<P> Originally based on Nahum Tate 's play Brutus of Alba , or The Enchanted Lovers ( 1678 ) , the opera is likely , at least to some extent , to be allegorical . The prologue refers to the joy of a marriage between two monarchs , which could refer to the marriage between William and Mary . In a poem of about 1686 , Tate alluded to James II as Aeneas , who is misled by the evil machinations of the Sorceress and her witches ( representing Roman Catholicism , a common metaphor at the time ) into abandoning Dido , who symbolises the British people . The same symbolism may apply to the opera . This explains the addition of the characters of the Sorceress and the witches , which do not appear in the original Aeneid . It would be noble , or at least acceptable , for Aeneas to follow the decree of the Gods , but not so acceptable for him to be tricked by ill - meaning spirits . </P>
<P> Originally based on Nahum Tate 's play Brutus of Alba , or The Enchanted Lovers ( 1678 ) , the opera is likely , at least to some extent , to be allegorical . The prologue refers to the joy of a marriage between two monarchs , which could refer to the marriage between William and Mary . In a poem of about 1686 , Tate alluded to James II as Aeneas , who is misled by the evil machinations of the Sorceress and her witches ( representing Roman Catholicism , a common metaphor at the time ) into abandoning Dido , who symbolises the British people . The same symbolism may apply to the opera . This explains the addition of the characters of the Sorceress and the witches , which do not appear in the original Aeneid . It would be noble , or at least acceptable , for Aeneas to follow the decree of the Gods , but not so acceptable for him to be tricked by ill - meaning spirits . </P>
the libretto for purcells opera dido and aeneas is based on
the libretto for purcells opera dido and aeneas is based on
Nahum Tate 's play Brutus of Alba , or The Enchanted Lovers
Nahum Tate 's play Brutus of Alba , or The Enchanted Lovers