History Characters / TheDivineComedy

* AuthorAvatar: The Pilgrim, the protagonist of the story, is a fictionalized version of Creator/DanteAlighieri. Purgatory has seven levels corresponding to the SevenDeadlySins. The Pilgrim experiences the penances for only three: Pride, Anger, and Lust. Translator Creator/DorothyLSayers commented that these were the three faults people tend to accuse Dante of, so subjecting the Pilgrim to their penances was probably a deliberate confession on the poet's part.

** Dante never loses his admiration of Virgil, but when he firsts meet him, it was outright hero worship. ''Inferno'' Canto 9 tempers Dante's admiration, especially when he witnesses Virgil fail to parley with the demonic garrison at the gates in the city of Dis.
** Downplayed to a lesser degree with Brunetto Latini, who is in the circle of Violence for his sodomy. That said, given the bittersweet words the two men exchange, especially how Dante thanks Latini for teaching him how to write poetry, Latini's placement in the circle of Violence is ultimately Dante's concession to the justice of God, regardless of his personal feelings.
* CastsNoShadow: {{Inverted|Trope}}; Dante is the only character in the story who explicitly has a shadow. Several of the ghosts he meets remark upon Dante's shadow before noticing anything else about him.
* CharacterDevelopment: Throughout his journey in Hell, Dante gradually learns to see sin as something vile, degenerate, and dangerous. Previously, he has swooned upon seeing Paulo and Francesca in the circle of Lust, and he has expressed pity for the souls in the circles of Gluttony and Greed. However, upon meeting Filippo Argenti in the circle of Wrath, Dante for the first time sees sin as something truly vile. His reactions to seeing those who are damned for worse sins, even with this granted, varies on a case-by-case basis.

A pagan poet and philosopher damned to the First Circle of Hell for a lack of faith in God. Beatrice tasks him to guide Dante through Hell and Purgatory, owing to his wisdom and his experience traveling through Hell's circles on the command of a sorceress. Based on [[Creator/{{Virgil}} the historical poet]] who authored ''Literature/TheAeneid''.

* CastsNoShadow: Virgil has no shadow since light passes right through ghosts, just as everything else does. This causes some anguish when Dante sees only his shadow on the climb up Mount Purgatory and turns back, expecting Virgil to be gone.
* GuileHero: Virgil gets by through Hell in one piece by flattering most menaces he comes across while subtly threatening them with God's wrath. This helps him get the help of undead ferrymen, centaurs, flying scorpions, and giants on the journey, but once he ends up in Purgatory, the people have too much integrity for schmoozing to really help them out.

* AsTheGoodBookSays: Fra Catalano alludes to John 8:44 when ridiculing Virgil for trusting the Malebranche into giving him sound advice. This serves to be the last straw as Virgil silently storms off.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Fra Catalano demonstrates himself to be this. When the poets ask for a way to climb out of the bowge, he truthfully says they can climb up a rock, which used to be a bridge. When Virgil expresses that Belzecue has duped him, Fra Catalano takes this as an opportunity to mock him, quipping: "I heard the devil's iniquities much canvassed at Bologna; among the rest 'twas said, he was a liar and father of lies."

* AllLovingHero: It's implied He even loves the people in Hell, and deeply regrets having to send them there.
* DidWeJustHaveTeaWithCthulhu: Two of the central themes of ''Paradiso'' are that {{God}} is both endlessly unknowable and infinitely loving. Dante learns the even most powerful of the seraphim physically cannot understand all of the Divine Mind, but Dante grows to know that everyone in Heaven, from the oath-breakers to the Virgin Mother, all find happiness beyond expression in accepting the selfless love presented by God.

