Inferno: Canto Ii Essay - 690 words

Inferno: Canto II From a structural viewpoint, the first two cantos of Inferno serve as an opening, presenting the major dramatic situation and maneuvering Dante and Virgil to the doorway of Hell, the voyage through which will represent the main plot of the poem. In a larger sense, though, the opening cantos help reader to establish the relationship between Inferno and larger literary, political, and religious tradition, demonstrating their points of conjunction and divergence. Here is a brief summary of the canto II. It was evening. Dante raises the Muses to help him tell his story. He began to hesitate his merit to make the great journey through Hell, and compared his fault to the strength of "he who fathered Sylvius" (Aeneas) and "the Chosen Vessel," (St.


Paul) who had come down to Hell and came back from there with a victory. He asked Virgil for supervision, and Virgil told him not to give up before fear. In order to give him heart, Virgil said Beatrice herself had descended from Heaven to Limbo to find him (Limbo is the place in Hell for worthy Pagans who lived before Christ). Worried about Dante, she asked Virgil to guide him to safety. Graciously, Virgil had agreed. He revealed that not only Beatrice, but two other blessed ladies, Lucia and Rachel, were also troubled for Dante, having been warned by "a gentle lady" that he risks damnation. Hearing that his love had not forgotten him, Dante became much optimistic, and he determined to courageously follow Virgil no matter where he would lead him.


The combination of dissimilar literary genres and themes is mainly evident in the second canto, though it happens all the way through the poem. The Inferno is partially epic, modeled in some ways on Virgil's Aeneid. It is also an intensely Christian poem full of customary symbolism, depicting a Hell rather different from that of the Ancients. Hell is not just the underworld where the dead live, but is exclusively ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

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Essay Tags: roman empire, dante, holy roman empire, virgil, holy roman

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