Dante,Virgil,and Christianity: Or Statius,sin,and clueless pagans in Inferno IV

Abstract

Dante’s relationship to the virtuous pagans, most especially Virgil, has long been a point of contention. Most scholars would agree that at the heart of Dante’s ambivalence toward classical antiquity is his sense of a fundamental difference between paganism and Christianity. I explore here the specific nature of that difference by putting Inferno IV in the context of passages about light and sin from Scripture, as well as in the context of the Thebaid of Statius. The Christianity that separates Dante and Dante’s Statius from Virgil may consist of the difference in their attitudes toward confession – toward human failing and admission of guilt. Dante condemns Virgil to Limbo, because Virgil the poet, in contrast to Statius, defines heroism in terms of purity rather than in terms of responsibility and imperfection. Dante’s character Virgil certainly refuses to acknowledge any sin in Inferno IV, and in light of Scripture, that refusal brands him as one who has no truth in him. Seeing Dante’s Virgil in the context of the Bible and Statius highlights Virgil’s failings from the perspective of medieval Christian psychology and moral philosophy. In the end, Virgil’s refusal to acknowledge and confess his sinfulness results in his eternal damnation.