Dido and Aeneas Dido and Aeneas Dido and Aeneas (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was composed no later than July 1688, and had been performed at Josias Priest's girls' school in London by the end of 1689. Some scholars argue for a date of composition as early as 1683. The story is based on Book IV of Virgil's "Aeneid". It recounts the love of Dido, Queen of Carthage, for
Political commentary of the Aeneid strategy in Book XI, and the destruction of the trees by Aeneas and his men late in Book XII. In Virgil's most significant display of war against nature, the Trojans cut down a sacred olive tree in preparation of an open battlefield. This sacred tree represents a focus on preservation of nature, and is therefore in opposition to the political values of the contemporary Roman Empire. This violence opens a commentary on the establishment of the Empire based on destruction. It mirrors the chaos of the Italian countryside during Virgil's time. Through the events of the "Aeneid", Virgil hopes to