Divine Comedy

May 1265 – September 13, 1321

Dante Alighieri

Enrichment Activities After reading this

Handout:

1. Answer the diagnostic test to retain

what you have learned.

2. Participate in the topical discussion:

“What reasons Dante might have in shaping

his vision of Hell the way he did?”

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Brief
Biography
Dante Alighieri
Many of his works often reflect his
Dante is one of the great figures conviction as a statesman and an
of world literature. He is idealist.
remarkable for the loftiness of his
thought, the vividness and fluency
of his verse, and the boldness of his Latin DeVulgari Eloquentia
imagination. He was one of the (Concerning the Common Speech)
founders of Italian literature 1304 , in which he advocated the
through his use of the vernacular use of Italian as a literary language.
for some of his greatest works.
Here are some of the highlights of Convivio (The Banquet), written
his life: during the first years of the 14th
century, is an almost encyclopedic
summary of European culture.
• His family was of an old
lineage, of noble birth but no
longer wealthy. De Monarchia (circa 1313) –
projected enlightened imperial
rule as the ideal system in which
• Given an arranged marriage
multiple conflicting states would
at 12 with the daughter of the
be absorbed in one, church and
famous Donati Family.
state would be separated, and
(Gemma Donati)
justice would be founded on
Roman law.
• studied at the University of
Bologna
LaVita Nuova ('New Life’)
AD c.1274-1293
• fought bravely in a battle at
Love poems in honor of
Campaldino in 1289.
Beatrice Portinari.
Consists of 28 short poems and 3
• 1295 - was completely canzone combined with his one
involved in political causes prose commentary.
and was elected to the City
Council that year.

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Beatrice
The tradition that identifies Bice di
Folco Portinari as the Beatrice
loved by Dante is now widely,
though not unanimously, accepted
by scholars. Boccaccio, in his
commentary on the Divine
Comedy, was the first one to
explicitly refer to the young
woman; all later references are
dependent on his unsubstantiated
identification. Clear documents on
her life have always been scarce,
helping to make even her existence
doubtful. The only hard evidence is
the will of Folco Portinari from
1287 which says "...item d. Bici
filie sue et uxoris d. Simonis del
Bardis reliquite ..., lib.50 ad
floren"—essentially a bequest to
his daughter who was married to
Simone dei Bardi. Folco Portinari
was a rich banker, born in Portico
di Romagna. He moved to
Florence and lived in a house near
Dante where he had six daughters.
Folco also gave generously to found
the hospital of Santa Maria Nuova.
According to Dante, he first met
Beatrice when his father took him
to the Portinari house for a May
Day party. They were both nine
years old at the time, though
Beatrice was a few months younger
than Dante. Dante was instantly
taken with her and remained so
throughout his life even though she
married another man, banker
Simone dei Bardi, in 1287. Dante
married Gemma Donati in 1285
and had children.Yet in spite of
this, he maintained a deep love and
respect for Beatrice, even after her
death in 1290. After Beatrice's
death, Dante withdrew into intense
study and began composing poems
dedicated to her memory. The
collection of these poems, along
with others he had previously
written in his journal in awe of
Beatrice, became La Vita Nuova.
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According to the autobiographic La
Vita Nuova, Beatrice and Dante At the Wedding Feast
met only twice during their lives.
First met while he was at
Even less credible is the
ten or twelve years of age,
numerology behind these
and she, only nine or ten.
encounters, marking out Dante's
life in periods of nine years. This
amount of time falls in line with
Dante's repeated use of the “Chance” Encounters
number three or multiples of,
derived from the Holy Trinity. It is He loved her at a distance,
more likely that the encounters and she was, most probably,
with Beatrice that Dante writes of totally unaware of Dante's
are the two that fulfill his poetic devotion to her.
vision, and Beatrice, seem to blur
the line between an actual love
interest and a means employed by
Death
the poet in his creations.
Beatrice died when Dante
was twenty-five.

First Death Anniversary

Dante was said to have

mourned her for about a
year or so.

and Salutation of
Beatrice
Dante immortalized her
in his works, particularly
in La Vita Nuova and
Divine Comedy.

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"Dolce Stil Novo“ ('sweet new style')

LaVita Nuova
The dominant theme was the
(A New Life)
basic experience of the conscience
and the life of the soul.
Written in the style of dolce stil
What was new about the style was nuovo three years after her death.
not simply a more spiritual
It is composed of thirty-one poems
conception of woman, exalted as
in praise of Beatrice. It is from
an angel of salvation, but a deeper
which Dante drives consolation
intellectual and philosophical
from imagining Beatrice in heaven.
examination of love as the source
of moral virtue, and a more refined
searching of the psyche.

The poems did not exalt the

worldly, fashionable type of love
cultivated in the courts of princes.

