To further understand the development of relationship between the characters of Dante and Virgil, it is essential to note the reasoning behind Dante’s decision to specifically have Virgil lead him through the nine circles of hell. Since Virgil is already familiar with the territory, he serves as a figure of knowledge and safety to Dante, who is, at times, uncertain about traversing such a dangerous terrain. Throughout the Inferno, it can be seen that Dante not only looks up to Virgil as a teacher and guide, but also as a writer. However, although a great deal of the poem demonstrates the parallels in their relationships to one another, one can see an inversion between the relationships in the fact that Dante the poet is predisposed to surpass …show more content…
Hence, one can conclude through his successful pilgrimage in the Inferno that Dante achieves poetic “triumph” over Virgil, in which he eventually surpasses his literary “master” due to his renewed faith in Christianity. To closer identify the complex relationship between Dante and Virgil, it is pertinent to look at the difference between Dante the pilgrim versus Dante the poet. Although both Dante the pilgrim and poet regard Virgil in the sense that he is intelligent, pious, rational, and brave, at times there are momentous discrepancies between the thoughts of Dante the pilgrim and Dante the poet. This is first identified in the first Cantos, in which Dante becomes lost and comes across the three beasts that prevents him from climbing across the mountain, evidenced by Dante’s thinking that “Midway along the journey of our life I woke to find myself in a dark wood, for I had wandered off from the straight path” …show more content…
He further serves as the epitome of logic and rationality throughout the poem, as Dante praises, “My master [Virgil], you who overcame all opposition, who is that mighty what seems unbothered…” (Cantos 14. 63-66). Whenever Dante the pilgrim attempts to show signs of doubt or sympathizes with the sinners, Virgil resumes his responsibility as the teacher and reprimands him, “why do you let your thoughts stray from the path they are accustomed to” (Canto 21. 75-77)? Moreover, he consistently compels Dante to move forward when he seemingly becomes overly concerned with trivial matters in Hell with urgings, “keep right on looking a little more, and I shall lose my patience” (Cantos 31. 131-2). However, as the Inferno advances, it becomes increasingly possible to see the relationship between the two is not as stable as it portrays. In fact, Dante starts to indicate that Virgil may not be as perfect as he appears to be; he makes mistakes and loses his temper often. At times the great poet loses his composure, as evidenced in Cantos 24 when “he smites his thighs in anger and goes back into his shack and pacing up and down, complains... “ (Cantos 24. 9-12). At the end of the journey, Virgil himself recognizes the advancements Dante has made. This is shown by his proclamation just before disappearing that Dante should “Expect no words or signs from me. Now is