The Inferno from The Divine Comedy characters

Appears from the start

The poem's living traveler and first-person narrator, lost in a dark wood midway through life after straying from the right path. He is frightened by the dangers before him and depends on guidance to begin a journey through the realm of the dead.

Appears from the start

The ancient Roman poet who appears when Dante is trapped below a hill by three beasts. Sent to help him, Virgil offers to guide Dante through Hell and onward as far as his own powers allow.

First appears in chapter 2

A blessed woman who knew Dante in mortal life and is concerned for his spiritual danger. She descends to Limbo to ask Virgil to rescue him, setting the journey in motion.

First appears in chapter 3

The harsh boatman who carries souls across the Acheron into Hell. He objects to taking a living passenger until Virgil tells him that the journey has higher authorization.

First appears in chapter 5

The infernal judge stationed at the entrance to the circle of lust. He hears each soul's confession and signals the depth to which it must descend by winding his tail around himself.

First appears in chapter 5

A woman from Ravenna carried forever in the storm of the lustful beside Paolo. She tells Dante how their love began and how it led to both lovers being killed.

First appears in chapter 10

A prominent Florentine political leader among the heretics confined in burning tombs. Proud and commanding even in punishment, he recognizes Dante as a fellow Tuscan and questions him about Florence's factions.

First appears in chapter 13

A former imperial minister encountered among the souls of suicides, who have become thorn trees. He asks Dante to restore his reputation and explains the despair that followed his fall from favor.

First appears in chapter 15

Dante's former teacher, encountered running beneath a rain of fire in the circle of violence. Dante greets him with affection and respect, and Brunetto speaks about Dante's prospects and the hostility he will face.

First appears in chapter 17

A creature with an honest-looking human face, a reptilian body, hairy paws, and a venomous tail. He represents fraud and arrives to carry Dante and Virgil down into the eighth circle.

First appears in chapter 21

The leader of a band of demons who police the pitch in which corrupt public officials are submerged. He supplies Dante and Virgil with an escort while giving them directions onward.

Also known as Odysseus

First appears in chapter 26

The Greek hero encountered as a flame among the fraudulent counselors, paired in punishment with Diomedes. At Virgil's request he recounts the final voyage driven by his hunger for knowledge and experience.

First appears in chapter 33

A Pisan noble frozen in the circle of treachery, where Dante finds him gnawing the head of Archbishop Ruggieri. He pauses to explain the betrayal and imprisonment that produced his hatred.

Also known as Dis

First appears in chapter 34

The enormous fallen angel fixed at the lowest point of Hell. His three faces weep as six wings beat the air, creating the frozen conditions of the ninth circle, and each mouth holds one of history's supreme traitors.