Meaning

noun (Roman mythology) a princess of Tyre who was the founder and queen of Carthage; Virgil tells of her suicide when she was abandoned by Aeneas

originUnknown. The "trick" sense might come from the trick of Dido, queen of Carthage, who, having bought as much land as a hide would cover, is said to have cut it into thin strips long enough to enclose a spot for a citadel.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0