The following speech of Dido's, from the final scene of Marlowe's Dido Queene of Carthage, can illustrate the different layers of adaptation, imitation, translation and quotation of Virgil's Aeneid which run throughout the play:

We can find here instances of free invention: line 300, for example, has no parallel in Aeneid 4, where there is no mention of ‘papers’ from Aeneas. We can find here examples of imitation: Dido addressing the relics which Aeneas left behind as she is about to commit them to the flames (292–4) is an adaptation of her speech at Aeneid 4.651ff., but Marlowe's rendition is only a very loose re-creation. In lines 306–8, we can find a direct translation of lines 625–7 from Aeneid 4, where Dido pleads for an avenger to arise from her ashes. And in the Latin at the end of this passage, we can find exact quotations of the original lines 628–9 and 660 of Virgil's epic. As this speech of Dido's illustrates in nuce, Marlowe's play moves freely between different levels of engagement with the Aeneid. Although the majority of the play is free adaptation, which cannot be pinned down to any specific lines in Virgil's Latin, certain passages in Marlowe's drama are demonstrably translations from Virgil.