Characters
Characters of the Divine Comedy
Explore the protagonists and figures Dante meets on his journey.
| Personaggio | Tipologia | Menzioni | Versi collegati | Descrizione |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boniface | Popes and clergy | 1 | 4 | Pope Boniface VIII (Benedetto Caetani), pontiff from 1294 to 1303, indicated by the form Bonifazio in the prophecy of Nicholas III in Inferno XIX, as the successor of Nicholas III in the third bolgia of the simonists. |
| Bonifazio | Popes and clergy | 1 | 2 | Bonifazio dei Fieschi, Archbishop of Ravenna and papal legate in Romagna, recalled by Forese among the gluttons of Purgatory. |
| Bonturo | Historical | 1 | 1 | In Canto XXI of the Inferno, Bonturo is recalled as the only exception among the damned of the bolgia not to be a barrator. |
| Branca Doria | Rulers and nobles | 1 | 2 | A Genoese nobleman of the Doria family, recalled by Dante as a treacherous murderer of his father-in-law Michele Zanche during a banquet in Sardinia; he is placed among the traitors in the infernal ice. |
| Brenno | Historical | 1 | 1 | Brenno is recalled by Dante as the commander of the Gauls who assaulted Rome; his mention is inserted by Cacciaguida in the summary of the republican wars faced by the Roman eagle. |
| Briareus | Mythological | 2 | 2 | Giant of classical mythology, recalled by Dante as an example of immeasurable physical size and cited among the proud punished in Purgatory. |
| Brysso | Poets and thinkers | 1 | 1 | Philosopher named by Thomas in the Earthly Paradise among those who erred in the use of natural reason, placed alongside Parmenides and Melissus as an example of thinkers who, despite seeking the truth, fell into error. |
| Brunetto Latino | Poets and thinkers | 2 | 3 | Notary, writer, and teacher of Dante, placed among the sodomites in the seventh circle of Hell, recognized and honored by the poet with affectionate reverence. |
| Brutus | Historical | 1 | 3 | Brutus is mentioned by Dante in Inferno XXXIV, where he appears in the mouth of Lucifer, tormented together with Cassius as a traitor. |
| Sicilian Bull | Mythological | 1 | 1 | Mythological figure cited by Dante as a term of comparison in the eighth stanza of Canto XXVII of the Inferno, likened to the flame that moves silently after the account of Ulysses and Diomed. |
| Buoso | Families and factions | 1 | 2 | Character named in Inferno XXV in the scene of the transformed souls of the eighth ditch; he is made to run against a snake-man |
| Buoso da Duera | Rulers and nobles | 1 | 1 | Lord of Cremona indicated by Bocca degli Abati as a companion in punishment among the traitors immersed in the ice of the last circle of Hell. |
| Cacciaguida | Poets and thinkers | 1 | 1 | Dante's ancestor, an ancient Florentine, Christian and knight, who went on crusade to the Holy Land, where he met his death. In Paradise he appears as a blessed soul in the Heaven of Mars. |
| Cacus | Mythological | 1 | 1 | Centaur of the seventh ditch (Malebolge), recalled as the monstrous son of Vulcan who breathes flames from his mouth; he symbolizes the fraudulence of the ditch of thieves. |
| Cadmus | Mythological | 1 | 1 | Mythological figure cited by Dante as a term of literary comparison, paired with Ovid, from Taccia di Cadmo e d'Aretusa Ovidio (Inf. XXV, 97). |
| Cagnazzo | Mythological | 2 | 2 | A devil of Malebranche's decuria who escorts the two poets along the fifth bolgia of the Inferno, remembered among the strange and varied names coined by Dante for the devils of the comic bolgia. |
| Caino | Biblical figures | 2 | 2 | Cain is cited as a periphrasis for the moon in Virgil's astronomical explanation in Inferno XX, linked to the tradition of the lunar spots. |
| Calcabrina | Mythological | 2 | 2 | Devil of the squad assigned to the fifth bolgia of the eighth circle, named by Barbariccia to move forward and mentioned during the final scuffle. |
| Calchas | Mythological | 1 | 1 | Augur of ancient Greece, recalled by Dante as the one who indicated to Agamemnon the moment of departure for Troy, cited as a point of comparison for modern diviners. |
| Calfucci | Families and factions | 1 | 1 | Florentine family recalled by Cacciaguida among the households of ancient nobility, once linked by a common stock to the Donati. |
| Calliope | Mythological | 1 | 1 | Muse of epic poetry, the greatest among all the Muses, invoked by Dante at the beginning of Purgatorio so that she may rise up to inspire the new canto. |
| Camilla | Mythological | 2 | 2 | A young Volscian warrior woman, ally of Turnus against Aeneas; Dante recalls her among the great figures of Limbo as an example of glorious death. |
| Caorsini | Families and factions | 1 | 1 | Men of Cahors cited by Saint Peter in Paradise as being about to shed the blood of the apostles out of greed for wealth and power. |
| Capaneus | Mythological | 1 | 1 | Capaneus is one of the seven kings who attacked Thebes, a figure of human pride who rebels against God. Damned among the violent against God in Dante's Inferno, he is portrayed on the great sandbank under the rain of fire, standing upright, disdainful and unbent by his punishment. |