Dante’s Inferno - The Evolving Relationship between Dante the Pilgrim and Virgil the Guide

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Dante’s Inferno - The Evolving Relationship between Dante the Pilgrim and Virgil the Guide In Dante’s Inferno, the relationship between Dante the Pilgrim and Virgil the Guide is an ever-evolving one. By analyzing the transformation of this relationship as the two sojourn through the circles of hell, one is able to learn more about the mindset of Dante the Poet. At the outset, Dante is clearly subservient to Virgil, whom he holds in high esteem for his literary genius. However, as the work progresses, Virgil facilitates Dante’s spiritual enlightenment, so that by the end, Dante has ascended to Virgil’s spiritual level and has in many respects surpassed him. In Dante’s journey with respect to Virgil, one can see man’s spiritual journey towards understanding God. While God loves man regardless of his faults, His greatest desire is to see man attain greater spirituality, in that man, already created in God’s image, may truly become divine, and in doing so, attain eternality. When we are first introduced to Dante the Pilgrim, we perceive in him a Renaissance intellectual, who despite his intelligence and religiosity has lost the “path that does not stray” (I.3). Having thus lost touch with the tenets of orthodox Catholicism, a higher power has chosen for him to undertake an epic journey. (The devout are able to identify this power with the one Judeo-Christian God, while pagans and sinners often attribute the impetus behind the Pilgrim’s voyage to fate.) Dante’s initial reaction to meeting Virgil reveals his penchant for the worldly as opposed to the divine. He addresses Virgil humbly, his words dripping with praise. “Are you then that Virgil, you the fountain/ that freely... ... middle of paper ... ...an-Islamic notion of the heavenly father and his love for mankind are striking. God loves us and wants nothing more than that we be saved from Hell. However, when man transgresses, God has no choice but to punish him accordingly; while it pains Him to do so, He must as this is a component of His divine love. Works Cited Dante Alighieri, Inferno (trans. Allen Mandelbaum), In The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. (New York: W.W. Norton, 1999) Works Consulted Bergin, Thomas Goddard. Dante. New York: Orion P, 1965. Niven, Larry and Pournelle, Jerry. Inferno. New York: Pocket Books,1976. MacAllister, Archibald T. Introduction. Inferno. By Dante. New York: Mentor, 1954. Pinsky, Robert. The Inferno of Dante. New York: Harper Collins, 1994. Spinrad, Norman. Introduction to Inferno, by Niven and Pournelle. Boston: Gregg Press, 1979.

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