Dido and Aeneas In a poem of about 1686, Tate alluded to James II as Aeneas, who is misled by the evil machinations of the Sorceress and her witches (representing Roman Catholicism, a common metaphor at the time) into abandoning Dido, who symbolises the British people. The same symbolism may apply to the opera. This explains the addition of the characters of the Sorceress and the witches, which do not appear in the original "Aeneid". It would be noble, or at least acceptable, for Aeneas to follow the decree of the Gods, but not so acceptable for him to be tricked by ill-meaning
Aeneas is identical to Thor. This tale resemble some episodes of the Aeneid . Continuations of Trojan matter in the Middle Ages had their effects on the character of Aeneas as well. The 12th-century French "Roman d'Enéas" addresses Aeneas's sexuality. Though Virgil appears to deflect all homoeroticism onto Nisus and Euryalus, making his Aeneas a purely heterosexual character, in the Middle Ages there was at least a suspicion of homoeroticism in Aeneas. The "Roman d'Enéas" addresses that charge, when Queen Amata opposes Aeneas's marrying Lavinia, claiming that Aeneas loved boys. Medieval interpretations of Aeneas were greatly influenced by both Virgil and