Final answer:
The sun symbolizes enlightenment and spiritual awakening for Dante as he emerges from the woods. It represents a transition from ignorance to knowledge and signifies a new beginning or rebirth.
Step-by-step explanation:
When Dante comes out of the woods, the sun symbolizes enlightenment and spiritual awakening. This imagery is often employed in literature to represent the protagonist's movement from darkness (representing ignorance or despair) into light, which typically signifies knowledge, clarity, or a revelation of truth.
This motif is echoed throughout various works that use light to symbolize a transition to greater understanding or to highlight the emergence from a state of unawareness. For example, in the allegory of the cave found in Plato's Republic, light represents knowledge and the uphill journey symbolizes the intellectual growth and enlightenment of the individual.