. He hears the cries of infants, then passes the souls unjustly condemned and those who took their own lives. In the Fields of Sorrow, where those wasted by love wander, he sees Dido and speaks to her in tears, swearing that he left Carthage only by divine command. She keeps her eyes on the ground, says nothing, and flees to her first husband Sichaeus.
- Virgil, Aeneid 1.418–493Carthage and the pictures of the Trojan WarAeneas and Achates climb a hill and watch the Tyrians busily building walls, a harbor, and a theatre in Carthage. Hidden by the cloud, Aeneas walks into the city and reaches a temple of Hera (Juno) built by Dido. On its walls he sees pictures of the Trojan War, including Priam, Achilles dragging Hector's body, and the Trojan women at the shrine of Athena (Minerva). Aeneas weeps and takes comfort that his people's suffering is known even here.
- Virgil, Aeneid 4.1–89Dido confides in AnnaDido, stricken with love for Aeneas, tells her sister Anna that he alone has moved her since her husband Sichaeus died, and she vows never to betray his memory. Anna replies that she should accept the love, pointing to hostile neighbours, her brother's threats, and the strength a Trojan alliance would give Carthage. The sisters sacrifice at the shrines, chiefly to Hera (Juno). Dido wanders the city in a frenzy, and work on her walls and defences stops.
