Dido, Queen of Carthage (opera) Dido, Queen of Carthage (opera) Dido, Queen of Carthage was an opera in three acts by Stephen Storace. Its English libretto by Prince Hoare was adapted from Metastasio's 1724 libretto, "Didone abbandonata" ("Dido Abandoned"), which had been set by many composers. Storace's opera premiered on 23 May 1792 at The King's Theatre in London combined with a performance of his masque, "Neptune's Prophecy". The story is based on that of Dido and Aeneas in the fourth book of Virgil's "Aeneid". The opera was not a success and was never revived after its original run of performances. The score has been
Parallels between Virgil's Aeneid and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey of the "Aeneid" reveals a prophecy for Aeneas by the Sibyl of Cumae stating that a Latin-born Achilles, who is also the son of a goddess ("Aeneid", Book VI, lines 89–90), exists. There are many scholarly debates on who this Latin-born Achilles is, whether he is Aeneas, Turnus, or some other character, and if so, is the opponent symbolic of another character from the "Iliad"? If comparing Aeneas to Achilles and Turnus to Hector, several parallels can be drawn. One example is when Aeneas is absent from the battlefield, Turnus lays waste to the Trojan army, just as Hector did