It writes instead of a Platonic love

relationship, in which the loveliness
of the adored woman spiritualized
the lover, lifting his soul to a
comprehension of divine beauty.

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 Dante’s
Historical
Backdrop
13th Century Italy
In the 1200s the Italian peninsula
was divided into numerous
autonomous states governed and
controlled usually by the rich and
powerful families with an extreme
variety of political institutions and
juridical structures, particularly
manifest in the relationships
between city-states and
surrounding territories. (Florence,
for example, which possessed the
greatest political and financial
strength, controlled a rather
limited region and was in constant
strife with neighbors such as
Arezzo, Pistoia, Lucca, Pisa and
Siena.) Indeed, areas of influence
and jurisdiction often overlapped
in the same centers. Even the
smallest social groups had their
own specific identity and a certain
measure of autonomy. What is
Click for the video documentary. more, each individual political
entity tended to create its own
institutions and acted in accord
with or aggressively against other
groups. The extreme complexity of
such relationships makes it difficult
to extrapolate any general socio-
political reality of thirteenth-
century Italian city-states as a
whole. The wars and skirmishes
between city-states, individual
factions and feudal powers were
innumerable.
The parties which were in
contention over power centers
often tended toward mutual
annihilation: the losers were
exiled, their goods confiscated,
their homes destroyed; but in
exile, in order to recuperate their
power, they made alliances with
parties of nearby cities and waged
war against their own fatherland.
Such behavior created incessant
chains of violence and cruelty.
In the first phase of conflict
between Frederick II and the
Church, two parties formed
throughout Italy. These two parties,
the Guelphs and the Ghibellines,
extensively influenced European
policy and helped to characterize
the whole of the century's history.
The motivations underlying the
formation of alliances within the
two groups, however, cannot be
easily summarized due to the
idiosyncratic and often
contradictory motives of the
combatants which ranged from
dynastic pride to personal desire
for revenge, from economical
reasons to political strategies.
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 Early Italian Political Parties
Guelphs
• derived from Welf, the name of the dynasty of
German dukes of Bavaria who competed for
the imperial throne through the 12th and early
13th centuries.
• Sympathetic to the papacy
• supported the pope as the ruler of the Catholic
Church but believed that he should not be
involved in secular affairs.
In addition to the Church-Empire dichotomy, the
struggle between the classes contributed to foster
antagonism between rivals as well. In these
confrontations, the established nobility (the
magnati, or the grandi ) was pitted against the
emerging class of artisans and merchants (the
popolo ) who aimed to do away with the privileges
and institutions of the nobles and to assume full
political power to the complete exclusion of the
landed aristocracy.
Battle of Campaldino (June 11, 1289)
Ghibellines
• Derived from Waiblingen, the name of a castle
of the Welfs’ opponents, the Hohenstaufen
dukes of Swabia.
• Sympathetic to the German (Holy Roman)
emperors
• believed the pope should rule both secular and
religious factions.
The groups which fought against one another did so
largely within the sphere of the feudal tradition and
aligned themselves according to shared goals,
traditions and hierarchies considered by the
participants to be indisputable.
In late thirteenth-century Florence, where social
mobility was markedly healthier, these divisions
lent particular strength to the nascent popolo
which consequently elaborated innovative
institutions.
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Dante and his Politics
Ghibellines and the Guelfs (Guelf
also spelled Guelph) are members
of two opposing factions in
German and Italian politics during
the Middle Ages. The split between
the Guelfs, who were sympathetic
to the papacy, and the Ghibellines,
who were sympathetic to the
German (Holy Roman) emperors,
contributed to chronic strife within
the cities of northern Italy in the
13th and 14th centuries.
Guelf was derived from Welf, the
name of the dynasty of German
dukes of Bavaria who competed for
the imperial throne through the
12th and early 13th centuries. The
name Ghibelline was derived from
Waiblingen, the name of a castle of
the Welfs’ opponents, the
Hohenstaufen dukes of Swabia.
Click to edit Master
title style
The rivalry between Welfs and
Hohenstaufens figured prominently
in German politics after the death
of the Holy Roman emperor Henry
V in 1125: Lothar II (reigned
1125–37) was a Welf, and his
successor as emperor, Conrad III
(reigned 1138–52), was a
Hohenstaufen.
As a member of the Guelph
political party, Dante was sent
often on missions to arrange peace
between the two warring parties.
His opposition to the pope's
interference to the unification of all
the various city-states often
brought him to be at odds with the
reigning pope.
After Boniface VIII sent Charles of
Valois to Florence to secure papal
