He Descended Into Hell
"Tell me, my master, tell me, lord," I then began because I wanted to be certain of that belief which vanquishes all errors, "did any ever go—by his own merit or others'—from this place toward blessedness?" And he, who understood my covert speech, replied: "I was new-entered on this state when I beheld a Great Lord enter here; the crown he wore, a sign of victory. He carried off the shade of our first father, of his son Abel, and the shade of Noah, of Moses, the obedient legislator, of father Abraham, David the king, of Israel, his father, and his sons, and Rachel, she for whom he worked so long, and many others—He made them blessed; and I should have you know that, before them, there were no human souls that had been saved." —Virgil responds to Dante about the souls in the realm of the dead Divine Comedy, Inferno, Canto IV The Harrowing of Hell, as the ancient Christians call