The divine comedy.inferno

The Divine
Comedy
by Dante Alighieri

Background of the Work
• for the Medieval faithful, Hell was the place of
turmoil, chaos, pain, despair, wretchedness, and a
general bad time.
• the Christians certainly took on these definitions
of Hell, and used that fear aspect to its fullest.

• this early view of Hell is vividly depicted in Dante
Alighieri’s
“ Inferno”, which is probably the most
recognised non-religious depiction of Hell.
• Divine Comedy includes “ Purgatorio” and
“ Paradiso”.

• his work combines the positive values of Christian
thought and chivalric idealism.
• the cosmographical idea on which the poem is
founded is extremely simple. The earth is a fixed
point in the center of the Universe.

• the Northern Hemisphere is inhabited by the race of Adam.
• Purgatory is an isolated mountain in the seas of the
Southern Hemisphere, which was unexplored at the time at
which the poem was written.
• the Nine Heavens extend, one beyond the other, above the
earth on every side, the ninthbeing infinite in extent.

About the Author
• Dante Alighieri was born in 1265 in Florence ,
Italy, to a family of moderate wealth that had a
history of involvement in the complex Florentine
political scene.

• Around 1285, Dante married a woman chosen for him
by his family, although he remained in love with
another woman – Beatrice, whose true historical
identity remains a mystery- and continued to yearn her
after her sudden death in 1290.

• three years later , he published Vita Nouva ( the New
Life ), which describes his tragic love for her.
• around the time of Beatrice’s death, Dante began a
serious study of philosophy and intensified his
political involvement in Florence.

• He held a number of significant public offices at a time of
great political unrest in Italy , and, in 1302, he was exiled for
life by the leaders of the Black Guelphs, the political faction
in power at the time.
• All of Dante’s work on The Comedy later called The Divine
Comedy and consisting of three books: was done after his
exile.

• he completed Inferno, which depicts an allegorical
journey through Hell, around 1314.
• Dante roamed from court to court in Italy, writing
and occasionally lecturing, until his death from a
sudden illness in 1321.

Description of the Characters
• Dante- the author and protagonist of Inferno; the focus of
all actionand interaction with other characters.
• Virgil- Dante’s guide through the depths of Hell. Virgil
lived in the first century B.C in what is now Northern Italy.

• Beatrice- one of the blessed in Heaven, Beatrice
aids Dante’s journey by asking an angel to find
Virgil and bid him guide Dante through Hell.
Dante’s great love.

• Charon- a figure that Dante appropriates from Greek
mythology, Charon is an old man who ferries souls
across the river Acheron to Hell.
• Paolo and Francesca da Rimini- a pair of lovers
condemned to the Second Circle of Hell for an
adulterous love affair.
•

• Lucifer- the prince of Hell, also referred to as
Dis.
- resides at the bottom of the Ninth (and
final ) Circle of Hell, beneath the Earth’s
surface, with his body jutting though the
planet’s center.

• Minos - The king of Crete in Greek mythology, Minos is
portrayed by Dante as a giant beast who stands at the
Second Circle of Hell, deciding where the souls of sinners
shall be sent for torment. Upon hearing a given sinner’s
confession, Minos curls his tail around himself a specific
number of times to represent the circle of Hell to which the
soul shouldbe consigned.

• Pope Boniface VIII - A notoriously corrupt pope who
reigned from 1294 to 1303, Boniface made a concerted
attempt to increase the political might of the Catholic
Church and was thus a political enemy of Dante, who
advocated a separation of church and state.

• Farinata - A Ghibelline political leader from
Dante’s era who resides among the Heretics
in the Sixth Circle of Hell. Farinata is doomed
to continue his intense obsession with
Florentine politics, which he is now helpless to
affect.

• Phlegyas - The boatman who rows Dante and Virgil
across the river Styx.
• Filippo Argenti - A Black Guelph, a political enemy
of Dante who is now in the Fifth Circle of Hell.
Argenti resides among the Wrathful in the river Styx.

• Nessus - The Centaur (half man and half horse) who
carries Dante through the First Ring of the Seventh Circle
of Hell.
• Pier della Vigna - A former advisor to Emperor
Frederick II, della Vigna committed suicide when he fell
into disfavor at the court. He now must spend eternity in
the formof a tree.

• Geryon - The massive serpentine monster
that transports Dante and Virgil from the
Seventh to the Eighth Circle of Hell.

