Silvio (parente)

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In Canto II of the Inferno, Dante names Silvio, kinsman [of Aeneas], as an example of a figure who undertook a journey into the afterlife. The character is mentioned within the speech that Virgil addresses to Dante, in which the two great travellers of the afterlife in tradition are evoked, one pagan and one Christian. Silvio is presented as a kinsman of Aeneas, a connection that refers back to the Virgilian account. The critical note to Canto II clarifies that Dante, at the threshold of the poem, intends to solemnly recall the two central moments of the history of the world, of which the Aeneid and the Bible are the witnesses, and that only these two journeys have value for him, as bearers of a public function toward humanity. The mention of Silvio thus fits into a historical-literary framework, without further biographical details provided by the verses.