“I was among those biding in suspense, when hailed me a dame, so blessed and so fair, I begged her to command my obedience..."
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As the two poets approach the entrance to Hell (fittingly on Good Friday), Dante does not feel worthy to make the journey, but Virgil relates how Dante’s beloved Beatrice, now in heaven, instructed Virgil to help Dante rediscover the ‘right path’ (St. Lucia messenger of the Virgin Mary and patron saint of eyesight, here represents Divine Light) Virgil inspires courage despite Dante’s two main concerns: the papacy and the empire (represented by St. Paul and Aeneas hero of Aeneid). Through Inferno Dante turns to the classical muses, to genius and to memory. Rachel an Old Testament figure represents contemplative life.