• Malacoda - The leader of the Malabranche, the
demons who guard the Fifth Pouch of the
Eighth Circle of Hell. Malacoda (his name
means “evil tail”) intentionally furnishes Virgil
and Dante with erroneous directions.
•

• Vanni Fucci - A thief punished in the Seventh Pouch
of the Eighth Circle of Hell who prophesies the defeat
of the White Guelphs. A defiant soul, Fucci curses
God and aims an obscene gesture at Him before
Dante journeys on.

• Ulysses - The great hero of the Homeric epics
the Iliadand the Odyssey. Ulysses was a bold and
cunning man who is now imprisoned in the
Eighth Pouch of the Eighth Circle of Hell among
those guilty of Spiritual Theft.

• Count Ugolino - A traitor condemned to the Second
Ring of the Ninth Circle of Hell. Ugolino gnaws on the
head of another damned traitor, Archbishop Ruggieri.
When Ruggieri imprisoned Ugolino and his sons,
denying them food, Ugolino was driven to eat the
corpses of his starved sons.

• Fra Alberigo and Branca d’Oria - Sinners condemned to the
Third Ring of the Ninth Circle of Hell. Fra Alberigo and Branca
d’Oria are unlike the other sinners Dante encounters: their crimes
were deemed to be so great that devils snatched their souls from
their living bodies; thus, their souls reside in Hell while their
bodies live on, now guided and possessedby demons.

Setting of the Story
• Beginning with the plot being set
during Easter week 1300
• in Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso

Canto I
Midway along the journey of our life
I woke to find myself in some dark woods,
for I had wandered off from the straight path.
How hard it is to tell what it was like,
this wood of wilderness, savage and stubborn
(the thought of it brings back all my old
fears),

• in the Middle Ages life was often
thought of as a journey, a pilgrimage,
the goal of which was God and
Heaven; and in the first line of the
Divine Comedy , Dante establishes the
central motif of his poem- it is the
story of man’s pilgrimage to God.
• Born in 1265, Dante was thirty-five
years old, which is one half of man’s
biblical life span of seventy years.

• The spotted leopard-Represents the Fraud ( Canto XVI, 11. 106-
108)
Reigns over the Eight and Ninth Circles where the Fraudulent are
punished. ( Cantos XVII-XXXIV)
• The Lion-Symbolizes all forms of Violence which are punished in
the seventh cicrcle. ( XII – XVII)
• The she-wolf - Represents the different types of Concupisence or
Incontinence which are punished in Circles 2-5 ( Cantos V-VIII)

Canto I, 62-66
While I was moving down to that low place,
my eyes made out a figure coming toward
me
of one grown weak, perhaps from too much
silence.
And when I saw him standing in this
wasteland,
“ Have pity on my soul,” I cried to him,
“whichever you are , shade or living man!”

Canto I, 67-75
“No longer living man, though once I was,”
he said, ”and my parents were from
Lombardy,
both of them were Mantuans by birth.
I was born, though somewhat late, sub Julio,
and lived in Rome when good Augustus
reigned, when still the false and lying gods were
worshipped.
I was a poet and sang of that just a man, son of
Anchises, who sailed off from Troy after the
burning of proud Ilium.

• in the Aeneid Virgil relates the post bellum travels
and deeds of Aeneas ( son of Anchises) who,
destined by the gods, founded on Italian soil the
nation which in the course of time, would become
the Roman Empire.

Canto I, 85
“O light and honor of the other poets, may
my long years of study, and that deep love
that made me search your verses, help me
now!
You are my teacher, the first of all my
authors, and you alone the one from whom
I took the beautiful style that was to bring
me honor…

Reasons why Dante the Poet choses Virgil to be his
guide
• Virgil was a poet and an Italian.
• In the Aeneid is recounted the hero’s descent to Hell.
• Middle Ages, Virgil was considered a prophet, a judgment
stemming from the interpretation of some obscure lines in the
FourthEclogue as foretelling the coming of Christ.

• Just as Virgil, the pagan Roman poet, cannot enter the
Christian Paradise because he lived before the birth of
Christ and lacks knowledge of Christian salvation, so
Reason can only guide the Pilgrim to a certain point, in
order to enter the Paradise, the Pilgrim’s guide must be
Christian Grace or Revelation ( Theology) in the Figure of
Beatrice.

