Dante and Virgil

The friendship and Dante and Virgil throughout the Commedia is apparent at several different points and definitively at the end of the Purgatorio at the point when Dante must bid farewell to Virgil, his friend. A few remarks made on the part of Dante and Virgil in regards to their friendship and friendship in general are:

• Canto XVII of the Inferno when Dante and Virgil ride Geryon to descend: "No sooner had I settled where he placed me than he, my stay, my comfort, and my courage in other perils, gathered me and embraced me."
• Canto XXXI of the Inferno when Dante and Virgil are being set down into Cocytus by the giant: "Virgil... called to me: 'Come and I will hold you safe.' And he took me in his arms and held me clasped."
• Canto XIV of the Purgatorio when Dante hears the Rein of Envy and becomes frightened: "Whereat, to cower in Virgil's arms." (In Canto XV, Dante uses even more clear language referring to Virgil as his "Sweet Friend."
• Canto XXII of the Purgatorio when Virgil asks Statius to reply to his question as a friend would: "and if I presume too much in slackening the rein this way, forgive me as a friend would and answer me as such." (Statius returns the sentiment later on.)
• One last example is in Canto XXX when Dante looks for Virgil and cannot find him: "He had gone. Virgil had gone. Virgil, the gentle Father to whom I gave my soul for its salvation!"

Please note that the above examples are not exhaustive.

One excellent image of friendship is given in the Purgatorio in level of the repentant wrathful. The sinners must progress through this level through a thick smoke which prevents them from seeing. They can, however, stick together by hearing one another speak. The smoke, in other words, forces them to speak to one another in order to advance and thus it rebuilds their community as they, literally, help one another to Heaven. How this can be taken allegorically for life on earth! We see only with eyes of faith; we see with eyes that can also become clouded because of concupiscence. We can, however, rely on our friends to help us through those times when our faith is clouded and it becomes hard to believe. Even Christ experienced a darkness of soul when on the cross he expressed: "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" It is thus standard in the life of faith to deal with doubts. If doubts, then, are normative, then so are friends who can help us through them toward Christ.

I wish to dwell on the last example above since it alludes to the real purpose, the final cause of friendship. Though Dante expresses, here, an inordinate desire to remain in a state of human reasoning with his friend, he states clearly why friendship itself must exist. Since God has created us as social creatures with a need for social interaction and support, he has given us a means toward salvation in our friends. The purpose of marriage is the effort directed from one spouse to the other in an attempt to help the other on their way to salvation. Now, in marriage, the foundation must be a clear, intimate, understanding friendship. This foundation is the true final cause of marriage as it is in any other friendship that men sustain. The purpose of friendship, then, is the same as marriage: to help the other get to Heaven. Dante simply went wrong, in this instance, when he reached heaven (the goal of his friendship with Virgil), he was not yet ready to let go of Virgil. Virgil had carried him to the gate of Heaven where he was not allowed to go. From then on, the friendship had to end and give way to the greater friendship of Christ in which Dante would enjoy the Beatific Vision.