Characters
Characters of the Divine Comedy
Explore the protagonists and figures Dante meets on his journey.
| Personaggio | Tipologia | Menzioni | Versi collegati | Descrizione |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arius | Popes and clergy | 1 | 1 | Heretic cited by St. Thomas in Canto XIII of Paradiso as the author of an anti-Trinitarian doctrine, placed alongside Sabellius and the "fools" who distort the Scriptures. |
| Asdente | Historical | 1 | 1 | Italian astrologer and soothsayer, contemporary of Dante, remembered in the eighth ditch of the eighth circle among the falsifiers dedicated to divinatory arts. |
| Assyrians | Families and factions | 1 | 1 | People mentioned by Dante in Purgatorio XII, cited in relation to the death of Holofernes and the defeat suffered under Sennacherib, king of Assyria, who was annihilated by an angel. |
| Ahasuerus | Rulers and nobles | 1 | 1 | King of Persia cited by Dante in Purgatorio XVII, identified with the historical Xerxes I. He is recalled as the king who saved the Jews from the extermination ordered by his minister Haman. |
| Athamas | Mythological | 1 | 1 | Theban king recalled by Dante in the opening double simile of Canto XXX of the Inferno as an example of furious madness. |
| Atropos | Mythological | 1 | 1 | One of the three Fates, mentioned by Dante in Inferno XXXIII as she who moves to leave the body, cutting the thread of life. |
| Attila | Rulers and nobles | 2 | 2 | King of the Huns in the 5th century, remembered by Dante as the scourge who devastated Italy and, according to a legend, reduced ancient Florence to ashes. |
| Augustus | Rulers and nobles | 3 | 3 | Roman emperor remembered by Virgil in Inferno I as the sovereign under whom the poet lived, celebrated as a triumphator in the procession of the triumphal chariot in Purgatorio XXIX. |
| Averroes | Unclassified | 1 | 1 | Arab philosopher, physician, and commentator of Aristotle cited by Dante in Limbo among the pagan scientists and sages, alongside Avicenna. |
| Avicenna | Unclassified | 1 | 1 | Arab physician and philosopher, cited by Dante in Limbo among the great figures of the contemplative life devoted to science and medicine. |
| Bacchus | Deity | 2 | 3 | God of wine in classical mythology, mentioned by Dante in Purgatorio XVIII and Paradiso XIII as a term of negative comparison with the praise of the Trinity. |
| Barbariccia | Mythological | 2 | 4 | Devil of the Malebranche squad, named by Malacoda to escort the two poets into the pitch-filled bolgia and designated to lead the ten. |
| Barucci | Families and factions | 1 | 1 | Florentine family from the quarter of the Porta del Duomo, recalled by Cacciaguida among the houses that had risen in his time and have now come to nothing. |
| Blessed Ubald | Popes and clergy | 1 | 1 | Bishop of Gubbio (1084-1160), recalled by Dante as the chosen spiritual guide of the hill above Gubbio, linked to Francis of Assisi. |
| Beatrice Portinari | Unclassified | 35 | 64 | Beatrice is Dante's guide in the Divina Commedia: she directs him in the afterlife from Hell to Paradise, where she accompanies him through the heavens up to the supreme vision. |
| Belacqua | Historical | 1 | 1 | A Florentine lute-maker, neighbor of Dante, known for his proverbial laziness. In Ante-Purgatory he is among the souls of the negligent, sitting and slumped beside a great stone, waiting to be able to enter Purgatory proper. |
| Belisarius | Rulers and nobles | 1 | 1 | General of Emperor Justinian, remembered as a great and famous leader who drove the Vandals out of Africa and reconquered Italy from the Goths. |
| Bellincion Berti | Rulers and nobles | 1 | 1 | Florentine citizen remembered by Cacciaguida in Paradiso as an example of the ancient virtues of the original Florence, whose name Dante saw inscribed on the shield with the golden border. |
| Bellincione | Families and factions | 1 | 1 | Florentine member of the Ravignani family, recalled by Cacciaguida in Paradiso as the ancestor from whom Dante's lineage originates. |
| Benedetto | Popes and clergy | 1 | 3 | Name present in the Earthly Paradise, placed alongside Francesco and Augustino in the ternary mention of canticle XXXII. |
| Bernardin di Fosco | Rulers and nobles | 1 | 1 | Lord of Faenza remembered by Guido del Duca in Purgatorio as an example of the courtesy and liberality of the past, now vanished. |
| Bernard | Popes and clergy | 1 | 4 | Bernard presents himself as Dante's faithful follower in the final phase of Paradise, indicated by the periphrasis «il suo fedel Bernardo» ("his faithful Bernard"). |
| Bertran de Born | Poets and thinkers | 1 | 1 | Provençal poet and viscount of Hautefort in Gascony, who lived in the second half of the twelfth century, identified in the verses of Canto XXVIII of the Inferno. Dante recalls him as a singer of arms and for his liberality. |
| Bonagiunta Orbicciani da Lucca | Poets and thinkers | 1 | 3 | A notary and poet from Lucca in the thirteenth century, present in Purgatory as Dante's interlocutor on the terrace of the gluttons. The verse recalls him with the familiar nickname «dal Torso» and says he is intent on expiating the sin of gluttony through fasting. |