Canto I, 130-136
And I to him: “Poet, I beg of you, in the
name of God, that God you never knew,
save me from this evil place and worse,
lead me there to the place you spoke
about that I may see the gate Saint Peter
guards and those whose anguish you
have told me of.”
Then he moved on, and I moved close
behind him.

Canto II, 10-36
“O poet come to guide me, tell me if you
think my worth sufficient before you trust
me to this arduous road…” “but why am I to
go? Who allows me to? I am not Aeneas, I
am not Paul, neither I nor any man would
think me worthy; and so, if I should
undertake the journey, I fear it might turn
out an act of folly-you are wise, you see
more than my words express.”

• The Virgin Mary took pity on the Pilgrim in his
despair and instructed St. Lucia to him. The Saint
turned to Beatrice because of Dante’s great love for
her and Beatrice in turn went down to Hell, into
Limbo; and asked Virgil to guide her friend.

Canto II, 71-79
…I am Beatrice, who urges you to go; I come
from the place I am longing to return to;
love moved me, as it moves me now to
speak. When I return to stand before my
Lord, often I shall sing your praises to him.’..
And I began, ‘ O Lady Grace, through whom
alone mankind may go beyond all worldly
things contained within the sphere…’

Canto II, 140-143
“Let us start, for both our wills,
joined now are one.
You are my guide, you are my lord
and my teacher.”
These were my words to him and,
when he moved, I entered on that
deep and rugged road.

I saw these words spelled out in somber colors
Inscribed along the ledge above a gate;
“Master,” I said, “these words I see are cruel.”
He answered me, speaking with experience:
“Now here you must leave all distrust behind; let
all your cowardice die on this spot. We are at the
place where earlier I said you could expect to see
the suffering race of souls who lost the good of
intellect.”
Canto III, 10-18

Canto III, 31-39
And I, in the midst of all this circling horror, began,
“Teacher, what are these sounds I hear? What
souls are these so overwhelmed by grief?” and he
to me: “ This wretched state of being is the fate of
those sad souls who lived a life but lived it with no
blame and with no praise. They are mixed with
that repulsive choir of angels neither faithful nor
unfaithful to their God, but undecided in
neutrality.

Canto III, 43-51
And I: “Master, what torments do they suffer that
make such bitterness ring through their screams?”
He answered: “ I will tell you in few words: these
wretches have no hope of truly dying, and this blind
life they lead is so abject it makes them envy every
other fate. The world will not record their having
been there; Heaven’s mercy and its justice turn
from them. Let’s not discuss them; look and pass
them by.”

• the first tormented souls whom the Pilgrim meets are not
in Hell itself but in the
Vestibule leading to it. In a sense they are the most
loathsome sinners of all because in life they performed
neither meritorious nor reprehensible acts. Heaven has
damned them but Hell will not accept them.

Canto III, 72-78
“Master, I would like to know: who are
these people, and what law is this that
makes those souls so eager for the
crossing-as I can see, even in this dim
light?”
And he: “ All this will be made plain to
you as soon as we shall come to stop
awhile upon the sorrowful shore of
Acheron.”

• In the River Acheron, they were greeted by the
infernal boatman Charon, who served as the
boatman of classical mythology who transports
the souls of the dead across the Acheron into
Hades.

Canto III, 100-108
But all those souls there, naked, in despair,
changed color and their teeth began to
chatter at the sound of his announcement of
their doom. They were cursing god, cursing
their mother and father, the human race,
and the time, the place, the seed of their
beginning, and their day of birth. Then all
together, weeping bitterly, they packed
themselves along the wicked shore that
waits for everyman who fears not God.

Canto III, 133-136
Out of the tear-drenched land a wind
arose
which blasted forth into a reddish
light,
knocking my senses out of me
completely,
and I fell as one falls tired into sleep.

• the swoon ( or sleep) as a transitional device is
used again at the end of Canto V. Also in the
opening lines of Canto I where the Pilgrim’s
awaking from sleep serves an introductory
purpose.

Canto IV, 1-4
A heavy clap of thunder! I awoke
from the deep sleep that drugged
my mind-startled, the way one is
when shaken out of sleep.

Canto IV
• The Pilgrim is led by Virgil to the First Circle of Hell,
known as Limbo, where the sad shades of the virtues
non-Christians dwell.
• The souls here, including Virgil, suffer no physical
torment, but they must live, in desire, without hope of
seeing God.

