ths arise, / And steaming sulphur, that infects the skiesö (Book 6). Aeneas desires this trip to the underworld in the hopes that he will be reunited with his father, from whom he feels he needs counseling before going into battle. The tripe to purgatory is fashioned in a dream-like manner by Virgil. We are told that of the many inhabitants in purgatory, one is sleep, ôJust in the gate and in the jaws of hell, / Revengeful Cares and sullen Sorrows dwell, / And pale Diseases, and repining Age, / Want, Fear, and FamineÆs unresisted rage; / Here Toils, and Death, and DeathÆs half-brother, Sleepö (Virgil Book 6). This is significant because Aeneas will leave the underworld through the gate of dreams. His exit represents his newfound awareness of how to live a life that will admit one to the Elysian Fields for cleansing and rebirth.
The message of VirgilÆs purgatory and AeneasÆ trip there is to demonstrate to the knowledgeable Roman that by living a rational and virtuous life one would be saved, permitted to the Elysian Fields and reborn. Shiffman argues that the entire structure and action of VirgilÆs purgatory are designed to exhibit the promise of being saved to Romans who could harness their desires through disciplined co
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