Dido, Queen of Carthage (opera) role of Anfossi's "Didone abbandonata" and had sung at the King's Theatre several times in the intervening years. The role of Aeneas was sung "en travesti" by the English soprano and stage actress, Anna Maria Crouch. Her lover and frequent stage partner, Michael Kelly, sang the tenor role of Iarbas. The pair had appeared in several earlier works by Storace, including "No song, no supper" (1790) and "The Siege of Belgrade" (1791) and would later appear in his comic opera "The Pirates". "Dido, Queen of Carthage" opened on 23 May 1792 at The King's Theatre and was scheduled to run
Parallels between Virgil's Aeneid and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey Hector in Book II that he was to leave burning Troy to found a new city. Throughout the rest of the epic, the gods include reminders that Aeneas is destined to find Italy and found Rome for future generations. Another thing Virgil replicates from the "Iliad" is the ekphrasis of Aeneas' shield. In Book VIII of the "Aeneid", Vulcan (the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Hephaestus) forges a shield for Aeneas before he goes into battle. This is similar to Hephaestus creating Achilles' shield in Book XVII of the "Iliad". Both of the goddesses who mothered the heroes (Venus