Characters

Characters of the Divine Comedy

Explore the protagonists and figures Dante meets on his journey.

PersonaggioTipologiaMenzioniVersi collegatiDescrizione
FifantiFamilies and factions11Florentine family mentioned by Cacciaguida in the Heaven of Mars, listed among those that were already great in his time in the quarter of the porta Santa Maria.
FilippeschiFamilies and factions11Family of Orvieto mentioned by Dante in Purgatorio, cited as an example of the Guelph faction that clashed in the city together with the Monaldi.
FilippiFamilies and factions12Collective figure mentioned by Cacciaguida in the Heaven of Mars, listed among the extinct or decayed Florentine noble lineages.
Filippo ArgentiRulers and nobles11Florentine knight of the Adimari, known for his arrogance and pride, placed by Dante among the wrathful in the swamp of the Styx, where he becomes the object of the poet's violent reaction.
Fiorentini (bestie fiesolane)Families and factions11The citizens of Florence descended from the rough Fiesolans, likened to beasts that devour one another in the simile opened by Brunetto Latino in Inferno XV 73.
FocacciaHistorical11Focaccia is mentioned by Dante in Canto XXXII of the Inferno, among the traitors of their own people, alongside the Conti Alberti and other Florentines, in a list that critical notes connect to the Arthurian legend.
FolcoPoets and thinkers11Folchetto da Marsiglia, a Provençal troubadour and later bishop of Toulouse, placed by Dante in the Heaven of Venus alongside Rahab and Cunizza.
PholusMythological11Centaur cited by Dante in Canto XII of the Inferno as a member of the patrol of centaurs that escorts the two poets through the seventh circle.
ForeseUnclassified22A soul recognized by Dante in Purgatory among the gluttonous; his name is indicated as the one to whom alone, among those he meets, Dante names Virgil and Beatrice.
PhotinusPopes and clergy11Subject of the verse «lo qual trasse Fotin de la via dritta» (Inf. XI 9); identified by the authorized note with the deacon Photinus of Thessalonica, a follower of Acacius.
Fra DolcinoPopes and clergy11Leader of a heretical sect, remembered by Muhammad in Inferno XXVIII as a schismatic still living, whose capture by the people of Novara is given as imminent.
FrancescaUnclassified11Francesca is the woman who speaks to Dante in Canto V of the Inferno, addressing him and confiding her sufferings, and initiating with him the celebrated dialogue on the "sweet thoughts" and the "painful step" that led her and her lover to their death.
FrancisPopes and clergy25Saint Francis of Assisi is recalled by Dante as the lover of Poverty in the Paradiso and is mentioned among the patriarchs of the second heaven of the Paradiso.
Franco BologneseUnclassified11Franco Bolognese is recalled by Oderisi as the illuminator who «pennelleggia» (brushes) with such skill as to make the pages smile, a sign of the new modern style in the art of manuscript illumination.
Fra GomitaPopes and clergy11A barrator recalled by a damned soul in Dante's Inferno; a Sardinian from Gallura, he was vicar of Judge Nino Visconti in the judiciary of the same name and was hanged for corruption.
GabrielDeity22Archangel remembered by Dante in the Heaven of the Moon among the three archangels who appear in the Bible; he is the angel who announced to Mary the birth of Jesus.
GaddoFamilies and factions11Son of Count Ugolino della Gherardesca, present in the scene of the Tower of Hunger; he throws himself at his father's feet in the infernal ice.
GalenPoets and thinkers11Ancient Greek physician cited by Dante in Limbo among the scientists, mathematicians and physicians in Canto I of the Inferno, alongside Hippocrates, Avicenna, Euclid and Ptolemy.
GaligaioFamilies and factions11Galigaio is mentioned by Cacciaguida in Canto XVI of Paradiso as an example of the new Florentine families who, by settling in the houses of the ancient nobles, contribute to making the 'ship' of Florence 'sink'.
GalliFamilies and factions11Florentine family recalled by Cacciaguida among those already distinguished in his own time; according to critical notes the Galli lived in the quarter of porta Santa Maria.
GanelloneMythological11Ganellone is the famous Gano of Mainz, the traitor of the Chanson de Roland, recalled by Dante in the Inferno among the traitors.
GanymedeMythological11Figure from classical mythology recalled by Dante in Purgatorio IX, 23 as an example of divine abduction: Ganymede was abandoned by his own family.
GideonBiblical figures11Gideon is recalled in Purgatorio as a biblical example of military choice against gluttony: he discarded the soldiers who knelt to drink and kept only those who drank with their hand, with whom he defeated the Midianites.
GentuccaUnclassified11A lady of Lucca mentioned in Ante-Purgatory by Bonagiunta, who indicates her name as a future help to Dante in exile.