Like Charon, he tries to stop Dante, since he is a living soul. Here they see Minos, the judge of the underworld, who dictates where in hell souls will be punished.
#Inferno dan brown summary full#
Virgil leads Dante on to the second circle of hell, which is darker and full of more suffering and screaming. Virgil introduces Dante to other famous poets of antiquity- Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan-who welcome Dante into their esteemed literary company.
Here, he sees many virtuous pagans, including famous figures of classical Greek and Roman history, philosophy, and literature. In the first circle of hell, Dante sees souls who did not sin, but died either unbaptised or before the time of Jesus. Charon first refuses to transport Dante, because he is a living soul, but Virgil tells him that Dante's journey is sanctioned by God, so Charon relents. They next come to the river Acheron and see Charon, an old man who ferries souls across the river into hell. Dante's beloved Beatrice, who is now deceased and in heaven, has sent Virgil to guide Dante on a journey through hell, so that he can ascend through purgatory to heaven.ĭante and Virgil enter hell and first see a group of suffering neutral souls who committed to neither evil nor good. The spirit of the Roman poet Virgil appears to him and tells him that he must take another path out of the forest. He attempts to climb up a mountain, but his path is blocked by a leopard, a lion, and a wolf. Midway through his life, Dante wakes up in a dark, unfamiliar forest.