Dantes Inferno

In The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri, the author writes about an alternate version of himself, lead through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven by his companions Virgil and Beatrice, before finally he meets God and becomes enlightened. In real life, Virgil was an ancient Roman poet, who Alighieri looked up to and admired. But in The Divine Comedy, he was used as a mentor and guide for Dante the character, representing human reason.

Throughout the Inferno and Purgatorio sections of the book, Virgil leads Dante and teaches him about their surroundings. In each of the circles of Hell, he tells him about the sins for the given circle, and some of the sinners there. He also does the same in Purgatory. He is there for Dante because Beatrice, Dante’s

When Dante asks Virgil why he came to help him in canto II of Inferno, Virgil explains that Beatrice, Dante’s guardian angel, had called upon him, pleading, “ ‘Fly to him and with your high counsel, pity, and with whatever need be for his good and soul’s salvation, help him, and solace me.’ ” She claimed that Dante had strayed from “the True Way”, and that he would no longer listen to her. Despite Beatrice being an angel, and her superior knowledge of the afterlife compared to Virgil, she calls upon him specifically because Dante idolizes him so, and therefore Dante would be much more likely to listen to him than he would to Beatrice, who he had already ignored in the

Virgil lived through a much different time period than Dante, as proven by canto I of Inferno, saying, “ ‘I was born, though late, sub Julio, and bred in Rome under Augustus in the noon of the false and lying gods.’ ” Because of this, he tends to think and act differently from Dante. Another reason that Virgil appears much more mature and intelligent than Dante is because he has died and has been experiencing Hell for many, many years. He knows how the afterlife works and how to