• They are met by the Four Greatest Poets: Homer, Horace,
Ovid and Lucan. As they come closer to the light, the
Pilgrim perceives a splendid castle where the greatest non-
Christian thinkers dwell together with other famous
historical figures. Electra, Aeneas, Caesar, Saladin,
Aristotle, Plato, Orpheus, Cicero, Avicenna and Averroes.

Canto IV, 31-39
Then the good master said, “ You do not ask
what sort of souls are these you see around
you. Now you should know before we go on
farther, they have not sinned. But their great
worth alone was not enough, for they did
not know Baptism which is the gateway to
the faith you follow, and if they came before
the birth of Christ they did not worship God
the way one should; I myself a member of
this group.

• according to the Christian doctrine no one outside the Church (i.e.,
without baptism, the first Sacrament and thus, the “gateway to the
faith”) can be saved.
• the souls suspended in Limbo, were virtuous individuals who had no
knowledge of Christ and His teachings ( through no fault of their own
since the preceded Him) or who, after His coming, died unbaptized.
• they suffer only mental anguish, they have to “live on in desire”
without any hope of beholding Him.

1st Circle: LIMBO
• The First Circle of Hell, virtuous individuals
who had no knowledge of Christ and His
teachings among other historical figures are :

• Lucretia, wife of Collatinus
• Julia, daughter of Julius Caesar and wife of
Pompey
• Marcia, second wife of Cato of Utica
• Cornelia, daughter of Scipio Africanus Major

Diogenes, the Cyric Philosopher who believed that the
only good lies in virtue secured through self-control
and abstinence.
Anaxagoras, a Greek Philosopher of the Ionian school,
his famous students were Pericles and Euripedes
•

• Thales, an early Greek philosopher born at Miletus ( water
is the elemental principle of all things)
• Dioscorides, Greek natural Scientist and Physician of the
first Century A.D.
• Orpheus, mythical Greek poet and musician whose lyrical
talent was such that it moved rocks and trees and tamed
wildbeasts.

• Tully, celebrated Roman Orator, writer and
Philosopher
• Linus, a mythical Greek poet and musician who is
creditedwith inventing the dirge.
• Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, followed the philosophy of the
Stoics in his moral treatises also known as the Moralist.

• Euclid, Greek mathematician, wrote a treatise on geometry (
first codification and exposition of mathematical principles).
• Ptolemy, Greek mathematician, astronomer and geographer.
• Hippocrates, Greek physician, founded the medical
profession and introduced the scientificart of healing.

• Galen, celebrated physician
Avicenna, Arabian philosopher and physician and
a prolific writer.
Averroes, Arabian Scholar, made a commentary
on Aristotle which served as the basis for the work
of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Canto V, 1-6
This way I went, descending from the
first into the second circle, that holds
less space but much more pain-stinging
the soul to wailing.
There stands Minos grotesquely, and he
snarls, examining the guilty entrance; he
judges and dispatches, tail in coils.

Canto V, 7-12
By this I mean that when the evil
soul appears before him, it
confesses all, and he who is the
expert judge of sins sees what place
in Hell the soul belongs to; the times
he wraps his tail around himself
tells just how far the sinner must go
down.

2nd Circle: LUST
• Minos, the bestial judge of Dante’s underworld.
• -son of Zeus and Europa. As King of Crete he was
revered for his wisdom and judicial gifts. For these
qualities, he became chief magistrate of the
underworld, in classical literature.

Canto V, 16-23
“Oh you who come to the place where pain is
host,” Minos spoke out when he caught sight
of me, putting aside the duties of his office, “
be careful how you enter and whom you
trust: it is easy to get in, but don’t get
fooled!”
And my guide to him: “ Why do you keep on
shouting? Do not attempt to stop his fated
journey…”

The punishment consists of being forever whirled
about in a dark, stormy wind.

• Semiramis- the legendary queen of Assyria, who
although renowned for her military conquests and
civic projects fell prey for her passions and became
dissolute to the extent of legalizing lust.

• Dido- ( Aeneid) queen of Carthage, swore
faithfulness to the memory of her dead husband,
Sichaeus. However, when the Trojan survivors of the
war arrived in part, she fell helplessly in love with
their leader, Aeneas,

• and they lived together as man and wife until
the gods reminded Aeneas of his higher destiny:
the founding of Rome, and the Roman Empire.
Immediately set sail for Italy, and Dido,
deserted , committed suicide.

