Thales

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In the Commedia Thales is recalled with the form 'Thales' and placed by Dante among the great spirits who dwell in Limbo. The poet names him alongside other philosophers and thinkers of antiquity, such as Diogenes and Anaxagoras, in a list that runs through the entire history of Greek thought. The mention, placed within Canto IV of the Inferno, is situated within the survey of the sages who, although they had not received grace, are gathered by Virgil as exemplary figures of the dignity of human reason. The verse that cites him adds no further biographical information, but firmly associates him with the tradition of the pre-Socratic philosophers admitted to Dante's Limbo.