Virgil's Power of Words

One thing I realized when reading up to Canto VIII of Inferno is that some guard or boatman appears at the entrance of each circle and Virgil repels or moves on with the power of his words.

In Canto III, the infernal boatman of the River Acheron, Charon, rejects Dante and says that "a lighter skiff" than his own must carry the living poet. Then Virgil says through circumlocution that Dante's journey is the will of God. Charon becomes silent and allows the poets to pass.

In Canto V, Minòs, the bestial judge of Dante's underworld, warns Dante of entering. Virgil again says that the journey is willed in Heaven by God, who has the power to accomplish whatever He wills.

In Canto VI, the travelers are faced with Cerberus, the three-headed, doglike beast who guards the Gluttons. Virgil pacifies him with fistfuls of mud.

In Canto VII, Plutus, the god of wealth, obstructs Dante, but again, Virgil's power of words wins:

"Be quiet, cursèd wolf of Hell:

feed on the burning bile that rots your guts.

This journey to the depths does have a reason,

for it is willed on high, where Michael wrought

a just revenge for the bold assault on God."

Plutus collapses, deflates, and falls to the ground.

Although Virgil's powerful words allow the poets' journey to continue in numerous instances, they face a big challenge in front of the City of Dis, where the fallen angels do not open the gate, and it will be interesting to see how Virgil reacts in the next cantos.