power there, Dante had gone to
Rome to negotiate about
Florence’s future, and while
Boniface deliberately detained
Dante in Rome, Charles of Valois
entered the city. Charles’
intervention in Florence resulted
in massive bloodshed and
destruction of property and also
led to the overthrow of the ruling
White Guelphs, Dante’s political
party.
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While on a mission to Rome to
arrange a truce between the two
parties, trumped-up charges were
made against Dante: He was
charged with graft, intrigue against
the peace of the city, and hostility
against the pope. He was fined
heavily and ordered to report to
the Council to defend himself.
Rightly so, he was fearful for his
life, and he did not appear to
answer the charges. A heavier
penalty was imposed. All of his
property was confiscated, he was
sentenced to be burned at the stake
if caught, and his two sons, Jacopo
and Pietro, were banished with
him. In 1302, he was exiled from
his native city, never to return.
At first, he joined other political
exiles, but he found them too
stupid and selfish. It is not known
where he spent many of his years in
exile, but he was often well
received. He began his great poem,
The Divine Comedy and, with the
help of his son Jacopo, it attracted
a large and sympathetic audience.
The Comedy of Dante Alighieri,
Florentine by Citizenship,
Not by Morals
Commentaries flowed soon, and he
became very well known.
He died in Ravenna on September
13, 1321, and he was buried with
honors due him. Several times
during the intervening years, the
city of Florence has tried to get his
remains returned to his native city,
but not even the intercession of
several popes could bring this
about. His opinion of the citizens
of his city was clearly stated in the
full title of his greatest work, The
Comedy of Dante Alighieri,
Florentine by Citizenship, Not by
Morals. Dante still lies in the
monastery of the Franciscan friars
in Ravenna.
Several times during the
intervening years, the city of
Florence has tried to get his
remains returned to his native city,
but not even the intercession of
several popes could bring this
about. His opinion of the citizens
of his city was clearly stated in the
full title of his greatest work, The
Comedy of Dante Alighieri,
Florentine by Citizenship, Not by
Morals. Dante still lies in the
monastery of the Franciscan friars
in Ravenna.
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 Benedetto
Caetani
Although Dante did not mention
CelestineV by name, he did not
hesitate to mention BonifaceVIII
several times by name and placed
him into hell for simony. At the
fictional date of the poem’s timeline,
Boniface was still alive, so Dante has
Pope Nicholas III mention Boniface’s
prophesied arrival when Dante
encounters Nicholas III in the eighth
circle of hell. Later in the Inferno,
Dante mentions Boniface’s false
promises to the Colonna family with
whom he feuded and his demolition
of the city of Palestrina, with the
killing of the Colonnas along with a
total of 6,000 citizens and
destruction of both the home of
Julius Caesar and a shrine to Our
Lady. Boniface’s fate is also
mentioned by Beatrice to Dante in
Paradiso.
Pope Boniface VIII
Born of a noble Roman family,
Benedetto Caetani distinguished
himself in a number of important
posts in the papal court, including
that of cardinal. In 1294,
Benedetto was elected pope and
took the name Boniface VIII.
During his nine-year term, he
boldly attempted to assert the
authority of the Papacy, even while
being embroiled in a series of
controversies with the leading
European powers.
Boniface tried, and failed, to
restore Sicily to obedience to the
Church, against the claims of the
Aragonese ruler Frederick III. He
fought bitterly with the Colonna, a
powerful, anti-papal Roman family
which felt threatened by Boniface's
massive accumulation of property
and feudal titles. The Pope also
sought to end hostilities between
Phillip I of France and Edward I of
England, so that he could proceed
with plans for a future reconquest
of the Holy Land. When French
and English preparations for war
resulted in a heavy tax burden for
both laypeople and the clergy,
Boniface issued the bull Clericis
laicos (1296), which forbade civil
authorities from taxing the clergy
without permission from the pope.
Boniface was forced to soften his
position in order to avoid open
conflict with the French king,
Phillip IV, for as long as possible.
Although the Papal Jubilee of 1300
marked a moment of harmony,
hostilities between the two were
renewed after 1301; thereafter, the
French monarch and the Italian
Pope remained mortal enemies. In
1302, the Pope published the bull
Unam Sanctam, an extremely
forceful statement of papal
prerogative. In response, Phillip IV
brought serious charges of heresy
and other crimes against Boniface,
and sent Guillaume de Nogaret to
Italy on a mission. On September
7, 1303, Nogaret and his men laid
seige to the Pope's residence at
Anagni, threatening him,
humiliating him, and finally taking
him into custody. Although the
people of Anagni rescued Boniface
two days later, he never recovered
from the ordeal. He died on
October 11th in Rome.
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 Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy)