* {{God}}: In the thirty-third canto of the third part of the poem, the last [[NumerologicalMotif 100]] lines is dedicated to describing Him, a task the narrator admits is like accurately recalling something you saw 25 centuries ago or speaking wisely with an infant's intellect. Still, the ''Comedy'' tries and ultimately illustrates a figure that is made up of three circles which somehow look as if they are a single circle. One of the circles looks like it's coming from the first circle and the third looks like fire being produced by both. [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} That begotten circle]] strangely has the same color as the rest of the circles while also bearing the hue of humanity, a fact which encapsulates the poem's protagonist. Although he tries to take the whole of that great light into his mind, Dante admits he is too weak for that, but the light granted him what his mind had asked for.

* CharacterDevelopment: Throughout his journey in Hell, Dante gradually learns to see sin as something vile, degenerate, and dangerous. Previously, he has swooned upon seeing Paulo and Francesca in the circle of Lust, and he has expressed pity for the souls in the circles of Gluttony and Greed. However, upon meeting Filippo Argenti in the circle of Wrath, Dante for the first time sees sin as something truly vile.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: A core part of Dante's development in the ''Inferno'' is learning not to trust objectively evil hell-shadows, as if it wasn't a little obvious.
** Dante also can't help but feel pity when he meets his former master, Brunetto Latini, punished for some type of violence. Dante thanks him for teaching him everything about writing and poetry and remembers how Latini taught him that the secret to immortality was to [[GlorySeeker write brilliantly]]. Lattini reaffirms everything Dante says of him, even when Dante says he wouldn't have put Lattini in Hell, apparently not realizing that in life and now in death, he led Dante away from the true secret to immortality: giving one's self entirely in the Love that is God. So, in perpetuating Dante's error and leading him away from Paradise, Lattini continues in death to do Violence against God.

* SympathyForTheDevil: Although Dante has nothing but contempt for Satan and his minions, he often shows feelings of empathy, pity, and even respect for several sinners he meets in Hell. Virgil sometimes tells Dante off for this. After all, if an omniscient and all-loving God has decided they're unworthy of pity, why should anyone go against divine will and feel sorry for them? That said, his sympathy begins to wear thin after his encounter with Filippo Argenti, who tries to attack him. He and Virgil then watch in a fit of catharsis as the other Wrathful souls gang up on Argenti.
* TheWatson: Dante writes himself into the story as an observer unfamiliar with the reality of the afterlives, putting him in the position to ask theological and moral questions that Virgil or Beatrice can answer. He also fits the trope by being the narrator of the story who is largely secondary to the plot, since Dante can only get through Hell due to the holy protection of Beatrice.

* WishFulfillment: He isn't always portrayed as the most noble hero, but Dante's insert also gets called an equal by Homer, gets to talk smack to his damned enemies, and get guided by his dead crush to God Himself.

* EternalLove: The relationship between Christ and his Bride, the Church, is described like an extended RomanceArc thats been plagued by 2000 years of [[CorruptChurch adultery on the Bride's part]].

* AudienceSurrogate: The poem indicates that Dante's AuthorAvatar stands in for the audience in the very first line and thus any reader can see him/herself in the personal journey.

* CharacterDevelopment: Dante, throughout his journey in Hell, gradually learns to see sin as something vile, degenerate, and dangerous. Previously, he has swooned upon seeing Paulo and Francesca in the circle of Lust, and he has expressed pity for the souls in the circles of Gluttony and Greed. However, upon meeting Filippo Argenti in the circle of Wrath, Dante for the first time sees sin as something truly vile.

* RefusalOfTheCall: The protagonist's cowardice gets the better of him in the second canto at the prospect of ascending into the Underworld without the bravery of Aeneas or the divinity of Christ and he questions why he should go on the journey with Virgil at all. Thanks to Virgil's assurance that he works on behalf of our hero's long-lost love, he dismisses his concerns and steps on the path to Hell.

* WeirdnessSearchAndRescue: The living poet Dante is given through the fires of Hell and Purgatory to report on what he sees there, and is given the soul of Roman poet Virgil (a man who was in hell because he had the misfortune to live and die before the mission of Christ) as his tour guide.

