Sychaeus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In Virgil's epic Aeneid, Sychaeus was the husband of the Phoenician queen Dido/Elissa. One of the wealthiest of the Tyrian noblemen, Sychaeus was secretly murdered by Dido's brother Pygmalion shortly after his marriage to the queen. Some weeks later, he appeared to his grieving widow in a dream, revealed her brother's crime, and warned her to flee. Collecting what remnants of Sychaeus' fortune they could, Dido/Elissa and a handful of followers stole a fleet of Pygmalion's ships and fled. They landed and settled in North Africa, founding the city of Carthage.