Infierno
A literary guided tour through the
three worlds of medieval theology:
hell, purgatory, and paradise. Dante vividly described the torments
Dante's guides are Beatrice, the suffered by evil characters from history,
object of his chaste adoration, and by as he descends through nine
the Roman poetVergil. successive circles of Hell to discover
Lucifer (or Satan himself) at the very
bottom.
Written in three-line stanzas known
as terza rima ('third rhyme'), in
which the first line of each stanza
rhymes with the third; the middle
line gives the first rhyme of the next
Purgatorio
stanza, to give a rhyming pattern
aba, bcb, cdc etc.
Composed Of seven terraces - each
concerned with one of the seven deadly
The poem is arranged in 100 cantos, sins, expiated by the souls on their
one as the prologue and 33 in each progress towards Paradise.
of three sections - Inferno, Purgatorio
and Paradiso.The total number of
lines is 14,233.

Paradiso

Paradise consists of nine ascending

circles, followed by a tenth heaven
where the blessed dwell in the presence
of God.

Shortly after finishing the Paradiso Dante dies, in 1321, in Ravenna.

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 Inferno
Thereafter his exile along with his 1. Limbo (unbaptized /
sons Jacopo and Pietro, Dante non-Christians)
Alighieri wandered the 2. Minos, judge of the
countryside, seeking not only damned, sorts the
nightly shelter and sustenance from sinners.
kind strangers but also solace and a 3. Gluttons
reason to go on living. For the
many sacrifices he had made for his 4. Hoarders & Wasters
once beloved Florence, the city’s 5. Wrathful
betrayal has shattered his will. With 6. Heretics (City of Dis)
only a quill and a few parchments, 7. The violent, tyrants &
Click for the video documentary. he wrote through those lonely war-makers
years, trying to accept the fact that 8. Chasms / ditches
he can no longer have any place to
call home. 9. Satan / Lucifer -
Betrayers

Inferno, the Italian name for Hell,

is the first part of this 14th Century
epic poem of the Divine Comedy.
It tells of Dante’s fictional journey
through Hell as he is guided by an
ancient Roman poet named Vergil.
Hell is depicted as nine concentric
circles of torment located within
the Earth. It is the realm of those who
have rejected spiritual values by
yielding to bestial appetites or violence,
or by perverting their human intellect
to fraud or malice against their
fellowmen.
You may listen to the entire book here.

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Canto 1
Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.

Ah me! how hard a thing it is to say

What was this forest savage, rough, and stern,
Which in the very thought renews the fear.

So bitter is it, death is little more;

But of the good to treat, which there I found,
Speak will I of the other things I saw there.

I cannot well repeat how there I entered,

So full was I of slumber at the moment
In which I had abandoned the true way.

But after I had reached a mountain's foot,

At that point where the valley terminated,
Which had with consternation pierced my heart,

Upward I looked, and I beheld its shoulders,

Vested already with that planet's rays
Which leadeth others right by every road.

Then was the fear a little quieted

That in my heart's lake had endured throughout
The night, which I had passed so piteously.

And even as he, who, with distressful breath,

Forth issued from the sea upon the shore,
Turns to the water perilous and gazes;

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 Inferno, Canto I

She brought upon me so much heaviness,

So did my soul, that still was fleeing onward, With the affright that from her aspect came,
Turn itself back to re-behold the pass That I the hope relinquished of the height.
Which never yet a living person left.
And as he is who willingly acquires,
After my weary body I had rested,
And the time comes that causes him to lose,
The way resumed I on the desert slope,
Who weeps in all his thoughts and is despondent,
So that the firm foot ever was the lower.

And lo! almost where the ascent began, E'en such made me that beast withouten peace,
A panther light and swift exceedingly, Which, coming on against me by degrees
Which with a spotted skin was covered o'er! Thrust me back thither where the sun is silent.

And never moved she from before my face, While I was rushing downward to the lowland,
Nay, rather did impede so much my way, Before mine eyes did one present himself,
That many times I to return had turned. Who seemed from long-continued silence hoarse.

The time was the beginning of the morning,

When I beheld him in the desert vast,
And up the sun was mounting with those stars
"Have pity on me," unto him I cried,
That with him were, what time the Love Divine
"Whiche'er thou art, or shade or real man!"
At first in motion set those beauteous things;
So were to me occasion of good hope, He answered me: "Not man; man once I was,
The variegated skin of that wild beast, And both my parents were of Lombardy,
And Mantuans by country both of them.
The hour of time, and the delicious season;
But not so much, that did not give me fear 'Sub Julio' was I born, though it was late,
A lion's aspect which appeared to me. And lived at Rome under the good Augustus,
During the time of false and lying gods.
He seemed as if against me he were coming
With head uplifted, and with ravenous hunger,
A poet was I, and I sang that just
So that it seemed the air was afraid of him;
Son of Anchises, who came forth from Troy,
And a she-wolf, that with all hungerings After that Ilion the superb was burned.
Seemed to be laden in her meagreness,
And many folk has caused to live forlorn!

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 Inferno, Canto I

But thou, why goest thou back to such annoyance? Many the animals with whom she weds,
Why climb'st thou not the Mount Delectable, And more they shall be still, until the Greyhound
Which is the source and cause of every joy?" Comes, who shall make her perish in her pain.

