In Virgil’s Aeneid, the queen of Carthage who falls in love with Aeneas is Dido.
Dido is introduced as the founder and ruler of Carthage, a city established by Phoenician settlers from Tyre. After Aeneas and his Trojan companions reach Carthage, Dido welcomes them and asks to hear the story of Troy’s destruction and his long journey.
The goddess Venus causes Dido to fall in love with Aeneas, while Jupiter later sends Mercury to remind the Trojan hero that his destiny is to found the line that will lead to Rome. Aeneas leaves Carthage despite Dido’s pleas, and she dies after cursing his descendants.
Dido’s tragedy links the personal world of love with the political future of Rome. Her curse also provides a legendary explanation for the later hostility between Rome and Carthage. She is sometimes confused with Lavinia, the Italian woman Aeneas eventually marries in the epic’s final phase.