Aeneidos Liber Quartus [The Aeneid] characters

Appears from the start

The widowed queen and founder of Carthage, who has sworn fidelity to her murdered husband, Sychaeus. Aeneas's arrival unsettles that resolve, and her growing love for the Trojan leader brings her private desires into conflict with her duty to the city she has built.

Appears from the start

The Trojan leader charged by fate with carrying his people to Italy. Sheltered in Carthage after a storm, he becomes Dido's lover, but the divine command to continue his voyage ultimately outweighs the life he has made with her.

Appears from the start

Dido's devoted sister and confidante. She encourages the queen to accept her love for Aeneas and helps prepare both the attempted marriage and, without understanding its purpose, Dido's final pyre.

Appears from the start

The queen of the gods and an enemy of the Trojans. Hoping to keep Aeneas in Carthage, she proposes a storm during a royal hunt that will bring him and Dido together in a cave.

Appears from the start

Aeneas's divine mother. She agrees to Juno's plan for Dido and Aeneas while distrusting Juno's motives and protecting the destiny that requires her son to reach Italy.

Appears from the start

The king of a neighboring people and a rejected suitor of Dido. Angered by reports that she has accepted Aeneas, he appeals to Jupiter, helping prompt the divine reminder that sends the Trojan fleet onward.

Appears from the start

The divine messenger sent by Jupiter to confront Aeneas in Carthage. He reminds the Trojan that Italy, not comfort in Dido's kingdom, is the destination assigned to him and his descendants.

Appears from the start

Dido's first husband, murdered for his wealth by her brother Pygmalion. Though dead before the poem begins, his memory and the vow Dido made after losing him remain central to her sense that loving Aeneas has betrayed her former life.