"Now, art thou that Virgilius and that fountain He shall not feed on either earth or pelf,
Which spreads abroad so wide a river of speech?" But upon wisdom, and on love and virtue;
I made response to him with bashful forehead. 'Twixt Feltro and Feltro shall his nation be;

"O, of the other poets honour and light, Of that low Italy shall he be the saviour,
Avail me the long study and great love On whose account the maid Camilla died,
That have impelled me to explore thy volume! Euryalus, Turnus, Nisus, of their wounds;

Thou art my master, and my author thou, Through every city shall he hunt her down,
Thou art alone the one from whom I took Until he shall have driven her back to Hell,
The beautiful style that has done honour to me. There from whence envy first did let her loose.

Behold the beast, for which I have turned back; Therefore I think and judge it for thy best
Do thou protect me from her, famous Sage, Thou follow me, and I will be thy guide,
For she doth make my veins and pulses tremble." And lead thee hence through the eternal place,

"Thee it behoves to take another road," Where thou shalt hear the desperate lamentations,
Responded he, when he beheld me weeping, Shalt see the ancient spirits disconsolate,
"If from this savage place thou wouldst escape; Who cry out each one for the second death;

Because this beast, at which thou criest out, And thou shalt see those who contented are
Suffers not any one to pass her way, Within the fire, because they hope to come,
But so doth harass him, that she destroys him; Whene'er it may be, to the blessed people;

And has a nature so malign and ruthless, To whom, then, if thou wishest to ascend,
That never doth she glut her greedy will, A soul shall be for that than I more worthy;
And after food is hungrier than before. With her at my departure I will leave thee;

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 Inferno, Canto I

Because that Emperor, who reigns above,

In that I was rebellious to his law,
Wills that through me none come into his city.

He governs everywhere, and there he reigns;

There is his city and his lofty throne;
O happy he whom thereto he elects!"

And I to him: "Poet, I thee entreat,

By that same God whom thou didst never know,
So that I may escape this woe and worse,

Thou wouldst conduct me there where thou hast

said,
That I may see the portal of Saint Peter,
And those thou makest so disconsolate."

Then he moved on, and I behind him followed.

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 Canto I - Summary
In the middle of the journey of his
life, Dante finds himself lost in a
dark wood, and he cannot find the
straight path. He cannot remember
Midway upon the journey of how he wandered away from his
our life true path that he should be
following, but he is in a fearful
I found myself within a
place, impenetrable and wild.
forest dark,
For the straightforward
He looks up from this dismal valley
pathway had been lost. and sees the sun shining on the
hilltop. After resting for a moment,
he begins to climb the hill towards
the light, but he is suddenly
confronted by a leopard, which
blocks his way and he turns to
evade it. Then a hungry lion
appears more fearful than the
leopard, but a "she-wolf" comes
forward and drives Dante back
down into the darkness of the
valley.
Just as Dante begins to feel
hopeless in his plight, a figure
approaches him. It has difficulty
speaking, as though it had not
spoken for a long time. At first
Dante is afraid, but then implores
it for help, whether it be man or
spirit. It answered: "not a man
now, but once I was." It is the
shade of Virgil, who wrote the
Aeneid, and lived in the times of
the "lying and false gods."
Dante hails Virgil as his master and
the inspiration for all poets. When
Virgil hears how Dante was driven
back by the "she-wolf," he tells
Dante that he must go another way
because the she-wolf snares and
kills all things. However, Virgil
prophesies that someday, a
marvelous greyhound, whose food
is wisdom, love, and courage, will
come from the nation between
"Feltro and Feltro," and save Italy,
chasing the she-wolf back to Hell.
Virgil commands Dante to follow
him and see the horrible sights of
the damned in Hell, the hope of
those doing penance in Purgatory,
and if he so desires, the realm of
the blessed in Paradise. Another
guide will take him to this last
realm, which Virgil cannot (or may
not) enter. Dante readily agrees,
and the two poets begin their long
journey.
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Interpreting Canto I

Dante is known to use periphrasis shade - the word Dante uses for Periphrasis
to give a new and unique poetic spirits in Hell.
narrative.
originates from
Lombard - a native or inhabitant of
Lombardy. the Greek word
The three beasts actually represent Mantuan - from Mantua. periphrazein,
three types of sin which all men are sub Julio - during the reign of Julius which means
prone to commit: Self-indulgence, Caesar.
violence, and maliciousness. The
“talking around.”
Augustus - (Gaius Julius Caesar
three beasts are assumed as three It is a stylistic
Octavianus) 63 b.c.–14 a.d.; first
obstacles to Dante's returning to Roman emperor (27 b.c.–14 a.d.); device that can
the "straight path." grandnephew of Julius Caesar. be defined as the
Troy - ancient Phrygian city in use of excessive
Some of the periphrasis used by Troas, NW Asia Minor; scene of
Dante in this canto: the Trojan War.
and longer
the second death - a soul's words to convey
TrueWay - the way of God. damnation. a meaning
holy hour - dawn. King of Time - Christ. which could
sweet season of commemoration - Peter's Gate - here, the gate to have been
Easter. Purgatory.
conveyed with a
shorter
expression, or in
a few words

