Lady Victoria Eclectic Pagan's blog: "The Roaming Roman"

1. Elissa Dido was born in Phoenicia, which was part of which modern-day country?

Lebanon

The Phoenicians originated from the Mediterranean coast of present-day Lebanon. Major Phoenician cities included Tyre, Sidon and Byblos.

2. Dido was the daughter of Belus, king of Tyre. What was the name of her brother?

Pygmalion

Pygmalion assassinated Elissa Dido's husband, Acherbas (referred to as Sychaeus by Virgil). According to legend, Acherbas appeared to Elissa in a dream and provided her with a ship in which she could flee Tyre and start a new life away from her brother.

3. Dido is credited with founding which city?

Carthage

Elissa Dido and her entourage crossed the Mediterranean and settled on the shores of modern-day Tunisia. They called their new city Carthage from the Phoenician words 'Qart-Haddasht', meaning 'New Land.'

4. Dido made a deal with King Iarbus of Libya - he promised her as much land as she could cover with the hide of a bull. Dido cut up the bull's hide into very thin pieces which she then sewed into a long thread. Therefore, she was able to mark out a much bigger area of land than the king had expected. What is the name of this hill today?

Byrsa

The word Byrsa means 'ox hide.' However, some people believe that it refers to the Phoenician word 'borsa' which means citadel or fortress.

5. Which of these is closest to the date when Carthage is believed to have been founded?

814 BC

The colonization of Carthage, and the neighbouring territories of the western Mediterranean, gave rise to the powerful Phoenician Punic ports. All Phoenician people along the western Mediterranean become known as Carthaginians.

6. Almost 1000 years after the death of the real Elissa Dido, her story was told in an epic poem called 'The Aeneid', written by which Roman poet?

Virgil

Virgil's 'Aeneid' is considered to be the most influential work of literature to be found in ancient Rome.

7. What is the name of the hero in 'The Aeneid'?

Aeneas

The poem tells the story of the Greek hero Aeneas, son of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Aeneas was shipwrecked on the coast of Africa following his escape from the Trojan War. Here he met Dido, queen of Carthage, with whom he fell in love.

8. According to the Greek Timaeus, King Iarbus threatened to destroy Carthage if Dido refused to marry him. Unwilling to marry him, Dido committed suicide. How did she kill herself?

Threw herself onto a funeral pyre

According to this legend, Dido was hailed as a heroine for her decision to take her own life rather than marry the king and betray the memory of her husband. However, according to Virgil and Ovid, there is no evidence that this actually occurred.

9. Virgil's version of the story differs from the original legend in several ways. According to Virgil, why does Dido take her own life?

Her lover Aeneas leaves her to go to Italy

Jupiter ordered Aeneas to leave Carthage and continue his voyage to Italy, where his descendents founded Rome.

10. What happened to Dido after her death in "The Aeneid"?

The goddess Iris took her soul to the underworld

As Dido died, she cursed Aeneas and vowed that a great hero would arise to avenge her death. According to Virgil, the curse came true with the Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome, and the 'avenger' referred to the Carthaginian general, Hannibal.