Dante, Inferno
The Prophesied Greyhound
Virgil predicts that a greyhound will destroy the beast that blocks Dante’s ascent. This coming figure is sustained by love, wisdom and virtue rather than by earthly wealth or base metals. The prophecy connects its arrival with safety for Italy and a pursuit that drives the she-wolf back to Hell. The canto does not plainly name a contemporary person as the greyhound.
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In the sources
The encounter
LiteraryVirgil predicts that a greyhound will destroy the beast that blocks Dante’s ascent. This coming figure is sustained by love, wisdom and virtue rather than by earthly wealth or base metals.
Further detail
LiteraryThe prophecy connects its arrival with safety for Italy and a pursuit that drives the she-wolf back to Hell. The canto does not plainly name a contemporary person as the greyhound.
Context & interpretation
This entry follows the exact supplied Thompson & Thomas edition of H. F. Cary’s translation. Figures, places and events belong to Dante’s literary vision; their assigned roles are distinguished from historical biography, other classical traditions and independently established descriptions of an afterlife.
Original passages
Source 1
Dante's Inferno
Until that greyhound come, who shall destroy Her with sharp pain. He will not life support By earth nor its base metals, but by love, Wisdom,Open this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Dante’s Inferno, Cary translation; active reader leaf 13
Passage read against the exact edition’s extracted canto text; whitespace normalised and original-leaf mapping checked. Plate art separately visually inspected.
- Edition
- IMJ-0082-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0082-E001-P0013
- Original scan leaf
- 20
- Recorded leaf number
- 20
- Current Reader position
- 13
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Dante's Inferno
Wisdom, and virtue ; and his land shall be The land 'twixt either Feltro. In his might Shall safety to Italia's plains arise, For whose realm,Open this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Dante’s Inferno, Cary translation; active reader leaf 13
Passage read against the exact edition’s extracted canto text; whitespace normalised and original-leaf mapping checked. Plate art separately visually inspected.
- Edition
- IMJ-0082-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0082-E001-P0013
- Original scan leaf
- 20
- Recorded leaf number
- 20
- Current Reader position
- 13
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed