Commentary Inf X 55-57

We cannot understand the pathos of this little moment in the larger scene until we learn or realize that Cavalcante, seeing Dante before him and (rightly) believing him to be in hell for special and favorable reasons, surely a reward for his intellectual prowess, naturally believes that his son Guido, Dante's superior in station (as Farinata believed he was) and ability, ought to have been included by whoever arranged this visit.