• Tristan- the central figure of numerous medieval
French, German and Italian romances. Sent as a
messenger by his uncle, King Mark of Cornwall, to
obtain Isolt for him in marriage. Tristan became
enamored of her, and she of him.

After Isolt’s marriage to Mark, the lover’s continued their love
affair, and in order to maintain its secrecy, they necessarily
employed many deceits and ruses. Mark growing continuously
more suspicious of their attachment, finally discovered tem
together and ended the incestuous relationship by mortally
wounding Tristan with a lance.

• Francesca- daughter of Guido Vecchio da Polenta
.Around 1275 the aristocratic Francesca was
married for political reasons to Gianciotto, the
physically deformed second son of Malatesta.

• The love affair developed between Francesca and
Giancotto’s younger brother, Paolo. One day, the
betrayed husband discovered them in an amorous
embrace and slew themboth.

Canto VI, 1-9
When I regained my senses that had fainted
at the sight of these two who were kinsmen
lovers, a piteous sight confusing me to tears,
new suffering and new sinners suffering
appeared to me, no matter where I moved
or turned my eyes, no matter where I gazed.
I am in the third circle, in the round of rain
eternal, cursed, cold and falling heavy,
unchanging beat, unchanging quality.

• the shades of this circle are the Gluttons, and their
punishment fits their sin. Gluttony, like all the sins of
Incontinence, subjects Reason to desire; in this case desire
is a voracious appetite. Thus, the shade howls like dogs- in
desire without reason; they are sunk in slime, the image of
their excess.

3rd Circle: GLUTTONS
• Cerberus- guarded the entrance. The three-headed beast,
dog like beast who guards the Gluttons. Appears to be a
prefiguration of Lucifer and thus another infernal
distortionof the Trinity.

• Ciacco- the only Glutton whom the Pilgrim actually talk
to, one of his Florentine contemporaries, whose true
identity has never been determined.
• however, more than a proper name, ciacco is a derogatory
Italian word for a “pig” or “hog” and is also an adjective,
“filthy” or “of swinish nature”

Canto VI, 103-111
I said, “ Master, will these torments be
increased, or lessened, on the final Judgment
Day, or will the pain be just the same as
now?”
And he: “ Remember your philosophy: the
closer a thing comes to its perfection, more
keen will be its pleasure or its pain. Although
this cursed race of punished souls shall never
know the joy of true perfection, more perfect
will their pain be then than now.”

in answer to the Pilgrim’s question, Virgil reminds him of the
popular doctrine whichstates that the more a thing is perfect, the
more it knows what pleasure is and pain. The perfected state of man
froma “technical” point of view will be attained on Judgment Day,
when the soul is reunited with the body. Therefore, the damnedwill
feel more torment later than now; similarly, the blessedin Paradise
will enjoy God’s beatitude more.

Canto VI, 112-115
We circled round that curving road
while talking of more than I shall not
mention at this time, and came to
where the ledge begins descending;
there we found Plutus, mankind’s
arch-enemy.

4th Circle: AVARICIOUS AND PRODIGALS
• Plutus, the god of wealth in classical mythology
appropriately presides over the miserly and the
Prodigal.

• The Miserly and the Prodigal, linked together as those
who misused their wealth, suffer a joint punishment. Their
maternal wealth has become a heavy weight w/c each
group must shove against the other, since their attitudes
towards wealth on earth were opposed to each other.

• Part of their punishment is to complete the turn of
the Wheel ( Circle) of Fortune against which they had
rebelled during their short space of life on earth.

Canto VII, 45-48
“The ones who have the bald
spot on their heads were priests
and popes and cardinals, in
whom avarice is most likely to
prevail.”

Canto VII, 127-130
Then making a wide arc we walked
around the pond between the dry
bank and the slime, our eyes still
fixed on those who gobbled mud.
We came, in time, to the foot of a
high tower.

Canto VIII, 1-5
I must explain, however, that
before we finally reached the
foot of that high tower, our eyes
had been attracted to its summit
by two small flames we saw flare
up just there;

5th Circle : WRATH
• Phlegyas – the boatman of the Styx, who suddenly
appears in a small boat speeding across the river.
-The son of Mars, set fire to Apollo’s temple at
Delphi, furiously enraged because Apollo raped his
daughter Coronis.

