As Virgil leads Dante through the depths of Hell in Inferno, the reader is immediately made aware of some of the fears Dante has. Walking with his mentor, Dante can only recollect two men who have ever traveled to the place where he is headed. Dante stresses to Virgil "But why should I go there? Who sanctions it?/ For I am not Aeneas, am not Paul;/ nor I nor others think myself so worthy"(pg 15, lines 31-33). Dante does, however, prove to be worthy throughout the journey, right up until the end where the to travelers meet Lucifer himself. The reason that Dante is able to hold such an honor is simple, and is displayed throughout the book. By bringing certain events into the story, making particular references in the text, and dealing with historical events in certain ways Dante is able to use the Divina Commedia as a symbol. What this symbol represents, exactly, is that Dante is a rightful heir to the Greek, Roman, and Christian worlds.

The intermingling of concepts from the different eras is the main reason that Dante is able to claim such status. On such e

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de apparent once and again throughout the text, is the reason why Dante can claim the title has heir to the Christian world.

xample of this is the way Dante reasons with and, in turn, deals with some of the punishments. The story of Guido da Montefeltro is the best example of this concept. When Guido died and St. Francis came for his soul, a demon interfered. In Canto XXVII the reader learns of Guido's plight, how he gave bad advice to Pope Boniface, but was given absolution in advance. The demon argues that Guido belongs in the Eight Circle, Eight Pouch, with the fraudulent counselors. His reason is that "one can't absolve a man who's not repented,/ and no one can repent and will at once;/ the law of contradiction won't allow it"(253, 118-120). The law of contradiction that the demon makes reference to derives from a fundamental Aristotelian principle. This connection that Dante makes with Aristotle and the ancient Greek's thoughts regarding repentance is interesting n!

nce again reason why he proves to be the heir to these particular eras.

Dante makes other such connections through the punishments he deals out to many of the characters. He is able to, through the punishment of three interesting men, make a number of statements. Judas, Brutus, and Cassius, the three worst sinners of mankind in Dante's mind, receive the fiercest punishment. They each lie in one of Lucifer's three heads, being chomped and grinded with his teeth inside of his mouths. In the middle head is Judas, the ultimate betrayer, the man who betrayed Christ himself. In the heads to each side of Judas are Brutus and Cassius, who betrayed Julius Caesar. Just as Christ serves as the perfect manifestation of religion, it can be inferred by the punishment of these two men that, in Dante's mind, Caesar is the epitome of politics. The comparable punishments assigned by Dante to men who betrayed religion and men who betrayed the state reveal Dante's belief that each are important

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Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)