Dante, Inferno
Ovid in Dante’s Limbo
The guide identifies Naso as the third poet approaching with Homer, Horace and Lucan. In this naming, Ovid belongs to the honoured classical company within the first circle. After a short exchange, the poets greet Dante and make him one of their band. The canto presents a shared literary dignity without claiming that the members have entered the blessed realm.
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In the sources
The encounter
LiteraryThe guide identifies Naso as the third poet approaching with Homer, Horace and Lucan. In this naming, Ovid belongs to the honoured classical company within the first circle.
Further detail
LiteraryAfter a short exchange, the poets greet Dante and make him one of their band. The canto presents a shared literary dignity without claiming that the members have entered the blessed realm.
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
The third is Naso; Lucan is the last. Because they all that appellation own, With which the voice singly accosted me, Honoring they greet me thus,Open this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Dante’s Inferno, Cary translation; active reader leaf 33
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-P0033
- Original scan leaf
- 40
- Recorded leaf number
- 40
- Current Reader position
- 33
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Dante's Inferno
They gave me, for they made me of their tribe ; And I was sixth amid so learn'd a band.Open this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Dante’s Inferno, Cary translation; active reader leaf 33
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-P0033
- Original scan leaf
- 40
- Recorded leaf number
- 40
- Current Reader position
- 33
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Illustrations
Continue exploring
Literary & Visionary Figures ↗
Homer in the Company of Poets
The supreme poet who leads the classical company greeting Virgil in Limbo.
Shared source pageHorace in Dante’s Limbo
The poet named Flaccus, praised for satire within the classical company.
Shared source pageLucan in Dante’s Limbo
The last poet named in the classical company that welcomes Dante as a sixth member.
Shared source pageLimbo in the First Circle
The first circle, where worthy souls endure desire without hope of blessedness.