first circle of Dante's Inferno

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The first circle of Dante's Inferno, known as Limbo, is the mildest realm of Hell where virtuous non-Christians and unbaptized souls dwell without torment but deprived of the vision of God.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form Occurrences
First Circle of Dante's Inferno 0

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Circle of Hell
Fictional location
Religious afterlife realm in literature
affectedBy Harrowing of Hell (Christ’s descent removing Old Testament righteous) NERFINISHED
alsoKnownAs Limbo NERFINISHED
appearsIn Divine Comedy NERFINISHED
Inferno (poem) NERFINISHED
associatedWith Cantos 4 of Inferno NERFINISHED
contains castle of the noble spirits
seven-walled fortress symbolizing moral virtues or liberal arts
createdBy Dante Alighieri NERFINISHED
culturalContext medieval Catholic worldview
excludes those guilty of personal mortal sin
follows Gate of Hell in Dante's Inferno NERFINISHED
governedByDoctrine medieval Christian theology of Limbo
hasAtmosphere sorrowful yet dignified
without cries of pain
hasMoralQuality least severe circle of Hell
hasNameInItalian Limbo NERFINISHED
hasPhysicalDescription green meadow illuminated by a luminous hemisphere
noble castle with seven walls and seven gates
hasPunishmentType eternal longing without hope
privation of the vision of God
hasTheologicalStatus state of eternal loss rather than active punishment
includes figures from ancient Greece and Rome
figures from the Hebrew Bible according to Dante before Christ's Harrowing of Hell
inhabitedBy heroes of classical mythology
philosophers of antiquity
poets of antiquity
unbaptized infants
unbaptized righteous people
virtuous pagans
languageOfWork Italian
literaryFunction to contrast human virtue with the necessity of baptism
to honor pre-Christian and non-Christian wisdom
notCharacterizedBy physical torment
sensory torture
partOf Hell in the Divine Comedy NERFINISHED
Inferno (first cantica of the Divine Comedy) NERFINISHED
positionInSequence 1
precedes Second Circle of Dante's Inferno NERFINISHED
symbolizes limits of philosophy without revelation
natural human reason without divine grace
virtuous life without Christian faith
timeOfCreation early 14th century literary depiction
visitedBy Dante (character) NERFINISHED
Virgil (guide) NERFINISHED

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

The First Circle titleRefersTo first circle of Dante's Inferno