Virgil not only exerts an influence on Dante as a Dante-like character and in terms of the poem, but is also (perhaps even more importantly) a incredible inspiration for Dante as a fellow poet. It seems clear that there are many similarities between the Aeneid and the Divine Comedy: what may at first seem undefined is the importance of these similarities. Virgil's Aeneid is intimately intertwined with Dante's Divine Comedy as an entire poetic work with similar themes, and also as an integral reference for specific images. When “Dante” talks to “Virgil” towards the beginning of the Inferno, he understands that he is not yet like Aeneas and Paul (Dante 1.2.32). He says that, unlike these two travelers, his travels cannot profit others due to the habitual sinful state of his soul. “Dante” briefly explains his reluctance to begin his odyssey, saying, “if I consent to begin this journey, / I fear my undertaking will be wild and empty” (Dante 1.2.34-35). In this section, Dante uses Virgil's characterization of Aeneas to provide a strong contrast to the character "Dante" of the Inferno. According to Dante, Aeneas completes a mission sent from heaven by founding his city, for Rome to eventually become the seat of the Papacy and the Church. In direct opposition to this mentality, at the beginning of the Comedy, “Dante” perceives himself as a man deviated from the True Way; he does not believe that his journey could ever lead to salvation as Aeneas' did. The scene in Paradise in which Cacciaguida speaks to “Dante” explicitly evokes the image of Aeneas and Anchises from the Aeneid (Virgil 6.917-20) using the same thematic elements. In both scenarios, the hero of the epic travels to the afterlife and visits... half of the paper... endlessly praises Virgil (Dante, 1.2.82-87) and then provides proof that he himself is a kind of Virgil. He refers to “Dante” as a sort of Aeneas in the scene with Cacciaguida; therefore, by extension, Dante would also be a kind of Virgil. Dante shows himself as a new (and better) Virgil at the allegorical level in which the Divine Comedy can be seen as every Christian's guide to salvation. Dante uses typology to make this point: for him, Virgil is not just a great poet, but a literary figure who foreshadows or foreshadows another, greater figure. So Dante is, in this way, a fulfillment of Virgil, both as a character and as a poet. Works cited: Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy. Trans. Allen Mandelbaum. New York: Everyman Library, 1995. Print.Virgil. The Aeneid. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Random House, 1990. Print.