PLOT

PART ONE:
THE FALL OF TROY

ACT 1

The plain at Troy.
   The Greeks are gone. After ten years of siege, their camp is deserted. The jubilant Trojans celebrate the end of the war. The only thing left on the abandoned entrenchment is a huge wooden horse which the inhabitants try to bring into the city as an offering to the goddess Pallas. During the ceremony Cassandra, daughter of Priam, king of Troy, paces absent-mindedly, deep in thought. Tormented by anxiety, she does not believe the gift from the Greeks is sincere, and she senses the city’s downfall. Her fiancé Coroebus tries in vain to comfort her and persuade her to join the celebrating people. She fails to convince anyone of the approaching danger that threatens the entire nation. No one believes the words of a madwoman.
   Her contemplation is interrupted by the approaching royal retinue which includes the Trojan heroes. Andromache - widow of Hector (King Priam’s son and Cassandra’s brother, he was killed in battle with the Greeks) - appears with her son, Astyanax. The people are touched by the sight of the widow who, despite her grief, has brought her son before the king to receive his blessing.
   Aeneas rushes in. Excited, he tells the story of the priest Laocoon who was seen being devoured by a sea serpent when he advised the Trojans to burn the horse. Everyone interprets this as an expression of Pallas’s anger at the planned sacrilege. Despite Cassandra’s protests, Priam orders the horse to be brought into the city and placed next to the temple of Pallas. Hearing a sound rather like the clashing of arms from within the horse, the Trojans take it for a happy omen. Watching the nervous procession, Cassandra notices the deadly trap hidden at one side of the horse. However, no one listens to her tragic vision. The procession unexpectedly turns into a triumphant parade. Cassandra sees the inevitable defeat of Troy.

ACT 2

Troy.
   The Greeks hiding in the huge wooden horse emerge to seize the city. During the fighting, the spectre of Hector visits the sleeping Aeneas and advises him to leave Troy and go to Italy where he will build a new empire. Coroebus, who is commander of one of the soldier units, arrives and urges him to fight in Troy’s defence to the death. At this time, in King Priam’s palace the Trojan women pray before an altar for divine aid for the soldiers. Cassandra foretells that Aeneas and others who will survive, will found a new Troy in Italy. The women realize that the seer’s prophecies were correct, and they regret not having believed her. Coroebus is killed. Cassandra decides to take her own life. She calls upon the other women to do the same so the invaders cannot defile them. Greek soldiers march into the palace and demand to be given the women and treasures of Troy. Head held high, Cassandra stabs herself with a dagger in front of the horrified soldiers. Her sister Polyxena commits suicide, too. The other women, scorning the Greeks, also take their own lives. Before she collapses, dead, Cassandra gives one last cry: “Italy!”.

PART TWO:
THE TROJANS IN CARTHAGE

ACT 3

The palace in Carth age .
   The Carthaginians and Queen Dido are happy at the prosperity of their empire. However, the queen is concerned because she is afraid of the barbarian king of Numidia, Iarbas, whose proposal she rejected. Dido confides in her sister Anna, telling her of her love desires. Iopas, the court poet, announces that an unknown fleet (composed of the surviving Trojans) has arrived in the port. The queen welcomes the arrivals. Aeneas’s son Ascanius shows her the treasures saved from Troy and recounts his country’s tragic story.
   Suddenly Narbal arrives and announces that Iarbas and his army have entered lands neighbouring upon Carthage and are readying to seize the city. Unfortunately there are not enough weapons in Carthage to repel the attack. Aeneas, who was among the Trojans disguised as a sailor until now, reveals his true identity and offers the services of his people in defending Carthage. Dido accepts the offer. The Carthaginians and Trojans stand side by side to fight against the Numidians.

ACT 4

Dido’s garden.
   Soon after a hunt in which Carthaginians and Trojans took part, Narbal is conversing with Anna. They are both happy that the Numidians have been defeated. The minister admits he is concerned about the country’s future because Dido has neglected her state duties, distracted by her love for Aeneas. Anna is not really worried at these words, in fact she says the stranger would be the perfect king for Carthage. Narbal reminds Anna about the prophecy - the gods indicated Italy to Aeneas and his people as their ultimate destination. Despite this, Anna believes the power of love will keep the Trojan
hero with them.
   Dido and Aeneas in fact are deeply in love. The god Mercury appears during their love scene, striking Aeneas’s shield and calling out “Italy!” three times, an obvious sign that the hero should leave, continuing his journey.

ACT 5

The harbour of Carthage.
   Aeneas is in despair. Signs from the gods and the spectres of Priam, Coroebus, Hector, and Cassandra convince him that he should sail for Italy. He is torn between the pain he will cause Dido by leaving and the gods’ plans for him. In the end he orders his comrades to prepare to leave Carthage before dawn. Dido, terribly hurt by her lover’s attempt to leave her, rejects his apologies and excuses, cursing him. The Trojans sail away, of which fact Iopas informs Dido. The furious queen commands the Carthaginians to pursue and destroy the Trojan fleet. A sacrificial pyre is built in Dido’s garden, on which Aeneas’s relics are placed. The unhappy queen of Carthage takes off her veil and throws it onto her lover’s toga. Next, in front of her horrified subjects’ eyes, she stabs herself with Aeneas’s sword. Dying, she prophecies that from her ashes a hero will be born - Hannibal, who will avenge her nation and, something the Carthaginians will not behold, see the emerging Roman empire in all its glory.