Dido Queen of Carthage is heavily indebted to Books I and IV of Virgil’s Aeneid, an Augustan-era poem describing Rome’s foundation by the Trojan prince Aeneas following that city’s legendary fall. Marlowe supplements his engagement with this classical epic, which was widely read in sixteenth-century England, with material drawn from Virgil’s rival Ovid’s iconoclastic Metamorphoses, Amores, and Heroides. In fact, Dido is often said to be distinctly “Ovidian” in tone: a characterisation that emphasises the play’s overt eroticism, irreverent treatment of the gods, and playfully ironic approach. Furthermore, Marlowe’s dramatization of Aeneas’ love affair with the Carthaginian queen Dido introduces elements that are entirely his invention, including a subplot that depicts Dido’s sister Anna’s unrequited love for Dido’s rejected but persistent suitor Iarbas, the King of Gaetulia (an ancient region within the North African Maghreb).
...2287 words
Citation: Preedy, Chloe Kathleen. "The Tragedy of Dido, Queen of Carthage". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 August 2021 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=7958, accessed 13 December 2025.]
