Aeneas journey to come. However, the messenger god Mercury was sent by Jupiter and Venus to remind Aeneas of his journey and his purpose, compelling him to leave secretly. When Dido learned of this, she uttered a curse that would forever pit Carthage against Rome, an enmity that would culminate in the Punic Wars. She then committed suicide by stabbing herself with the same sword she gave Aeneas when they first met. After the sojourn in Carthage, the Trojans returned to Sicily where Aeneas organized funeral games to honor his father, who had died a year before. The company traveled on
The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon best American writing in 1993. By 2001, the novel had reached "cult" status. One journalist called the work "an acknowledged minor classic". The book made two "best of" lists since it was published. In 1999, the "Boston Phoenix" announced it was the 88th best LGBTQ novel of the 20th century. An organizer for the United Kingdom's Big Gay Read, a follow-up to The Big Read, noted that "The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon" was the one book that should be added to the first-cut list. "The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon" was a finalist