region:us
Like the Greeks, the Romans told their own story of a refugee from the Trojan War. Their hero was Aeneas, son of Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite, who sailed from the burning ruins of Troy to found a new city in Italy. It was foretold by the gods that this second Troy would give birth to a race that would rule the world. These people were the Romans, and while they borrowed much from the myths of the Greeks, they gave their own names to the gods. Zeus became Jupiter, Hera was known as Juno, Aphrodite became Venus, and Poseidon ruled over the seas as Neptune. But by whatever names they were called, the gods still ruled the universe and played their endless games with the lives of mortals. Juno was especially vengeful and slow to forgive. She had never forgotten that the Trojan prince Paris chose to give the apple for the most beautiful goddess to Venus instead of her. She became the implacable enemy of Troy and was still not satisfied when the city lay in ashes. It may have been prophesied that Aeneas would found a new and glorious city in the west, but she was determined to make life difficult for the Trojan fugitive—and perhaps even prevent the will of the Fates.
Seeing the Trojan fleet sailing the placid sea as it made its way toward the setting sun, Juno flew down to the island of Aeolus, king of the winds, to ask a favor of her old friend. As the Trojans were crossing the sea, she asked of Aeolus to blow them off course in return for a wife. The king of the winds quickly agreed and stirred up a storm to crash against the Trojan fleet. The ships were tossed and scattered as the sky grew black, driving them away from Italian shores toward Africa.
After a long struggle, a few of the Trojan ships were cast up together on a desert coast, though none could say where they were. The rest of the fleet was lost, with Aeneas fearing these men and their families were all dead.
Aeneas took his steadfast comrade Achates and headed inland to discover what they could learn of this unknown land. Soon they met a young girl with bow and arrows hunting in the brush. They called to her and told her not to be afraid. They were merely castaways who wanted to learn what sort of country they had come to. Could she tell them what king ruled this land and where they might find him?
The girl laughed and said there was no king in this realm but a queen—Dido, ruler of Carthage, lately come from the Phoenician city of Sidon to found a new country in the west.