Dante wants two things: immortality in art and in heaven. But he realizes that he might not have the necessary ability to write his Commedia and still go to heaven. Despite his criticism of those figures who attempt the impossible, Dante may be one of them. He may be blasphemous, fraudulent, harmful, or simply wrong. He is contemptuous of those who dare exceed their limits because these characters prove ultimately destructive. Arachne hurts herself, Daedalus hurts his son, and Phaethon destroys much of the world. But Dante carefully distances himself from these figures. He hopes, and most likely believes, that his writing of the Commedia is divinely sanctio