* NewMediaAreEvil: The impetus for Francesca and Paolo's lust was a love poem about Sir Lancelot. Such CourtlyLove poems were growing in popularity at the time and the subject of Myth/ArthurianLegend was just becoming known in Italy, so it sounds a bit like MoralGuardians blaming crimes on rock and roll.

* SympatheticAdulterer: Francesca gives a powerful and romantic lament of her damnation that moves Dante to faint in sympathy. As the first of the damned to speak, this sets up the conflict Dante goes through about the justice of damnation.

* DoNotTauntCthulhu: At the beginning of Canto 25, he makes "the fig" (an obscene gesture roughly equivalent to FlippingTheBird) at God. Even the demonic snakes in the bolgia are [[EvenEvilHasStandards so appalled by this they immediately bite him.]]

* SelfInflictedHell: His flapping his wings in a futile attempt is what keeps Cocytus frozen. If he just stopped, it would eventually thaw and he could escape.

* AuthorAppeal: Dante of course picks the most prominent soul in Purgatory to be a fellow poet, and one who shared his passion for the works of Virgil.

* MoneyDumb: The reason Statius has to spend 500 years in Purgatory's terrace for greed is because he was terrible at spending his money. He wasted it all, despite knowing better from the example of Virgil, and he only repented of his habits late in life.

* TurnToReligion: Reading the life-shaping works of Virgil not only gives Statius the inspiration for his great works, but also inspires him to convert to Christianity.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Statius is released from Purgatory as Dante passes through, so he joins Dante on his ascent to Heaven. Problem is, the last place Statius appears is at the top of Purgatory, so the reader is left to assume that Statius makes it to Paradise and to speculate where in Paradise he eternally resides.

Creator/ThomasAquinas is a 13th century Dominican theologian who appears to Dante on the Sun amongst the other wise saints. He is one of the most talkative souls Dante encounters, describing the life of St. Francis at length.

* CosmicMotifs: St. Thomas' dialogue and the descriptions of his appearance are all replete with comparisons to constellations and the Sun. Not unusual, since light is associated with philosophy and, well, enlightenment.

* {{Telepathy}}: Fittingly for someone associated with knowledge, Aquinas is one of the saints who reads Dante's thoughts the most. He answers Dante's questions about Solomon before the man can even ask them aloud.

* ADeadlyAffair: Paolo and Francesca were reading a love poem about Sir Lancelot, seeing it as an innocent pastime, but the poem evidently stirred them into having an affair together. Eventually, Giovanni found them in flagrante delicto and killed them both.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: The main thrust of Francesca's lament is that she had no control over her affair since she did so out of love.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: Unlike many of the souls Dante meets, Francesca and Paolo are mainly well-known for their famous and shocking life stories rather than their socio-political significance or their relationship with Dante. It seems the story was too juicy for Dante not to include in his masterpiece.
* SympatheticAdulterer: Francesca gives a powerful and romantic lament of her damnation that moves Dante to faint in sympathy. As the first of the evil damned to speak, this sets up the conflict Dante goes through about the justice of damnation.

!!The Repentent

!!The Saved

One of the most beautiful and virtuous women to ever live, who in death is enthroned by the side of the Virgin Mary in Heaven. She guides Dante through Paradise, though not after berating Dante for forgetting her. In real life, she was a woman who died in 1290 at age 25 and inspired many of Dante's poems in the ''Literature/VitaNuova''.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Fra Catalano demonstrates himself to be this. When the poets ask for a way to climb out of the bowge, he says they can climb up a rock, which used to be a bridge. Virgil expresses that Belzecu has duped him, and Fra Catalano takes this as an opportunity to mock him, quipping: "I heard the devil's iniquities much canvassed at Bologna; among the rest 'twas said, he was a liar and father of lies."

** This poor judgement is clear as soon as the Second Circle of Hell, when Dante is so moved by a couple of incestuous adulterers that he faints.

