The Story of Dido and Aeneas:

Dido, the widowed Queen of Carthage, andAeneas, a warrior on a mission to found a new Troy have fallen in love. Jealous of their happiness, the Sorceress conjures a Spirit to deliver a false message to Aeneas from the god Jove instructing Aeneas to leave Carthage at once and continue on his journey. Dido is grief-stricken at the thought of Aeneas' departure and takes her own life.

The story is adapted from Virgil's Aeneid. The libretto to the Purcell opera was by Nahum Tate. Dido and Aeneas is considered by some scholars as Purcell's only true opera, as well as the first English opera.