Definition: Dido was the daughter of the king of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre. The legend is that when he died, Dido's brother, Pygmalion, killed Dido's wealthy husband, Sychaeus. When the ghost of Sychaeus revealed to Dido what had happened and where his treasure was hidden, she took the treasure, fled, and wound up in Carthage, in modern Tunisia. Dido bartered with the locals, offering a substantial amount of wealth in exchange for what she could contain within the skin of a bull. When they agreed, she cut the hide into strips and laid it out in a semi-circle with the sea forming the other side. Dido then ruled Carthage as queen. The Trojan prince Aeneas met her on his way from Troy to Lavinium. When he left her to fulfill his destiny, Dido was devastated and committed suicide. Aeneas saw her again, in the Underworld in Book VI of the Aeneid.
Also Known As: Elissa
