Practice your readings using the links below. You should be able to read through these at speed to be prepared for tests and quizzes.
Mercury reproaches Aeneas for neglecting his duty to Troy and Italy and his son Ascanius
Persuaded by Mercury’s speech but unsure how to explain to Dido that he must depart, Aeneas orders his men to ready the fleet
Dido learns from Rumor of the fleet’s preparations and, in a frenzy, races through the city find Aeneas
The queen encounters Aeneas, rages at him for planning to abandon her, and implores him to change his mind
Concealing the true measure of his love, Aeneas tells Dido that he does care for her, but that he had not married her and owed his allegiance to his country, his son, and to the gods
Dido curses Aeneas with her dying breath
Even as Dido takes her last breath, lamentation fills the city, and Anna rushes to embrace her sister in the final moments of her life
Juno sends Iris down from Mt. Olympus to cut a lock of Dido’s hair, thus releasing her soul and consecrating it to Dis