Person

Name: Virgilio

Birth Date: 70 BCE

Death Date: 19 BCE

Description: In the Comedy, the eminent Latin poet Virgil acquires a second life. Author of the Aeneid and the master of poetry revered by Dante and the entire Middle Ages, Virgil materializes out of nowhere to become Dante's guide through Inferno and most of Purgatory. Dante honors Virgil as the glory and light of other poets. The German scholar Curtius remarked: "The awakening of Virgil by Dante is an arc of flame which leaps forth from one great soul to another."