Sin In Dante's Inferno

Dante lived in a time of fierce and violent political change. He was involved in Florentine politics that led to his expulsion. He fought in the battle of Campaldino and was part of the Guelphs that fought against the Ghibelline and triumphed. Dante was elected to one of the six priors of Florence, the highest political office in the city.

The Guelphs were later divided into White and Black Factions. The Black Guelphs supported the Pope and the White Guelphs Dante’s party wanted freedom from Rome. Pope Boniface VII later regained control along with the Black Guelphs.

When the Black Guelfs returned to power Dante was charged with barratry, the sale of political positions and as punishment he was banished from Florence. Dante never returned

The three animals represent the three main types of sin in Dante’s Hell. As Dante was loosing all hope and “rushing down to that low place the spirit of Virgil appears to give him hope and guide him. In his state of madness after being exiled, the soul of Virgil becomes his guide. Dante gives us a biography of Virgil. He refers to Virgil as “fount from which pours forth so rich a stream of words” and a “famous sage” According to Oxford Dictionary Fount means a source of desirable quality and sage means a profoundly wise man. We know Virgil was a poet so in essence Dante is saying that Virgil is a wise and famous poet. In addition, Virgil like Dante lived through civil war and is the author of the Aeneid. The Aeneid is a story of a Trojan man ‘Aneneas’ who leaves his burning city (Troy) behind and travels to Italy Dante’s home in hopes of finding a glorious future.

Virgil is a symbolic figure that represents Dante’s subconscious voice of reason in a state of madness. He is chosen because he too understands the complexity of living in a time of civil war and he wrote about a man’s journey of leaving his home behind, the ordeals faced on that journey, attempting to build a new city, a man that suffered the loss of his home. Who better to be his guide than someone that can understand his plight and is a man of great