Characters
Characters of the Divine Comedy
Explore the protagonists and figures Dante meets on his journey.
| Personaggio | Tipologia | Menzioni | Versi collegati | Descrizione |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Titus | Rulers and nobles | 1 | 2 | Roman emperor recalled by Justinian in the Heaven of Mercury (Paradise VI) as the protagonist of the vengeance for the death of Christ. |
| Tityos | Mythological | 1 | 1 | Giant of classical mythology, struck down by Apollo, mentioned by Virgil in Canto XXXI of the Inferno to urge Antaeus to set the two poets down. |
| Tobias | Biblical figures | 1 | 1 | Father of the young man whom the archangel Raphael accompanied on the journey narrated in the Book of Tobit, recalled in Paradise as an example of the work of the archangel who healed him. |
| Ptolemy | Unclassified | 2 | 2 | An Alexandrian astronomer of the 2nd century B.C., recalled by Dante in Limbo among the ancient scientists and mentioned as an Egyptian sovereign in Cacciaguida's recollection. |
| Trajan | Rulers and nobles | 1 | 1 | Roman emperor remembered by Dante as an example of the highest virtue, whose figure is carved in the panel of the proud in Purgatory alongside David and the encounter with the widow. |
| Tristan | Mythological | 1 | 1 | Hero of the medieval legend of Tristan and Iseult, cited by Dante among the lustful in Canto V of the Inferno as an example of fatal love. |
| Trojans | Families and factions | 2 | 4 | The Trojans, the ancient progenitors of Rome according to legend, are evoked by Dante as an epic people linked to the origins of Troy and the foundation of Roman civilization. |
| Troni | Deity | 2 | 2 | Order of angels of the first and highest hierarchy (Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones), through which divine judgments are reflected in the lower heavens as in a mirror; they are also designated as «Thrones of the divine aspect». |
| Turnus | Rulers and nobles | 1 | 1 | King of the Rutulians cited by Dante in the first canto of the Inferno as an example of a Virgilian hero who died in the conflict between the Trojans and the Latins for supremacy in Latium. |
| Ubaldin dalla Pila | Rulers and nobles | 1 | 1 | Ghibelline member of the Ubaldini family of Mugello, recalled by Bonagiunta Orbicciani among the gluttonous, alongside Bonifazio dei Fieschi. |
| Ughi | Families and factions | 1 | 1 | Florentine family mentioned by Cacciaguida in the Heaven of Mars, listed among the houses once illustrious and later in decline. |
| Ugo Ciappetta | Rulers and nobles | 1 | 1 | Historical figure cited by Dante in Purgatorio XX, whose name is handed down in tradition as that of the last ancestor of Hugh Capet. |
| Hugh of Saint-Victor | Popes and clergy | 1 | 1 | Twelfth-century mystic and theologian, canon of the Abbey of Saint Victor near Paris, recalled by Dante in Paradise among the spirits of the wise in the Heaven of the Sun. |
| Uguiccione | Unclassified | 1 | 1 | Uguiccione is mentioned by Dante in Canto XXXIII of the Inferno alongside novella Tebe and Brigata, among the names associated with the tragic story of Count Ugolino in the tower. |
| Ulysses | Mythological | 3 | 3 | Ulysses, a mythical figure appearing in the Commedia: in the account of the eighth ditch of Hell (XXVI), in the circle of the Sirens in Purgatorio (XIX), and in the mention in Paradiso XXVII. |
| Urania | Mythological | 1 | 1 | The muse Urania, invoked by Dante in Canto XXIX of the Purgatorio as he calls upon her choir for help in singing of the first fruits of paradisiacal happiness. |
| Vanni Fucci | Historical | 1 | 1 | A thief from Pistoia encountered by Dante in the bolgia of the thieves; he declares himself impious and insolent, calls himself a 'beast,' and hurls against God a prophecy of disaster for the Whites. |
| Venus | Deity | 1 | 2 | Goddess of love, recalled by Dante in Canto XXVIII of Purgatorio as wounded by Cupid on account of the story of Adonis. |
| Virgil | Unclassified | 17 | 31 | Latin poet and author of the Aeneid, who in the Comedy accompanies Dante through Hell and Purgatory as a rational guide. |
| Virtues | Deity | 1 | 2 | Angelic order of the third celestial sphere, mentioned by Beatrice in the theological discourse of Paradiso I. |
| Vitaliano | Rulers and nobles | 1 | 1 | Vitaliano is Dante's neighbor among the usurers in the seventh circle of Hell (Canto XVII), pointed out by a Paduan who addresses the poet. |
| Vulcan | Deity | 1 | 1 | The divine smith of the gods, invoked by Capaneus in the seventh circle of Hell as he defies the vengeance of Jupiter, who drives him to wear out the Cyclopes of Etna. |
| Zeno | Poets and thinkers | 1 | 1 | Ancient philosopher cited by Dante in Limbo among the great spirits in Canto IV of the Inferno, in a series that includes pre-Socratics such as Empedocles and Heraclitus. |