In Inferno IV, Dante introduces the first circle of Hell, Limbo. It is a place of condemn but not physical torment. The people there couldn’t believe in the true religion (Christianism) because of their historical circumstances: they couldn’t be saved because they were born and died before the upcoming of the saver, Jesus. This is the place of babies who died before they were baptized, also. Both of these groups haven’t sin so they don’t deserve punishment, but they haven’t been introduced to the true religion, so they can’t be saved either. Dante establishes that the people there know they lack something but don’t know what, so “they have no hope but live in longing”.
Dante places in his Limbo the souls of great pagans who lived lives of extreme virtue and accomplishment. This differs from traditional conception of Limbo at the time. Theologians believed that only babies could be found there in 1300 because Christ took away with Him all the Biblical worthies between His death and resurrection. So, in Dante’s Limbo there are pagans, and he places them in a special place, a noble castle “within which is a beautiful meadow where the honorable souls are assembled”. He lists the names there, men and women of great virtue that summons cultural history, such as Homer, who by his work saved his cultural and historical legacy.
