Having thus quieted Venus' apprehensions in regard to her son, Jupiter
directed Mercury to hasten off to Carthage so as to warn Dido she is
to receive hospitably the Trojan guests.

After a sleepless night Aeneas again set out with Achates to explore,
and encountered in the forest his goddess mother in the guise of a
Tyrian huntress. In respectful terms--for he suspected she was some
divinity in disguise--Aeneas begged for information and learned he has
landed in the realm of Dido. Warned in a vision that her brother had
secretly slain her husband and was plotting against her life, this
Tyrian queen had fled from Tyre with friends and wealth, and, on
reaching this part of Africa, had, thanks to the clever device of a
bull's hide, obtained land enough to found the city of Byrsa or
Carthage. In return Aeneas gave the strange huntress his name,
relating how the storm had scattered all his vessels save the seven
anchored close by. To allay his anxiety in regard to his friends,
Venus assured him that twelve swans flying overhead were omens of the
safety of his ships, and it was only when she turned to leave him that
Aeneas recognized his mother, who, notwithstanding his desire to
embrace her, promptly disappeared.

The two Trojans now walked on in the direction she indicated until
dazzled by the beauty of the new city of Carthage, which was rising
rapidly, thanks to the activity of Dido's subjects. In its centre
stood a wonderful temple, whose brazen gates were decorated with
scenes from the War of Troy. Hidden from all eyes by a divine mist,
Aeneas and Achates tearfully gazed upon these reminders of the glories
past and mingled with the throng until Queen Dido appeared.