The Canto starts off as a conversation between Dante and Virgil that has begun to last all day. The sun is setting and that causes Dante to prepare for the upcoming night. This giving him the virtue, Dante invokes the Muses help. Being afraid and doubtful of his ability he enlists the help of Virgil in a long way why he was the one chosen for the journey. He begins to compare himself to Aeneas, from Virgil’s Aeneid and also St. Peter both traveled in the Underworld and Heaven. Dante begins to claim that he is not as worthy as these figures and begins to ask the question any average person would ask “Why Me”. Virgil understands that his “soul has been assailed by cowardice” and explains why he, Virgil, was chosen for the assigned task of calming
