Sleeping, eating, walking and disputing?

Sleeping, eating, walking and disputing?16 The portrayal of the ancient philosophers in Limbo seems a very unorthodox act on Dante's part, as he displays a proto-Renaissance admiration for a variety of forms of classical virtue. But the situation seems even odder when we go down the cast of characters in Limbo and discover that several important Muslim figures are present. Here Dante is really stretching the idea of virtuous pagans.

It is one thing to put ancient Greeks, Trojans, and Romans in Limbo (though Dante appears to be the only Christian who did so). All these figures were born before the coming of Christ, and hence had no opportunity to receive the**[End Page 143]** Christian revelation, be baptized, and hence be saved. But what are Muslims doing in Dante's Limbo? By any definition of Limbo, including the one Dante has Virgil offer (iv, 37), Muslims do not belong.

They were born well into the Christian era, and thus had the opportunity to become Christians. They cannot offer a geographic excuse, like the man born on the banks of the Indus River Dante mentions in…