In Dante's Inferno, Virgil guides Dante through Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory. Virgil was a pagan, but what had he done in his life that caused Dante to respect him?

Tabby Tom

Virgil's fourth Eclogue was thought by many medieval scholars to contain a prophecy of the birth of Christ: 'Iam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia {regna;} Iam nova progenies caelo demittitur alto. Tu modo nascenti puero, quo ferrea primum Desinet et toto surget gens aurea mundo, Casta fave Lucina.' For a translation and further commentary see, for example: http://www.literatureclassics.com/essays/824 This poem has often been called the 'Messianic Eclogue', and Dante and many of his contemporaries reckoned that it made Virgil a kind of honorary Christian. Apr 29 03, 9:21 PM