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
Creusa of Troy their child and vanishes. Aeneas tries three times to hold her, each time failing to grasp her shade. Pausanias relates that Rhea and Aphrodite rescued Creusa from being enslaved by the Greeks on account of her being the wife of Aeneas (who was a son of Aphrodite). Creusa of Troy In Greek mythology, Creusa (; Ancient Greek: Κρέουσα "Kreousa" "princess") was the daughter of Priam and Hecuba. She was the first wife of Aeneas and mother to Ascanius (also known as Iulus). Creusa's death at the will of the gods is dealt with briefly by Virgil in his "Aeneid". As