The Divine Comedy By Virgil And Dante

Dante explains, “If I had words grating and crude enough that really could describe this horrid hole supporting the converging weight of Hell, I could squeeze out the juice of my memories to the last drop. But I don’t have these words, and so I am reluctant to begin.” On his journey, Dante states that he does not have the words to explain Dante believes that an individual has to see the circles of hell to understand it’s make up and importance. This is crucial to individualism because Dante believes that every person should have the chance to see the circles and form an opinion about hell based off of their own findings, not from what they hear from another individual. Dante understands that individuals should have their own intellectual development, their own thought process of thinking, learning, and questioning, by creating one’s own interpretations Dante questions his ‘master’ Virgil during the journey, which proves that authority figures, role models, or people of a higher status should not dictate how one lives their life.

But Virgil comes to the poor, powerless Dante. He will never really do anything alone from this point on, which is good because in order for Dante to understand and learn he must have a teacher, t here must be some authority for Dante. There is a grey hound that is mentioned (canto 1, line 78-88, Alighieri). I think that this grey hound is Virgil, because he represents the savior of Dante. He is said to represent intellect, and in Dante's mind that is what is needed to be reasonable, and reason conquers all desires and weaknesses.

Dante made it through many different obstacles and layers of hell, but he could not of made it through his journey without Virgil. The character in the book is being alluded to the Roman poet Publius Vergilius Maro. Maro believed and wrote a legendary piece of literature that stated the mission to civilize the world under divine guidance. He not only wrote about these ways of life but he did his best to

The Inferno is a tale of cautionary advice. In each circle, Dante the pilgrim speaks to one of the shades that reside there and the readers learn how and why the damned have become the damned. As Dante learns from the mistakes of the damned, so do the readers. And as Dante feels the impacts of human suffering, so do the readers. Virgil constantly encourages Dante the pilgrim to learn why the shades are in Hell and what were their transgressions while on Earth. This work’s purpose is to educate the reader. The work’s assertions on the nature of human suffering are mostly admonition, with each shade teaching Dante the pilgrim and by extension the reader not to make the same mistakes. Dante views his journey through hell as a learning experience and that is why he made it out alive.

When Dante first begins in this story he was lost and clueless physically and mentally.  Dante was located in a forest with his life ruined and not knowing what was in store for him. Dante had given up on his future and had given up on finding the correct path of life for himself. However, when he sees a sunset and a very important mountain that represent Heaven he will soon change. Dante is given an opportunity to change and turn his life around but to do so he must first experience the darkness of Hell with the assistance of Virgil who helps him and guides him through what is right and wrong.

Dante is a poet who wrote an epic poem called The Divine Comedy. This epic poem is about Dante’s journey as he goes through 3 levels, which he calls Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise. In the Inferno, he meets Virgil, his guide throughout his voyage. They both pass through the nine circles of Hell, where they witness many different punishments for those who have done awful things in their past. Good versus evil is a major theme that occurred throughout Hell. In the Inferno, there are times where Dante sees good and evil and also represents it himself.

Dante is like the son Virgil never had. This comes to light most apparently in their flight from the two-timing demons. In lifting Dante to his chest and carrying him as he sprints toward safety, Virgil becomes a mother figure to the terrified Dante. Hmmm, father and mother? You’re right in guessing that something bigger is going on here. As an unofficial poet laureate of the Romans, Virgil is a kind of patron spirit of Italy. Moreover, as the consummate speaker and writer of Latin – the ancestor language of Italian – Virgil is, in a sense, the fore-father of Dante’s native language. The two poets’ kinship traces back to their respective languages.

In Dante’s Inferno, the relationship between Dante the Pilgrim and Virgil the Guide is an ever-evolving one. By analyzing the transformation of this relationship as the two sojourn through the circles of hell, one is able to learn more about the mindset of Dante the Poet.  At the outset, Dante is clearly subservient to Virgil, whom he holds in high esteem for his literary genius. However, as the work progresses, Virgil facilitates Dante’s spiritual enlightenment, so that by the end, Dante has ascended to Virgil’s spiritual level and has in many respects surpassed him. In Dante’s journey with respect to Virgil, one can see

Dante’s descent into Hell in Inferno, the first part of his Divine Comedy, tells of the author’s experiences in Hades as he is guided through the abyss by the Roman author, Virgil. The text is broken into cantos that coincide with the different circles and sub-circles of Hell that Dante and Virgil witness and experience. Inferno is heavily influenced by classic Greek and Roman texts and Dante makes references to a myriad of characters, myths, and legends that take place in Virgil’s Aeneid, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, and Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Some of the most important references, however, are the most obvious ones that are easily overlooked simply because of the fact that they are so blatant. Dante is being escorted through Hell by the

Here Dante is a Christ figure, plummeting into Hellfire. Thusly, Virgil turns into a John the Baptist, preceding Dante, making ready. Likewise, as John immersed Jesus at the Jordan, in this manner announcing him to be the Christ, so does Virgil, getting out “blessed is she that bore you in her womb!” (VIII.45) and, at different circumstances, additionally repeating how unique Dante is. Sixthly, there is the purposeful anecdote of Dante as the encapsulation of verse.

Dante’s Inferno begins in a dark forest, a place of confusion, because he lost his way on the “true path”. Seeking an escape, Dante finds a hill where the sun glares down on him. This light seen in Dante’s Inferno symbolizes clarity as the sun represents God. After encountering three beasts and turning back to the murky forest, Dante crosses paths with the great Roman Poet, Virgil. Virgil is an aid and guide to Dante to Heaven, the ultimate Paradise. He warns Dante he must pass through Hell and Purgatory in order to reach his salvation in heaven. Virgil is depicted as nature or human reason perfected by virtue. It is strongly emphasized that Virgil can only take Dante so far in his journey by guiding him to heaven. Much like St. Thomas Aquinas’ reasoning, nature or human reason can only bring you so far in the journey to God. As Virgil and Dante approach the mouth of Hell, Virgil preaches to Dante about a woman in Heaven who took pity upon Dante when he was lost in hell. The woman Virgil speaks of is Dante’s departed love Beatrice. After Dante hears that Beatrice is heaven he now sheds the fear of traveling through Hell and Purgatorio.

The most significant moment in this stage of their love story is when the two are about to cross into Circle 8 on the back of Geryon. Virgil takes measures to protect Dante from any possible physical harm, telling Dante to “‘mount it in front, and I will ride between/ you and the tail, lest you be poisoned by it’” (XVII.77-78). Like a parent would do for his child, Virgil is more than willing to acts as a barrier, using his fluctuating physicality, between Dante and any physical harm that may come to him, even if that means taking the pain and physical abuse that would be Dante’s were he not there to protect him. Soon after this direction, Dante expresses his gratitude for Virgil’s efforts, referring to his Guide as “my stay, my comfort, and my courage/ in other perils” (XVII.89-90).

Dante is elated to see Virgil as his first words to Virgil were, “O light and honor of all other poets, may my long study and the intense love that made me search your volume serve me now. You are my master and my author, you—the only one from whom my writing drew the noble style for which I have been honored…”. (Canto I of the Inferno in The Divine Comedy).

Soon after his encounter with the three beasts Dante meets the spirit of his idol a poet named Virgil. It is h ere that we see another three. Virgil informs him that three women sent him to be Dante's guide. As his guide Virgil leads Dante through the nine circles of hell often with the words

Virgil, human reason, does not only lead Dante physically through Purgatory, but he also leads him with his words as Lombardo does. Vigil tells Dante that he must “give [his] entire attention to [his] words”