Dido's curse of Aeneas and Rome: An historical endorsement of prophetic emotions

Abstract

Vergil constructs Dido's curse on Aeneas in direct correspondence to Dido's personal experiences; it is thus a measured response to Aeneas' desertion, as it includes a desire that he suffer what Dido herself has endured. Because Dido had initially offered a union between the Trojans and Tyrians and considered herself and Aeneas married, her curse involves both their nations.