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Note on Vergil
Virgil stands for human reason and
human virtue
Virgil's hoarseness shows the high
morals and strict ethics of the poet
have not been fully appreciated in
Dante's time.He has not spoken to
a mortal since his death, and thus is
unaccustomed to talking.
Through his poetry, his high ethics
and morals, and the mere fact that
he, in his Aeneid, had already made
a journey through Hell in the
person of Aeneas, Virgil is the
perfect guide for Dante.
Dante relies on Virgil, who
symbolizes human reason and
wisdom, to deliver him from Hell,
and when his guide shows signs of
failure, he becomes irritated and
fearful.
Virgil’s occasional confusion
throughout the Inferno illustrates
the fallibility of human wisdom.
Dante uses this fallibility to
illustrate his notion that only things
that are divine can reach
perfection, and even though Virgil
is a great guide, he cannot ever
reach perfection.
Dante’s Morals as inspired by Vergil
is in accordance to the catholic
theology of Dante’s time.
According to the Medieval
Catholic Theology, Man must
consciously strive for righteousness
and morality. He must always be
aware intellectually of his own
need to perform the righteous act
for Sin is a perversion of the
intellect.
In its simplest terms, Man can
often become so involved with the
day-to-day affairs of simply living
that he will gradually relapse into a
sort of lethargy in which he strays
from the very strict paths of
morality.
Thus, when Dante finds himself in
a "dark wood," he is speaking
allegorically for any man who is
not constantly conscious of the
"right path." If every waking
moment is not consciously devoted
to morality, Man can find himself
in a dark wood.
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Canto II
Day was departing, and the embrowned air
Released the animals that are on earth
From their fatigues; and I the only one

Made myself ready to sustain the war,

Both of the way and likewise of the woe,
Which memory that errs not shall retrace.

O Muses, O high genius, now assist me!

O memory, that didst write down what I saw,
Here thy nobility shall be manifest!

And I began: "Poet, who guidest me,

Regard my manhood, if it be sufficient,
Ere to the arduous pass thou dost confide me.

Thou sayest, that of Silvius the parent,

While yet corruptible, unto the world
Immortal went, and was there bodily.

But if the adversary of all evil

Was courteous, thinking of the high effect
That issue would from him, and who, and what,

To men of intellect unmeet it seems not;

For he was of great Rome, and of her empire
In the empyreal heaven as father chosen;

The which and what, wishing to speak the truth,

Were stablished as the holy place, wherein
Sits the successor of the greatest Peter.

Upon this journey, whence thou givest him vaunt,

Things did he hear, which the occasion were
Both of his victory and the papal mantle.

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 Inferno, Canto II

Thither went afterwards the Chosen Vessel, Her eyes where shining brighter than the Star;
To bring back comfort thence unto that Faith, And she began to say, gentle and low,
Which of salvation's way is the beginning. With voice angelical, in her own language:

But I, why thither come, or who concedes it? 'O spirit courteous of Mantua,
I not Aeneas am, I am not Paul, Of whom the fame still in the world endures,
Nor I, nor others, think me worthy of it. And shall endure, long-lasting as the world;

Therefore, if I resign myself to come, A friend of mine, and not the friend of fortune,
I fear the coming may be ill-advised; Upon the desert slope is so impeded
Thou'rt wise, and knowest better than I speak." Upon his way, that he has turned through terror,

And as he is, who unwills what he willed, And may, I fear, already be so lost,
And by new thoughts doth his intention change, That I too late have risen to his succour,
So that from his design he quite withdraws, From that which I have heard of him in Heaven.

Such I became, upon that dark hillside, Bestir thee now, and with thy speech ornate,
Because, in thinking, I consumed the emprise, And with what needful is for his release,
Which was so very prompt in the beginning. Assist him so, that I may be consoled.

"If I have well thy language understood," Beatrice am I, who do bid thee go;
Replied that shade of the Magnanimous, I come from there, where I would fain return;
"Thy soul attainted is with cowardice, Love moved me, which compelleth me to speak.

