Dante is initially impressed by the appearance of Virgil. However, he quickly begins second guessing himself.

In Virgil’s Aenead, the hero Aeneas also travels to the Underworld while still alive, and Dante wonders how he could possibly be the measure of such a man.

But I? Who grants my coming?  And for what?
  I'm not Aeneas, I'm not Saint Paul!  No one--
  Not I myself -- could think me worthy, so
If I should enter on this quest, I fear
  it would be mad and foolish.  But you're wise,
  you understand more than my words can say."
And as a man who unwills what he wills,
  changing his plan for every little thought,
  till he withdraws from any kind of start,
So did I turn my mind on that dark verge,
  for thinking ate away the enterprise
  so prompt in the beginning to set forth.

Virgil’s response is chiding. He recounts to Dante that he was visited by Beatrice in Limbo, who implored him to go and guide Dante to the her in Heaven. (For those who are curious, in Christian theology, Limbo was the “in between” place virtuous non-Christian souls ended up. Especially those that were never exposed to Christ’s teaching.) Therefore, Dante should stop all of this excuse making and accept the task at hand. He is as capable as anyone to take on the enterprise. Dante’s spirits are regenerated by the revelation that the angel Beatrice was behind his rescue and he sets out with Virgil for Hell.

This canto seems simple enough, but it is a situation I think any who wishes to take on a task of great risk or effort will face at the start. Am I worthy? Am I capable? Do I want to take on such a commitment only to discover I cannot complete it? But most importantly, what makes me so special to do something most people never attempt?

In these sorts of ways, we fritter away the initial aspiration until all momentum is gone. And this is where very often it is some outside source of motivation or inspiration that helps us regain our resolve and go forth regardless of our doubts and uncertainties. And the truth is that most of the doubts about worthiness or capability in the spiritual realm are simply excuses the ordinary heart throws up to block any attempt to take on an extraordinary life. Anyone who is capable of the aspiration to make an effort is also capable of making the effort. Making the effort means that there is some chance of success. And when it comes to traveling from point A to point B, whether physically or spiritually, it is really mainly a matter of putting one foot in front of the other and being persistent. Eventually, some measurable distance will be crossed and one can look back and realize they indeed can move themselves further.

And, again, what is it that makes a person an “extraordinary” person, like Aeneas or Homer or Virgil? Is there some innate difference between ordinary people and great people? Surely, there may be talents and circumstances that vary between one and another person, but I suspect that the primary difference is the ability to form the aspiration to do a great thing in the first place.

In some branches of Buddhism, there is a theory of a motive power lying in the act of aspiration, which is the thing that makes the entire endeavor possible, however long and toilsome it may be. It is like a seed planted into the fertile soil of the mind that then sprouts and grows. The sprout may die early on because it lacks water or sunlight, yes. But if the seed were never planted, there couldn’t be anything to grow in the first place. And so the aspiration is the “first cause.” The journey may take eons (literally) and thousands of lifetimes to complete. But so long as the plant that grew from the seed of the first aspiration lives, the task will be accomplished. And so, in these teachings, the very act of making a sincere vow is treated as a powerful thing. “I shall not rest until all living things are happy and content!” “I shall not rest until no being here is hungry!” Etc. The merit of simply being capable of these sorts of vows — sincere commitments — is itself quite extraordinary. If that much can be done, there is not telling what a person is liable to do.

So, essentially, the very fact that Dante can conceive of comparing himself to Aeneas or any other mythic adventurer means that he is the sort of person who can become mythic himself. But first, he needs to stop being afraid of that possibility.