Inferno Virgil Quotes

Virgil explains a central concept in Dante’s vision of Christianity: the Divine is natural, since "nature follows…the Divine Intellect and Divine Art." Man’s instinct is to follow nature and thus follow God. Consequently, anything made by man’s art is usually natural and thus somewhat like "God’s grandchild" (if man is God’s child). As a rule, then, anything that goes against nature inherently goes against God or, in other words, sins.

Following the train of the thought from the last few lines, Virgil arrives at what is natural or good for men to do with their lives: to "make their way, to gain their living." In other words, it is good for man to work and to gain his living by the sweat of his brow, the depth of his mind, the creation of his hands. Usurers violate this natural order by growing fat off man’s greed for money instead of winning their bread through honest work. Thus, usury is a sin against nature.

Because Dante ultimately sees violence as a distortion of nature, the landscapes of the Seventh Circle feature some twisted aspects of nature. Here, the boiling river that tortures the tyrants does not flow with water, but with blood. Thus, the violent are punished by natural forces which have been fundamentally perverted.

Here, Virgil declares fraud – the deceptive use of language or action – the worst of the three types of sin (incontinence, violence, and fraud). Sadly, it is also the sin man is most susceptible to by virtue of his capacity for language. With their false or insincere words, fraudulent men "bring harm to other men." This particular quality of fraud, with its ability to spread (as rumor or truth), can effectively mislead whole communities of otherwise moral people into sin. To Dante, condemning innocent others to sin through one’s deceitful words is the worst possible act.

Jason, the mythical leader of the Argonauts, shows that Virgil’s "persuasive word" can be turned to evil uses. Although the Italian phrase used to describe Virgil’s speech, "parole ornate," remains the same, Mandelbaum chooses to translate Jason’s speech as "polished words" instead of "persuasive." This highlights Jason’s flashy image and professed gallantry, which woo women to him, while allowing his vile nature to lurk underneath. Here, in the first ring of fraud, readers begin to doubt the goodness of the "persuasive word," or elaborate language, when they see that it can persuade people with false hopes and lead to tragic consequences.

In life, the sullen refused to engage in life’s joys, appreciating neither the "sweet air" nor the light of the sun. Dante also plays on the idea of the sullen resentfully refusing to speak. As punishment, then, they are immersed in "blackened mud" – away from the "sweet air that’s gladdened by the sun" – which inhibits their ability to speak and forces them to gurgle out their words.

For giving false or malicious advice, the Fraudulent Counselors must struggle torturously to speak even a single word in Hell. The pain they no doubt feel in their shrouds of flame not only indicates their guilty spirits, but makes it difficult for them to speak. Also, because the sinners are ‘twinned’ here – a single flame containing two sinners -- Dante suggests that fraud affects not only the individual who practices it, but also others; it is a rebounding sin.

In this key passage, Beatrice anoints Virgil as one possessing the "persuasive word." This is Virgil’s most important attribute because he uses language to impart lessons to Dante, engage sinners in conversation, condemn sin, and basically to keep Dante out of trouble. Virgil is the embodiment of ornate and eloquent language in the Inferno, and for the most part, he uses it wisely.

This is the first explicit reference to language’s unique ability to affect large numbers of people. Beatrice acknowledges Virgil’s "honest utterance" as a benefit to all "those who’ve listened to [it]" – namely, the Romans. Virgil has done for the Latin language what Dante will do for the Italian one: standardize it and give his fellow countrymen a sense of national pride.

Both our heroes engage in linguistic struggles here. Dante is conflicted about whether to trust Virgil or not, symbolized by the contention between "yes and no" in his head. Meanwhile, Virgil approaches the citizens of Dis, hoping to use his renowned "persuasive word" to wheedle them into opening the city gates for him. But, whatever he says, he fails in his mission. This is the first time readers have reason to doubt Virgil’s linguistic skills and suspect that perhaps the "persuasive word" isn’t the best kind of language, at least in God’s eyes. Unaccustomed to defeat, the shamed Virgil must turn and walk back to Dante "with slow steps" to explain his failure.

