The Probert Encyclopaedia of Greek & Roman Mythology

DIDO

In Greek mythology, Dido or Elissa was the reputed founder of Carthage. She was the daughter of a king of Tyre, called by some Belus, by others Metten or Matgenus. After her father's death, her brother murdered her husband, Sichaeus, With the intention of obtaining his wealth. However, Dido, accompanied by many Tyrians of her party, fled with all the treasure over the sea, and landed on the coast of Africa, not far from the Phoenician colony of Utica, where she built a citadel called Byrsa (' the hide of a bull') on a piece of ground which she had bought from the Numidian king, Iarbas. The meaning of the word Byrsa gave rise to the legend that Dido bought as much land as could be encompassed with a bullock's hide. Once the agreement was concluded, she cut the hide into small thongs, and thus enclosed a large piece of ground, on which she built the city of Carthage. To avoid being compelled to marry Iarbas, she stabbed herself on a funeral pile, and after her death was honoured as a deity by her subjects.
Research Dido