George Stearn: Week 3

“Not Man, though man I once was and my blood

 was Lombard and both my parents Mantuan

. I was born, though late, sub Julio, and bred

In Rome under Augustus in the noon

 of the false and lying gods. I was a poet

and sang of old Anchises’ noble son

Who came to Rome after the burning of Troy.

 But you- why do you return to these distresses

 instead of climbing that shining mount of Joy?”

- (Dante’s Inferno, Canto I, 67-75)

One central theme in Dante’s Inferno is identity, and why wouldn’t it be? What is the Inferno but Dante’s own interpretation of the afterlife, a central belief in any Religion and an integral part of the identity of anyone living in the Middle Ages.  Identity first shows up as a theme early in the novel. After avoiding the Lion and She-wolf, Dante meets Virgil, who identifies himself by relating his parentage and country of origin. “…and my blood was Lombard and both my parents Mantuan…and bred in Rome under Augustus and the false and lying gods” (Canto I, 67-71). Virgil’s connection with his ancestry is evidence of a preoccupation with ancestry not present in today’s society. In many cultures, parentage and land of origin had a great deal to do with the social standing of citizens. Indeed, the Odyssey and Illiad are essentially ancient celebrations of everything Greek.

 Later in the passage it becomes evident that Virgil’s death brought some significant changes in belief, and no doubt brought his identity into question. “…I was born, though late, sub Julio in Rome under Augustus in the noon of the false and lying gods.” (Canto I, 69-71). In Life, there is little doubt that Virgil ascribed to the Polytheistic deity system propagated by the Roman Empire, so it is interesting that in death he would openly defame the gods he once worshipped. He even goes so far as to call them “false” and “lying”. If one descends deeper into the mythos created by Dante however, Virgil’s bitterness becomes clear: because in Life he failed to worship the one true God, in death he was sent to the uppermost tier of the Inferno. It seems a cruel fate for a poet that Dante held in high esteem, but Virgil’s pagan beliefs were unacceptable in Dante’s time, resulting his placement with the Virtuous Pagans.

At the end of the selection, Virgil poses a question to Dante: “why do you return to these distresses instead of climbing that shining mount of joy?” (Canto I, 74-75). That question relates back to identity as a theme in Dante’s Inferno. The woods in the first Canto are symbolic it seems of Dante’s own confusion with his identity, and Virgil is the heavenly spirit that lifts him out of the fog. Virgil, a fellow writer and inspiration of Dante’s, takes the author on a journey through a construct of his religion, affirming his faith and belief in himself. Dante’s ultimate victory comes when he reunites with Beatrice in Il Paradiso, an event symbolic of his own spiritual awakening, and as history reveals, the author’s disturbing desire outside of the fictional world he created.