Two Dramatizations from Vergil: I. Dido—the Phœnecian Queen; II. The Fall of TroyVirgil
General
Two Dramatizations from Vergil: I. Dido—the Phœnecian Queen; II. The Fall of Troy
Virgil
Dido (Legendary character) -- Drama; Epic poetry, Latin -- Adaptations; Trojan War -- Drama; Virgil -- Adaptations
The book has been out of print for several years; but the continued
demand from teachers who desire to use it has made a second edition
desirable. This is accordingly offered in the present volume, under a
new title, and containing a second dramatization from Vergil—this from
the second _Æneid_, the story of the Fall of Troy.
F. J. M.
CHICAGO, 1908
I
Dido—The Phœnician Queen
THE ARGUMENT
_For ten years the Greeks had besieged Troy, and on the tenth they took
and utterly destroyed that ancient city. The inhabitants who had escaped
captivity and the sword, wandered in exile to many quarters of the
earth. Now the chief band of exiles was led by Æneas, son of Venus and
Anchises, and son-in-law of Priam, king of Troy._
_After many adventures on land and sea, Æneas came, in the sixth year,
to Sicily, where he was kindly entertained by Acestes, king of that
land, and where his aged father died and was buried. Thence setting sail
in the summer of the seventh year, he approached the shores of Africa.
Here a violent storm arose which scattered and all but destroyed the
Trojan ships. Æneas, with a number of his companions, was cast upon a
desert coast, where they passed the night in gloomy forebodings. In the
early morning, Æneas and Achates set forth to explore the land, and came
to the newly founded city of Carthage._
_Now Phœnician Dido, also, with a band of exiles, had fled from her
native Tyre, to escape the persecutions of her brother, Pygmalion, who
had already slain Sychæus, her husband. And to the land of Africa had
she come, and built her a city, even the city of Carthage._
_And so these two, Æneas, prince of Troy, and Dido, fugitive from Tyre,
now meet in distant Africa and live the tragedy which fate has held in
store._
THE PERSONS OF THE DRAMA
ÆNEAS, prince of Troy, and leader of the Trojan exiles.
ACHATES, confidential friend of Æneas.
ILIONEUS, a Trojan noble.
DIDO, the queen of Carthage.
ANNA, sister of Dido.
BARCE, nurse of Dido.
IOPAS, a Carthaginian minstrel.
IARBAS, a Moorish prince, suitor for the hand of Dido.
JUNO, queen of Jupiter and protectress of the Carthaginians, hostile
to Troy.
VENUS, the goddess of love, mother of Æneas, and protectress of the
Trojans.
CUPID, son of Venus, god of love.
MERCURY, the messenger of Jupiter.
Maidens, Courtiers, Soldiers, Attendants, Servants, etc., in Dido’s
train.
Nobles, Sailors, etc., in the band of Æneas.
THE PRELUDE
[For music, see p. 57]
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