Iole

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In the Paradiso, Cunizza da Romano, speaking to Dante in the Heaven of Venus, recalls the obstinate and devouring love of Iole, who nourished within her heart, locked away, a passion that consumed her. The mention occurs in a passage in which Cunizza compares her own flame of love to that which tormented Semiramis and to the women who broke every law, citing precisely Iole as an example of desire that devours. The verse thus fixes the figure of Iole in relation to an intense and unhappy amorous passion, in keeping with Dante's use of mythology to exemplify vices and moral disorders.