The Balance Between Talent and Virtue in Dante's "Inferno"

To achieve true immortality in heaven, one must find a balance between using one's God-given talents and leading a virtuous life. Through the first twenty five Cantos, Dante is determined to focus only on his poetry and become the greatest poet of his time. However, he gains an insight (through his conscience) that one must moderate talent by virtue. In other words, he must also live a morally good life along with writing poetry to …

…of the Commedia. From here, we know that nothing can break Dante's determination to seek a virtuous life through use of his God-given talents. He has seen, first hand, how leading a life devoted only to talent can cause one to end up in hell for eternity. He now knows that one must not solely focus on talent or virtue, but only in a moderation of the two can one achieve eternal bliss in heaven.