Chapter Three
THE Aeneid detailed the hero Aeneas’ voyage from Troy to Italy, along with a detour by way of North Africa’s Carthage. While there, Aeneas fell in love with Carthage’s Queen, Dido. In the myth, Aeneas was told by the gods that he had to leave Carthage—that his destiny awaited him. So he left, and Dido killed herself.
So what does this have to do with the House of Anna?
Anna was Dido’s sister. In Ovid’s Fasti, Carthage was invaded after Dido’s death and Anna ran away, becoming a refugee. Her ship was caught up in a storm that landed her, very coincidentally, in Aeneas’ new land. Aeneas offered his hospitality, but his new wife became suspicious of his relationship with her. One night, Dido’s ghost warned Anna to escape. So she ran, drowned in a river, and became a nymph. Wh
