The Old Flame

Dido’s recognition returns with Beatrice and Virgil’s departure

Dido recognizes the return of love through the image of an old flame. Dante first recalls her broken fidelity, then borrows her words for his own recognition of Beatrice. The borrowed line sounds at the moment when he discovers that Virgil has gone.

1. Aeneid 4.15–27
2. Aeneid 4.550–552
3. Aeneid 6.469–476
4. Inferno 5.61–62
5. Purgatorio 30.43–54