Unclassified
Virgil
Latin poet and author of the Aeneid, who in the Comedy accompanies Dante through Hell and Purgatory as a rational guide.
Profile
Virgil appears in the Comedy as the guide designated to lead Dante on his journey to the afterlife. Dante recognizes him from their first encounter in the forest as "that Virgil and that source" from which he derived the style that brought him honor (Inf. I 79). Virgil himself declares his identity in Purgatory: "I am Virgil; and for no other wrong..." (Purg. VII 7). He accompanies him through Hell — where he is seen speaking and acting alongside the pilgrim (Inf. XIX 61; Inf. XXXI 133) — and throughout all of Purgatory, walking at his side (Purg. XIII 79), receiving from Dante the title of "sweetest father" (Purg. XXX 50-51). The notes to Canto I of the Inferno highlight how the relationship between the two mirrors the very structure of the poem, in which Virgil is a figure of the path of salvation and of the rational guidance of man toward his end.
In the text
Linked verses
31 verses| Cantica | Canto | Verso | Testo | Open verse |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inferno | Canto I | 79 | «Or se’ tu quel Virgilio e quella fonte | Open verse |
| Inferno | Canto XIX | 61 | Allor Virgilio disse: «Dilli tosto: | Open verse |
| Inferno | Canto XXIII | 124 | Allor vid’ io maravigliar Virgilio | Open verse |
| Inferno | Canto XXIX | 4 | Ma Virgilio mi disse: «Che pur guate? | Open verse |
| Inferno | Canto XXXI | 133 | Virgilio, quando prender si sentio, | Open verse |
| Purgatory | Canto II | 61 | E Virgilio rispuose: «Voi credete | Open verse |
| Purgatory | Canto III | 74 | Virgilio incominciò, «per quella pace | Open verse |
| Purgatory | Canto VI | 67 | Pur Virgilio si trasse a lei, pregando | Open verse |
| Purgatory | Canto VII | 7 | Io son Virgilio; e per null’ altro rio | Open verse |
| Purgatory | Canto VIII | 64 | L’uno a Virgilio e l’altro a un si volse | Open verse |