• Dante makes Phlegyas the demonic guardian of the
Styx.
• He is well-suited not only for guarding the 5th Circle
where the Wrathful are, but also for transporting the
Pilgrimto the inner division of Hell, the City of Dis .

Canto VIII, 36-64
“You see that I am one who weeps,” he
answered. And then I said to him: “ May you
weep and wail stuck here in this place forever,
you damned soul, for filthy as you are, I
recognize you.”…
“Get Filippo Argenti!” they all cried. And at
those shouts the florentine, gone mad, turned
on himself and bit his body fiercely. We left
him there, I’ll say no more about him.

• The scene with Filippo Argenti is one of the most
dramatic in the Inferno. The Pilgrimrepulses Filippo
with harsh words; later he expresses his wish to Virgil
to see the sinner dunked in the mud; when he sees
Filippo being attacked viciously he rejoices and thanks
God for the sight.

Canto IX, 124-129
I asked, “ Master, what kind of shades
are these lying down here, buried in the
graves of stone, speaking their presence
in such dolorous sighs?”
And he replied: ”there lie arch-heretics
of every sect, with all of their disciples;
more than you think are packed within
these tombs.

• Heretics are in a circle in Hell which is outside
of the three main divisions of Incontinence,
Violence, and Fraud.

6th Circle: HERETICS
• A clearly willed sin based on intellectual pride, and
because it denies the Christian concept of reality, it is
punished outside of the area allocated to the Christian
categories of sin.

• Epicurus- one of the heretics even though he
was a pagan, because he denied the
immortality of the soul, a truth known even to
the ancients.

• Emperor Frederick II ( 1194-1250) – was an Epicurean
• Anastacius the Pope ( 496-498)- popularly believed for
many centuries to be a heretic because, he allowed
Photinus, a deacon of Thessalonica who followed the
heresy of Acacius to take communion.
- who questions Christ’s divine birth.

7th Circle: 1st Ring: Violent
• Minotaur- half-man , half-bull, called as “ infamy
of Crete”
• Presides over the Circle of Violent

• (the story) Pasiphae- wife of King Minos of
Crete, conceived an unnatural desire for a bull,
which she satisfied by creeping into a wooden
cow and having intercourse with the bull.

• The two see a river of Boiling blood which
contains who have inflicted violence upon
others.

• Before they can reach the river they are intercepted
by three fierce Centaurs whose task is to keep those
who are in river at their proper depth by shooting
arrows at them if they attempt to rise

• Virgil explains to one of the Centaurs ( Chiron )
that this journey of Pilgrim and himself is
ordained by God; and he requests him to assign
someone to guide the two. And so Chiron gives the
task to Nessus, one of the Centaurs.

Canto XII, 46-48
…But now look down the valley.
Coming closer you will see the
river of blood that boils the souls
of those who through their
violence injured others. “

Phlegethon- the Virgilian river of fire, here one
of boiling blood, in which are punished those
shades who committed violence against their
fellow men.

• Azzolino: Ezzelino III da Romano (1194-1259)
- a Ghibelline chief and tyrant of the March
of Treviso.
- was notoriously cruel and committed such
inhuman atrocities that he was called a “son of
Satan”

• Guy de Montfort- one of Charles d’ Anjous
emissaries. In order to avenge his father’s death
at the hands of Edward I, King of England,
stabbed to death the latter’s cousin, Prince
Henry, son of Richard, count of Cornwall.

• Henry’s heart was placed in a golden cup. above the
column at the head of London Bridge where it still
drip blood above the Thames. The dripping blood
signifies that the murder has not yet been avenged.

• The sinners are sunk in the river to a degree
commensurate with the gravity of their crimes.
• A. tyrants- whose crimes of violence are directed against
both man and his possessions are sunk deeper than
murderers.
• B. Murderers- whose crimes are against men alone.

• Attila- King of the Huns. Called as the
“ Scourge of God”.
• Sextus- who raped and caused the death of Lucretia, the
wife of his cousin.
• Rinier da Corneto and Rinier Pazzo- two highway
robbers famous in Dante’s day.

