How does virgil offer to help dante

As befits a character who symbolizes reason, Virgil proves sober, measured, resolute, and wise. He repeatedly protects Dante from hostile demons and monsters, from Charon to the Centaurs. When he appears powerless outside the gates of the city of Dis in Canto VIII, his helplessness appears very ominous, signifying that Lower Hell offers far darker dangers than Upper Hell.

When Dante appears slow to learn these lessons—such as when he sympathizes with sinners or attempts to remain too long in one region of Hell—Virgil often grows impatient with him, a trait that humanizes this otherwise impersonal shade. As the son of a commoner, Publius Vergilius Maro was a masterful Roman poet once by living under the rule of Caesar Augustus, living before the birth of Christ and becoming well-known as the man with the biggest brain.

Virgil was the author of the Aeneid , his magnum opus. He described living under Augustus during the time of the lying and false gods.

However, after living for over fifty years, Virgil died about 19 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. Virgil also said that even though he died many years before the birth of Christ, he foretold Jesus' coming in his Virgil's works.

Have you noticed how every time Virgil talks to someone, he gets what he wants? He convinces a scared Dante to come with him to hell!

Dante does, however, introduce doubts about the goodness of this way of talking. Virgil does get locked out of Dis for a reason. His "persuasive word" presupposes a good deal of pride in its speaker.

Another way in which Virgil embodies language is that he speaks for everyone. Sometimes, he even speaks for Dante when our poor poet is too green around the gills to talk.

When approaching Ciacco, his sole encouragement to Dante is "your words must be appropriate. Well, as the text goes on, it becomes apparent that Virgil is far from perfect. Just like Dante. So why Virgil? Why a pagan? Why not some nice Christian poet? Not born yet. Ditto for Donne. He loves everything that Virgil represents: the Classics, larger-than-life themes, battles between good and evil, honor, glory, culture, and spirituality.

He succeeds, and he shows Dante how to climb Lucifer's leg and then turn upright to see the stars of Purgatory ahead of him. Previous Dante. Next Character Map.

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