However, the Divine Comedy is an allegory: a story in which every element represents something else. In the Divine Comedy, the character Virgil is Dante’s guide and friend who leads him through Hell (in Inferno) and Purgatory (in Purgatorio). That’s why he imagined a friendship with Virgil and placed it at the center of his own epic work. Dante’s political activism got him banished from Florence, and he spent the rest of his life in exile, mourning the loss of his home.Īs an epic poet, loyal Italian, and passionate political commentator, Virgil was Dante’s hero. But Italy was still torn apart by political struggles.ĭante’s beloved city, Florence, was divided by a brutal political feud. (Get to know more of the best epic poems of all time here!)ĭante lived in the thirteenth century, almost fourteen hundred years after Virgil. He addressed that turmoil in The Aeneid, one of the greatest epic poems of all time. That’s because Virgil was everything that Dante wanted to be.Īlthough Virgil lived in Roman times, he was a fellow Italian with Dante. In the Divine Comedy, Dante depicts Virgil as his guide and friend. In real life, Virgil was an inspiration to Dante.
In case it wasn't already clear, Dante’s and Virgil’s friendship in the Divine Comedy was entirely fictionalized. You also have to distinguish between Virgil the historical figure and Virgil the fictional character who shows up in the Inferno. When you’re reading Inferno, you have to remember that there is a difference between Dante the author and Dante the character. They never met in real life.ĭante, the author of the Divine Comedy, included himself and Virgil as characters in his epic poem. Here’s where it gets confusing, though: Dante and Virgil lived in different historical eras. Yes, both Dante and Virgil were real people.
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