As Virgil, stuttering, tries to reassure Dante that things will work themselves out, his protégé notices the uncharacteristic hesitation in his speech. His "broken phrase" – shown in the text with an ellipsis – inspires fear in Dante, who "drew out…a meaning worse…than he’d intended." Because Dante is so unaccustomed to see Virgil daunted, he assumes that it spells the end of their journey together.

Here, one’s speech gives away his nationality. Virgil can tell by the language of Ulysses and Diomedes that they are Greek. However, he makes an assumption about them based on their language, supposing that they hold a grudge against the Trojans (and hence their descendants, the Italians) for their bitter enmity in the Trojan War, and thus forbids Dante from speaking to them. Language therefore becomes grounds for politics and racism.

Contrary to its role in the previous canto, language here becomes a tool for solidarity and unification under the same nation. Whereas Dante is not allowed to speak to Ulysses because he is Greek, here Virgil urges him to speak to Montefeltro because they use the same language. Thus, language can form a basis of nationalism.

Dante considers the mind and reason as purely human faculties and singular gifts from God. Man, then, has a responsibility to use these intellectual gifts for good. Sinners who use their intellects for evil or simply deny that reason is a human tool have "lost the good of the intellect" and have therefore been condemned to Hell.

In medieval times, more so than today, poets represented the consummate academics. Dante demonstrates this by referring to the most famous Classical poets as a "splendid school." The character Dante, as an aspiring poet, is flattered when Virgil’s peers invite him to converse with them and he finds himself "sixth among such intellects." If one approaches this statement from the perspective of Dante the author, this rank of "sixth among such intellects" could be read as a bit cocky.

Virgil’s story of how he has come to guide Dante directly discusses Dante’s status as a chosen one in having the opportunity to experience Hell while still alive. His special status comes purely from the compassion of three divine ladies: the Virgin Mary herself, Saint Lucia, and Beatrice (the mortal love of Dante’s life). Indeed, this reinforces the stereotype of women as gentle emotional creatures, contrasted with the male stereotype of being too rational. These women show the physical manifestation of compassion: tears. Unlike gentle Mary, Lucia chastises Beatrice for ignoring Dante’s straying from God’s path. And, in an interesting paradox, Beatrice, by linking the "persuasive word" to Virgil, herself uses it to convince the Roman poet to help Dante.

Unbeknownst to Dante, he and Virgil are about to meet a group of Classical poets and Virgil’s dear companions. This foreknowledge causes Virgil to pale dramatically with sympathy for their plight. Interestingly, Dante mistakes his physical reaction for one stemming from fear. Indeed, this concept will later be played on as Dante cries and faints – some typical reactions to intense fear or pain – when moved to pity for the sinners. This reinforces the very root of the word "compassion," which means literally "to feel with." So, one could read Virgil’s and later Dante’s sympathy for the sinners as literally feeling and participating in the pain that the sinners experience.

Virgil’s story of the Harrowing of Hell, in which Christ carries off the good men of the Old Testament (born before Christ) to Heaven, shows that God does indeed love the virtuous, making exceptions for the honorable unbaptized, and that the sinners in limbo – like the poets Dante worships – still have an opportunity to enter Heaven. This serves to mitigate, or soften, Dante’s judgment of God’s mercy.

Virgil brings the etymology of the word "compassion" to new heights with his description of Christ’s love literally moving mountains. If "compassion" means "to move/feel with," Christ’s love for his followers during the Harrowing of Hell proves so intense that it moves not only the worthy members of the Old Testament with him to Heaven, but shakes the very earth itself, causing part of the valley of violence (appropriately) to topple.

Ironically, the emotion Dante is trying to evoke in readers – pity for the magicians – is rebuked by Virgil. His denunciation of the magicians’ practice as advocating "God’s…passivity" means that the magicians, in prophesying, believe they have power over the future, necessarily rendering God’s will passive. Such an assumption is so mistaken that it should kill the pity of any reasonable person. This is why "pity only lives [here] when it is dead." In other words, there should be no sympathy for these sinners.