Embodiment Of Reason In Dante's Inferno

Throughout The Divine Comedy, Dante is accompanied by several guides as he ventures through the realms of Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. In this poem, Dante the pilgrim is guided by Virgil, Beatrice, and Saint Bernard, with Virgil as his primary guide throughout the majority of the work. Though not perfect as a guide and a character, Virgil proves to be a highly worthy and quintessential guide for Dante the pilgrim in Dante’s The Divine Comedy. Not only is he the embodiment of reason amongst the characters of classical antiquity in The Divine Comedy, Virgil is essential to the work as a whole because he is the bridge between the Western classic authors and Dante the poet as well as the great authors who succeed the latter.

Virgil is highly

For example, when they reach the Gate of Hell, Virgil “placed / his hand upon [Dante’s] own, to comfort [him]” and tells Dante to be brave because Inferno is a world in which sinners who “have lost the good intellect” reside (Inf. 2.17-21). In addition, Virgil protects the pilgrim from hostile demons and monsters. The poet convinces Charon, the ferryman who takes the shades of Inferno across the river Styx, that they had been sent by God and thus have the permission to cross the river (Inf. 2.94-7). Virgil also protects Dante from the Centaurs by reassuring them that they have been sent on a mission by God, and that they do not intend on robbing the creatures. Then, he requests the help of Chiron the centaur to escort them through the Phlegethon (Inf. 12.85-96). And even as he appears powerless outside the gates of the city of Dis, Virgil works around his helplessness using reason and deftness. When they reach the gate of Dis, the two are initially prohibited from passing, but he reassures Dante that they will be allowed to enter if they put their faith in God (Inf. 9.3-9). And when they see the Three Furies and Medusa, he protects the pilgrim from harm by telling him not to avoid looking at Medusa and by physically turning him away from her (Inf. 9.52-60). Even when distraught, Virgil remains resolute and rational, thus showing his worthiness as Dante’s

Even in the face of dangerous creatures like Medusa and the Furies, Virgil appears resolute and faithful in God. His reliance on the angelic messenger demonstrates to Dante the importance of faith in God, which is essential to the pilgrim’s salvation and to the poet’s aim of making The Divine Comedy a sacred Christian poem. And even as the pilgrim seems slow to learn these lessons, Virgil is quick to correct him. He tells Dante that the journey he faces is a “double war / of the journey and the pity,” and that the pilgrim must learn to overcome his pity for the damned in order to cleanse his soul (Inf. 2.4-5). Virgil often chastises Dante’s pity and corrects his behavior, claiming that “Still? / Still like the other fools? There is no place / for pity here. Who is more arrogant / within his soul, who is more impious / than one who dates to sorrow at God’s judgment?” (Inf. 20.26-30). And if Dante the pilgrim sympathizes with sinners or attempts to remain too long in one region of Hell, Virgil urges him to continue moving forward. This combination of physical and moral guidance thus further proves that Virgil’s quintessential role as Dante’s