Which many times a man encumbers so, When I shall be in presence of my Lord,
It turns him back from honoured enterprise, Full often will I praise thee unto him.'
As false sight doth a beast, when he is shy. Then paused she, and thereafter I began:

That thou mayst free thee from this apprehension, 'O Lady of virtue, thou alone through whom
I'll tell thee why I came, and what I heard The human race exceedeth all contained
At the first moment when I grieved for thee. Within the heaven that has the lesser circles,

Among those was I who are in suspense, So grateful unto me is thy commandment,
And a fair, saintly Lady called to me To obey, if 'twere already done, were late;
In such wise, I besought her to command me. No farther need'st thou ope to me thy wish.

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 Inferno, Canto II
But the cause tell me why thou dost not shun
The here descending down into this centre,
From the vast place thou burnest to return to.'
'Since thou wouldst fain so inwardly discern,
Briefly will I relate,' she answered me,
'Why I am not afraid to enter here.
Of those things only should one be afraid
Which have the power of doing others harm;
Of the rest, no; because they are not fearful.
God in his mercy such created me
That misery of yours attains me not,
Nor any flame assails me of this burning.
A gentle Lady is in Heaven, who grieves
At this impediment, to which I send thee,
So that stern judgment there above is broken.
In her entreaty she besought Lucia,
And said, "Thy faithful one now stands in need
Of thee, and unto thee I recommend him."
Lucia, foe of all that cruel is,
Hastened away, and came unto the place
Where I was sitting with the ancient Rachel.
"Beatrice" said she, "the true praise of God,
Why succourest thou not him, who loved thee so,
For thee he issued from the vulgar herd?
Dost thou not hear the pity of his plaint?
Dost thou not see the death that combats him
Beside that flood, where ocean has no vaunt?"
Never were persons in the world so swift
To work their weal and to escape their woe,
As I, after such words as these were uttered,
Came hither downward from my blessed seat,
Confiding in thy dignified discourse,
Which honours thee, and those who've listened to
it.'
After she thus had spoken unto me,
Weeping, her shining eyes she turned away;
Whereby she made me swifter in my coming;
And unto thee I came, as she desired;
I have delivered thee from that wild beast,
Which barred the beautiful mountain's short
ascent.
What is it, then? Why, why dost thou delay?
Why is such baseness bedded in thy heart?
Daring and hardihood why hast thou not,
Seeing that three such Ladies benedight
Are caring for thee in the court of Heaven,
And so much good my speech doth promise thee?"
Even as the flowerets, by nocturnal chill,
Bowed down and closed, when the sun whitens
them,
Uplift themselves all open on their stems;
Such I became with my exhausted strength,
And such good courage to my heart there coursed,
That I began, like an intrepid person:
"O she compassionate, who succoured me,
And courteous thou, who hast obeyed so soon
The words of truth which she addressed to thee!
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 Inferno, Canto II

Thou hast my heart so with desire disposed

To the adventure, with these words of thine,
That to my first intent I have returned.

Now go, for one sole will is in us both,

Thou Leader, and thou Lord, and Master thou."
Thus said I to him; and when he had moved,

I entered on the deep and savage way.

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Canto II - Summary
On Invocating the Muses
In later parts, the Purgatorio and
the Paradiso, Dante will invoke
Christian deities to help him, but
here he does not invoke them
concerning Hell.
Dante turns to the classical Muses,
to Genius, and to Memory.
Aeneas and St. Paul represent
Dante's two great concerns: the
papacy and the empire.
The name of the Virgin Mary is by
periphrasis, so is the name Jesus is
never mentioned in hell, only by
allusion.
It is now the evening of Good
Friday, as the two poets approach
the entrance to Hell. But Dante
wonders if he is truly worthy to
make the journey: He recalls that
Aeneas, and also St. Paul, made the
journey, and he feels unworthy to
be included in this noble group: "I
am not Aeneas, nor am I Paul," and
Dante is apprehensive.
Virgil reproves Dante for being
afraid and assures him that there is
great concern for him among
angelic spirits, mainly Beatrice,
Dante's beloved, who is now in
Heaven. Virgil relates how the
Virgin Mary's messenger, St. Lucia,
sent Beatrice to instruct Virgil to
help Dante rediscover the "Right
Path" from the Dark Woods. Virgil
says that Beatrice wept as she
pleaded, and Virgil eagerly obeyed
her instructions and rescued
Dante, so they are ready to begin
their journey.
Virgil tells Dante to have courage
always because the three ladies of
Heaven —Virgin Mary, St. Lucia,
and Beatrice — all care for him.
Dante is reassured and tells Virgil
to lead on and he will follow.
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Invocations

Muses - the nine goddesses who
preside over literature and the arts
and sciences.
father of Sylvius - Aeneas.
Apostolate - the office, duties, or
period of activity of an apostle.
Aeneas - hero of the Aeneid,
written by Virgil.
Paul - St. Paul; (original name
Saul) died c. 67 AD; a Jew of Tarsus
who became the Apostle of
Christianity to the Gentiles; author
of several letters in the New
Testament.
Seraphim - any of the highest order
of angels, above the cherubim.
Lady in Heaven - Virgin Mary.
Lucia - St. Lucia, messenger of the
Virgin Mary, patron saint of
eyesight; here, represents Divine
Light.
Rachel - an Old Testament figure;
here, she is said to represent
Contemplative Life.
Beatrice - Dante's childhood and
lifelong love and future guide
through Paradise.

