Dante's Divine Comedy: Inferno Canto 2

In Canto 2, Dante relates that as he and Virgil approach the mouth of Hell, his mind turns to the journey ahead and he feels the grip of dread. He can recall only two men who ever ventured into the afterlife and returned: the Apostle Paul, and Aeneas, who travels through Hell in Virgil’s Aeneid. Dante considers himself less worthy than these two and fears that he may not survive his passage through Hell.
Virgil reassures him by telling him that a woman in Heaven took pity upon Dante when he was lost and came down to Hell to ask Virgil to help him. This woman was Beatrice, Dante’s departed love. She had learned of Dante’s plight from St. Lucia, also in Heaven, who in turn heard about the poor poet from an unnamed lady, most likely the Virgin Mary. Thus, a trio of holy women watches over Dante from above.