Canti 27-34

Quote #1
1) “Because you try to penetrate the shadows,’ he said to me, ‘from much too far away, you will confuse the truth with your imagination. You will see clearly when you reach that place how much the eyes may be deceived by distance, and so, just push ahead a little more.”

Then lovingly, he took my by the hand and said: “But now, before we go father, to prepare you for the truth that could seem strange…”

“As, when the fog begins to thin and clear, the sight can slowly make out more and more what is hidden in the mist that clogs the air, so, as I pierced the thick and murky air, approaching slowly, closer to the well, confusion cleared and my fear took on more shape.” (Canto 31, lines 22-39).


I felt that these quotations were important to our comprehension of Dante’s Inferno because the overall meaning of Virgil’s warning and the scene that ensues is critical to Dante’s personal journey, and our own. Virgil warns him not to believe what he sees too hurriedly, that the shadows and distance are masking what truly lies in the distance. This is important in daily life as well; we cannot jump to conclusions and make assumptions based on what we see as first glance. Perhaps Virgil also is implying that we need to search beneath surface level, and take time to investigate in order to find the truth in life. What Dante thought were towers were actually giants that were terrifying in hell. Virgil cautions Dante to use reason and logic and his senses on the journey to divinity. Myth teaches us lessons that ring true and important today. Today our society so highly values looks and surface features that many times we do not divulge beneath the surface, and consequently do not learn the truth before we pass judgment or make decisions based solely on “what we see.” In order to achieve divinity and be with God in paradise, we must not judge others based on how they look or how we perceive them to be through the “fog and mist and shadows,” we need to use the light of reason and truth to govern our own actions and interactions with other people so that we may live a better life.