Who Dido is
Dido rules Carthage, the city she is building after fleeing her former home in Tyre. Her brother murders her husband, and she escapes with followers to begin again in Africa. She is a skilled and respected ruler whose welcome gives the shipwrecked Trojans a place of safety.
Dido and the others in the story
Dido recognizes suffering in the strangers because she has also experienced exile and loss. At a banquet, she asks Aeneas to describe Troy's fall and the wanderings that follow. Their meeting brings together two leaders who must build a future for people driven from home.
Venus sends Cupid, disguised as Aeneas's son Ascanius, to make Dido fall in love with the Trojan hero. Dido does not know that a god is shaping the feelings awakening within her.
How Dido changes
When a storm interrupts a hunt, Dido and Aeneas shelter together in a cave. She treats their union as a marriage, though Aeneas does not describe it that way. While he helps her build Carthage, his mission to reach Italy begins to slip from view. Mercury's arrival brings that duty back into focus, placing Dido's love against the future demanded of Aeneas.
Questions
Who is Dido in The Aeneid?
Dido is Carthage's queen, an exile who offers Aeneas and his people a generous welcome.
Why does Dido fall in love with Aeneas?
Venus arranges for Cupid to stir Dido's love because she fears the Carthaginians may turn hostile toward Aeneas.
Does Dido marry Aeneas?
Dido regards their union in the cave as a marriage, but Aeneas does not say that it is one.