* BrotherSisterIncest: She may try to downplay it, but by having an affair with her husband's brother, Francesca not only damned herself for adultery but also for incest. Sure, they're in-laws, but if there's anything to take from the poem dismissively describing them as "the two relations," it's that Hell wouldn't see the distinction, let alone care about it.
* LoveMakesYouEvil: The main thrust of Francesca's lament is that she had no control over her incestuous affair since she did so out of love.

* RippedFromTheHeadlines: Unlike many of the souls Dante meets, Francesca and Paolo are mainly well-known for their famous and shocking life stories rather than their socio-political significance or their relationship with Dante. It seems the story was just too juicy for Dante not to include in his masterpiece.

* TheHeretic: Why he's in Hell to begin with.

* DoNotTauntCthulhu: A variant. At the beginning of Canto 25, he makes "the fig" (an obscene gesture roughly equivalent to FlippingTheBird) at God. Even the demonic snakes in the bolgia are [[EvenEvilHasStandards so appalled by this they immediately bite him.]]

* FlatCharacter: Anteus and Nimrod are the only giants given any characterization. The rest just kind of stand there and look scary.

* MultipleHeadCase: He has three heads, each of which chews on one of the three worst people who ever lived.

My will and my desire were turned by love,\

* BarefootSage: He becomes Dante's guide and mentor, and is usually depicted barefoot in the illustrations ({{Downplayed}}, since [[UndeadBarefooter other afterlife inhabitants are usually drawn shoeless as well]]).
* BrokenPedestal: {{Downplayed}}. Dante never loses his admiration for Virgil, but he regards him as a walking legend early on. This idolization mellows into light respect come Canto 9, where Virgil walks straight into a dead end, implies their situation is hopeless.

* CastsNoShadow: Virgil has no shadow, since light passes right through ghosts just everything else does. This causes some anguish when Dante sees only his shadow on the climb up Mount Purgatory, and turns back expecting Virgil to be gone.
* GuileHero: Virgil gets by through Hell in one piece by flattering most menaces he comes across, while subtly threatening them with God's wrath. This helps him get the help of undead ferrymen, centaurs, flying scorpions, and giants on the journey, but once he ends up in Purgatory, the people have too much integrity for schmoozing to really help them out.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: When dealing with non-humans, Virgil has no experience to go off of, so he ends up trusting demons to hold up their end of a bargain, on at least two occasions. Fra Catalano mocks Virgil by alluding to John 8:44, that the devil is a liar and father of lies.

* PutOnABus: Virgil leaves Dante just before the end of ''Purgatorio'' because as one of the Damned, he cannot enter Heaven. He spends the rest of the Poem back in the first circle of Hell, although Dante thinks of him during later discussions of God's justice.

** When the story needs to make a statement about how weird Virgil is, light passes right through him, and he can't make a shadow. In Canto IX, though, we learn his hands are opaque enough to save Dante from seeing Medusa. Maybe he only his hands have shadows?

* TheBrute: He committed many violent crimes in life. As such, Dante is surprised to find him in the section of the Eight Circle for thieves rather than the violent.

* SympathyForTheDevil: Although Dante has nothing but contempt for Satan and his minions, he often shows feelings of empathy, pity, and even respect for several sinners he meets in Hell. Virgil sometimes tells Dante off for this. After all, if an omniscient and all-loving God has decided they're unworthy of pity, why should anyone go against divine will and feel sorry for them?

* BrokenPedestal: {{Downplayed}}. Dante regards Virgil as a walking legend early on. This idolization mellows into light respect come Canto 9, where Virgil walks straight into a dead end, implies their situation is hopeless.

* BrokenPedestal: Dante regards Virgil as a walking legend early on. This idolization mellows into light respect come Canto 9, where Virgil walks straight into a dead end, implies their situation is hopeless, and "reassures" the protagonist by explaining how he once helped an evil sorceress raise a ghost from the darkest pit of the Inferno.