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
Aeneas the first true hero of Rome. Snorri Sturluson identifies him with the Norse Æsir Vidarr. Aeneas is the Latin spelling of Greek Αἰνείας ("Aineías"). In the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, Aeneas is first introduced with Aphrodite naming him Αἰνείας ("Aineías") for the αὶνóν ἄχος ("terrible grief") he caused her, where "Aineías" derives from the adjective αὶνóν ("ainon", meaning "terrible"). It is a popular etymology for the name, apparently exploited by Homer in the Iliad. Later in the Medieval period there were writers who held that, because the Aeneid was written by a philosopher it is meant to be read philosophically.