2nd Ring: The Suicides
• Pier Delle Vigne – chief counselor of Frederick II of Sicily
• Was accused unjustly of treachery and was imprisoned
whereupon he killed himself.
• The sinner also explains how the souls of the Suicides come
to this punishment and what will happen to them after the
Last Judgment.

• Around 1248, however, he fell fromthe emperor’s
grace and was placed in jail, where he committed
suicide. The dishonor of the imprisonment and the
envisaged self-justification through death led him to
take his own life by dashing his head against the
prison wall.

• The Wood of the Suicides is described in a series of
negatives ( “ no green leaves…no smooth branches,…no fruit)
• Profligates- second group of souls punished who did
violence to their earthly goods by not valuing them as they
should have just as the Suicides didnot value their bodies.

3rd Ring
3 groups:
1. Blasphemers- lie supine on the ground.
-Capaneus- one of the 7 kings whoassaulted Thebes.
-who diedcursinghis godJove.
2. Usurers- Crouching
- those who scorn “ Nature in herself and in her pupil / Art.
3. Sodomites- wander – “never stopping”

The Pilgrimdescribes the view he had of the Eight
Circle of Hell while descending through the air on
Geryon’s back. It consists of ten stone ravines
called Malebolge ( Evil Pockets), and across each
bolgia/pouch is an arching bridge.

8th Circle:
• 1st Pouch: the Panderers or the Pimps and the Seducers
receive lashings from whips.
Example is Jason the Leader of the Argonauts.
• 2nd Pouch: the Flatterers
Who lie in a river of human feces.

• 3rd Pouch: Simoniacs
• Hang upside down in baptismal fonts while their feet
burn with fire.
• Refers to those offences involving the sale or
fraudulent possession of ecclesiastical Offices.

4th Pouch: Soothsayer/ Astrologists or Diviners
• Heads are twisted completely around so that their hair
flows down their fronts and their tears, flow down to their
buttocks.
• Example are : Amphiaraus, Tiresias, Aruns, Manto,
Eurypylus, Michael Scot, Guido Bonatti, and Asdente.

• Amphiaraus - a seer and one of the 7 Kings
who led the expedition against Thebes. He
foresaw that he would die during the siege, and
to avoid his fate he hid himself so that he
would not have to fight.

• But his wife Euriphyle revealed his hiding
place to Polyrices, and he was forced to go
to battle. He met his death when the earth
opened up and swallowed him.

• Tiresias - the famous soothsayer of Thebes referredto by
Ovid.
• Aruns, the Etruscan diviner who forecast the Roman civil
war and its outcome.
• Michael Scot, Scottish philosopher , magician and augur.
• Guido Bonatti, well-known astrologer and diviner.

5th Pouch:Barrators/ grafters
• Those who accepted bribes
• Steep in pitch while demons tear themapart.
• Bonturo Dati- the worst barrator of all.
• Malacoda- the leader of the devils in this bolgia or pouch.
Whose name literally means “ Evil Tail”. Ends this Canto
with a fart.

6th Pouch: The Hypocrites
• The punishment must forever walk in Circles wearing
heavy robes made of lead.
• Caiphas- the evil counselor who advisedPontius Pilate to
crucify Christ.
• In order to leave this pouch, they must climb up a rockslide.

7th Pouch: the Thieves
• All trapped in a pit of vipers, becoming vipers
themselves when bitten; to regain their form, they
must bite another thief in turn.

• Vanni Fucci- a Piostese condemned for stealing the
treasure of the sacristy of the church of San Zeno at
Pistoia. He makes a prophecy about the coming strife in
Florence.
• Rampino Foresi- a theft accused of stealing the treasury
of San Iacopo in the church of San Zeno at Pistoia.

• Puccio Sciancato- one of the three
Florentine thieves who does not assume a
new shape

Canto XXVI: 7
. “ But if early in the morning dreams
have any truth, you will have the fate, in
not too long on time…”

• According to the ancient and medieval
popular tradition, the dreams that men
have early in the morning hours before
daybreak will come true.

8th Pouch:
• Dante speaks to Ulysses, the great hero of
Homer’s epics, not doomed to an eternity among
those guilty of Spiritual Theft ( the false
counselors) for his role in executing the use of the
Trojan Horse.

9th Pouch:
• the souls of the Sowers of Scandal and Schism walk in a
circle, constantly afflicted by wounds that open and close
repeatedly.
• Among them are Mahomet, Ali, Pier da Medicina, Gaius
Scribonius Curio, Mosca de Lamberti, Bertran de Born.

