Circle One: Limbo, The Virtuous Pagans

Thunder is what woke me form my fainting spell. I jumped up quickly, as if feeling the need to defend myself from whatever could have found me. Not only was I in bad shape, but even Virgil looked pale at the thought of going forward. How was I supposed to go on, a mere human, if Virgil was terrified?

Virgil claimed that his face grew pale for those that we were about to encounter. Virgil didn't, however, seem like one to pity anyone. In addition, looking back on the journey, Virgil was the one who told me that feeling pity for others in Hell wasn't right. If one felt pity, it was like saying that God's ultimate judgement was wrong.

In this new area I was met with sounds of sighing rather than pain, which I was thankful for. Virgil explained that these people were the sinless. They weren't able to be Baptized because they were born before Christ. Virgil was from this area of Hell. Their punishment was that they had no hope.

Now, I too, was feeling my face grow pale out of pity. Why should someone suffer in Hell, even without physical pain, simply because they weren't able to be Baptized? They could be just as close to Christ and God or even more so than someone who was Baptized.

Virgil's friends soon came to greet him. I must admit that I almost swooned again when I saw who they were. Homer came first, then Horace, followed by Ovid, and then Lucan. After speaking together for a bit, these men welcomed me graciously. I saw Virgil give me an approving smile. Dare I say, Hell was enjoyable at this moment. I felt included as their sixth member. I was accepted into an elite group and felt inspired once again. I can't even write all of the names of the numerous noble men I saw after this. Philosophers and scientists alike met me with welcome handshakes.

As Virgil and I left these men, I thought about how this would be the last piece of light I would see in Hell. The rest would only get darker.