The queen calls for a heavy golden bowl, studded with jewels and brimmed with unmixed wine, the bowl that Belus and all of Belus’ sons had brimmed, and the hall falls hushed as Dido lifts a prayer: “Jupiter, you, they say, are the god who grants the laws of host and guest. May this day be one of joy for Tyrians here and exiles come from Troy, a day our sons will long remember. Bacchus, giver of bliss, and Juno, generous Juno, bless us now. And come, my people, celebrate 880 with all good will this feast that makes us one!”
