Venus asks her son to ignite Dido’s heart and takes young Askania away
Porcelain painter: Jean Georget.
In Virgil’s Aeneid, Venus, goddess of love and mother of Aeneas, fearing Juno’s wrath and wanting to secure Aeneas’s favorable reception in Carthage, devised a plan to make Queen Dido fall in love with him. To achieve this, she enlisted her son Cupid, the god of desire.
Venus’s plot unfolded as follows:
She instructed Cupid to impersonate Ascanius, Aeneas’s son, and accompany Aeneas to Dido’s banquet.
Cupid, disguised as Ascanius, presented gifts to Dido, taking the opportunity to subtly inflame her heart with passion for Aeneas.
As Dido innocently embraced who she believed to be Ascanius, she was unknowingly filled with love for Aeneas, effectively ensuring his safety in Carthage. Meanwhile, Venus took the real Ascanius, lulled him to sleep, and carried him away to a secluded location, keeping him safe while Cupid carried out her plan.