Epic poetry tends to be an iterative genre, following very similar rules, themes and story progressions. Women in these poems often conform to a similar role revolving around the hero. Whether it be Odysseus and Penelope or Rama and Sita, the female heroine acts for their male counterpart. The women can be read as strong and powerful but they still do act on behalf of a male and I believe that this theme is broken by Virgil in his epic poem the Aeneid.
Dido, queen of Carthage, is introduced as someone maddeningly in love with Aeneas and unshakably driven to aid him and be with him. In this respect Dido fits the mold, living in the story for the purpose of the hero. It is however when the hero turns his back to her that, at least in my own interpretation, Dido rebels, and quits the role predestined by Homer and other epic poets for a more defiant place in the story. It might seem crazy to suggest that Dido choosing to end her own life in defiance of Aeneas is progressive and strong, but I think such a powerful act comes from a place of pure strength. She wishes for the sailing ship to see her funeral pyres smoke. To me this almost seems to call attention to the terrible nature of the hero, she, unlike so many other hero's female counterparts defies the norm to make a point of the terrible nature of the hero.
Virgil takes that radical and non-iterative plunge with his character that deviates from so many other heroins like Sita or Penelope who take their male hero's insults and affronts in stride as though it was simply the norm. Dido breaks that and moves from it to create her own path, even if its the end of her own life, she makes herself stand out and heard. I think that's perhaps why she remains immortalized today in so many more works and perhaps she stands to show that Virgil was a bit more progressive than he is given credit.
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