Belus was a legendary king of Tyre in Virgil's Aeneid and other Latin works. [1] He was said to have been the father of Dido of Carthage, Pygmalion of Tyre, and Anna. [2] The historical father of these figures was the king Mattan I (reigned 840 BC – 832 BCE), also known as MTN-BʿL (Matan-Baʿal, 'Gift of the Lord'), which classicist T. T. Duke suggests was made into the name Belus as a hypocorism. [3]
Belus was a legendary king of Tyre in Virgil's Aeneid and other Latin works. [1] He was said to have been the father of Dido of Carthage, Pygmalion of Tyre, and Anna. [2] The historical father of these figures was the king Mattan I (reigned 840 BC – 832 BCE), also known as MTN-BʿL (Matan-Baʿal, 'Gift of the Lord'), which classicist T. T. Duke suggests was made into the name Belus as a hypocorism. [3]