Dante uses this phrase to describe his fear of the lion. The fact that the lion is "rabid with hunger" further demonstrates how violent it is. John Demaray states that "the growing awareness that the actions of Dante in the narrative are in part a figural re-enactment of Biblical events", these beasts were referenced from the bible and therefore characterizes different types of sin. The lion, she-wolf, and leopard represent barriers that keeps Dante from reaching "Saint Peter's Gate which is the way into heaven.

Demaray, John G. “The Pilgrim Texts and Dante’s Three Beasts: Inferno, I.” Italica, vol. 46, no. 3, 1969, pp. 233–41. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/477804. Accessed 11 Mar. 2023.