Limbo - in some Christian

theologies, the eternal abode or
state, neither Heaven nor Hell, of
the souls of infants or others dying
in original sin but free of grievous
personal sin; or, before the coming
of Christ.

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Canto III
"Through me the way is to the city dolent;
Through me the way is to eternal dole;
Through me the way among the people lost.

Justice incited my sublime Creator;

Created me divine Omnipotence,
The highest Wisdom and the primal Love.

Before me there were no created things,

Only eterne, and I eternal last.
All hope abandon, ye who enter in!“

These words in sombre colour I beheld

Written upon the summit of a gate;
Whence I: "Their sense is, Master, hard to me!"

And he to me, as one experienced:

"Here all suspicion needs must be abandoned,
All cowardice must needs be here extinct.

We to the place have come, where I have told thee

Thou shalt behold the people dolorous
Who have foregone the good of intellect."

And after he had laid his hand on mine

With joyful mien, whence I was comforted,
He led me in among the secret things.

There sighs, complaints, and ululations loud

Resounded through the air without a star,
Whence I, at the beginning, wept thereat.

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Languages diverse, horrible dialects,
Accents of anger, words of agony,
And voices high and hoarse, with sound of hands,
Made up a tumult that goes whirling on
For ever in that air for ever black,
Even as the sand doth, when the whirlwind
breathes.
And I, who had my head with horror bound,
Said: "Master, what is this which now I hear?
What folk is this, which seems by pain so
vanquished?"
And he to me: "This miserable mode
Maintain the melancholy souls of those
Who lived withouten infamy or praise.
Commingled are they with that caitiff choir
Of Angels, who have not rebellious been,
Nor faithful were to God, but were for self.
The heavens expelled them, not to be less fair;
Nor them the nethermore abyss receives,
For glory none the damned would have from
them."
And I: "O Master, what so grievous is
To these, that maketh them lament so sore?"
He answered: "I will tell thee very briefly.
These have no longer any hope of death;
And this blind life of theirs is so debased,
They envious are of every other fate.
No fame of them the world permits to be;
Misericord and Justice both disdain them.
Let us not speak of them, but look, and pass."
And I, who looked again, beheld a banner,
Which, whirling round, ran on so rapidly,
That of all pause it seemed to me indignant;
And after it there came so long a train
Of people, that I ne'er would have believed
That ever Death so many had undone.
When some among them I had recognised,
I looked, and I beheld the shade of him
Who made through cowardice the great refusal.
Forthwith I comprehended, and was certain,
That this the sect was of the caitiff wretches
Hateful to God and to his enemies.
These miscreants, who never were alive,
Were naked, and were stung exceedingly
By gadflies and by hornets that were there.
These did their faces irrigate with blood,
Which, with their tears commingled, at their feet
By the disgusting worms was gathered up.
And when to gazing farther I betook me.
People I saw on a great river's bank;
Whence said I: "Master, now vouchsafe to me,
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That I may know who these are, and what law But all those souls who weary were and naked
Makes them appear so ready to pass over, Their colour changed and gnashed their teeth together,
As I discern athwart the dusky light." As soon as they had heard those cruel words.

And he to me: "These things shall all be known God they blasphemed and their progenitors,
To thee, as soon as we our footsteps stay The human race, the place, the time, the seed
Upon the dismal shore of Acheron.“ Of their engendering and of their birth!

Then with mine eyes ashamed and downward cast, Thereafter all together they drew back,
Fearing my words might irksome be to him, Bitterly weeping, to the accursed shore,
From speech refrained I till we reached the river. Which waiteth every man who fears not God.

And lo! towards us coming in a boat Charon the demon, with the eyes of glede,
An old man, hoary with the hair of eld, Beckoning to them, collects them all together,
Crying: "Woe unto you, ye souls depraved! Beats with his oar whoever lags behind.

Hope nevermore to look upon the heavens; As in the autumn-time the leaves fall off,
I come to lead you to the other shore, First one and then another, till the branch
To the eternal shades in heat and frost. Unto the earth surrenders all its spoils;

And thou, that yonder standest, living soul, In similar wise the evil seed of Adam
Withdraw thee from these people, who are dead!" Throw themselves from that margin one by one,
But when he saw that I did not withdraw, At signals, as a bird unto its lure.

He said: "By other ways, by other ports So they depart across the dusky wave,
Thou to the shore shalt come, not here, for passage; And ere upon the other side they land,
A lighter vessel needs must carry thee." