Didone abbandonata (Albinoni) 1726 setting of the libretto. (The papal ban on female performers in Rome's theatres prevented Bulgarelli from singing the role of Dido herself). Dido (Didone), Queen of Carthage, is promised in marriage to King Iarbas (Iarba), but has fallen in love with the Trojan warrior Aeneas (Enea), who had been shipwrecked on the shores of her city. Iarbas appears disguised as "Arbace" to warn Dido that Aeneas cannot become King of Carthage. Nevertheless, Dido refuses to marry Iarbas. Although Aeneas is now in love with Dido, he asks her sister Selene to tell her of his plans to leave Carthage
Political commentary of the Aeneid the repetition of the past of civil war but to remember and repeat it in order to conquer their problems in support of his new reign of the empire. The "Aeneid" was written during a period of political unrest in Rome. The Roman republic had effectively been abolished, and Octavian (Augustus Caesar) had taken over as the leader of the new Roman empire. The "Aeneid" was written to praise Augustus by drawing parallels between him and the protagonist, Aeneas. Virgil does so by mirroring Caesar with Aeneas and by creating a direct lineage between Aeneas and Augustus. Aeneas is the