• Bertran de Born, who comes carrying his headin his hand
bike a lantern, suffers in Hell for causing the rebellion of
Prince Henry.
• Mahomet, founder of theMohammedianreligion, born at
Mecca about 570 and died in 632. His punishment is to be
split open fromthe crotch to the chin.

• Ali, the first of Mahomet’s followers.
• Fra Dolcino- the leader of a religious sect banned as
heretical by Pope Clement V in 1305. Among their
tenets was community of property and sharing of
women.

10th Pouch: Falsifiers
• Suffer from horrible plagues and diseases.
• sitting back to back, madly scratching their
leprous sores.

• Griffolino da Arezzo, who led Alberto da Siena to believe
that he could teach him how to fly. Alberto paid him well
but, upon discovering the fraud, he denounced Griffolino to
the bishop of Siena as a magician, and the bishop had him
burned.
• Capocchio, burned alive in Siena for alchemy.

• Myrrha of Cyprus, overpowered by an
incestuous desire for her father, King Cinyras of
Cyprus, went to his bed where they made love.
Discovering the deception, Cinyras vowed to kill
her;

• however, Myrrha escaped and wandered about
until the gods took pity on her and transformed
her into a myrrh tree, from which Adonis, the
child conceived in the incestuous union, was born.

9th Circle:
• He and other giants, including Ephialtes, are fixed
eternally in the pit of Hell; are all chained except Antaeus,
who at Virgil’s request , lifts the two poets in his monstrous
hand and deposits them below him, on the lake of ice
knownas Cocytus.

1st Ring: Caina
those who betrayed their kin
1.Mordred- the wickednephew of KingArthur.
2. Focaccia- a treacherous murderer of his cousin Detto de’
Cancellieri
3. Sassol Mascheroni- murdered his nephew in order to gain his
inheritance.
4. Camicion de’ Pazzi- who murdered one Umbertino, a relative

2nd Ring: Antenora
• Those who betrayed their country and party, stand
frozen up to their heads
• Count Ugolino- who spends eternity growing on the
head of the man who imprisoned him in life. Being
punished for betraying his country.

3rd Ring: Ptolomea
• Those who betrayed their guests spend eternity lying on
theirbacks in the frozen lake, theirtears making blocks of
ice over their eyes.
• Named after Ptolemy, the captainof Jericho, who had
Simon, his father-in-law, andtwo of his sons killedwhile
dining.

• Friar Alberigo- one of the Jovial Friars, invited his
principal opponent, Manfred. Signaled his men for
the fruit and murdered the dinner guests.
• Ser Branca D’ Oria- murdered his father-in-law after
having invited dine with him.

4th Ring: Judecca
• Those who betrayed their benefactors spend
eternity in complete icy submersion

• they saw a huge mist-shrouded form lurks
ahead, and Dante approaches it. It is the giant
three-faced Lucifer, plunged waist-deep into the
ice. His body pierces the center of the Earth.

• Where he fell when God hurled him down from
Heaven. Each of Lucifer’s mouths chews one of
history’s three greatest sinners: Judas , the
betrayer of Christ, and Cassius and Brutus, the
betrayers of Julius Caesar.

• Virgil leads Dante on a climb down Lucifer’s massive
form, holding on to his frozen tufts of hair.

Canto XXXIV, 76-84
When we had reached the point exactly
where the thigh begins, right at the haunch’s
curve, my guide with strain and force of
every muscle, turned his head toward the
shaggy shanks of dis and grabbed the hair as
if about to climb… “hold tight, there is no
other way,” he said, panting exhausted,
“only by these stairs can we leave behind the
evil we have seen.”

“ We climbed, he first and I behind,
until,
Through a small round opening ahead
of us
I saw the lovely things the heavens
hold,
And we came out to see once more the
stars.” ( Canto XXXIV, 136-139)

• The Pilgrim denied sight of the celestial bodies in
Hell, now looks up at them again. The direction his
journey will now take is upward, toward that Divine
Realm of which the stars are the signal for us on
earth.

The divine comedy.inferno

Recomendados

Recomendados

Más contenido relacionado

La actualidad más candente

La actualidad más candente (20)

Similar a The divine comedy.inferno

Similar a The divine comedy.inferno (20)

Último

Último (20)

The divine comedy.inferno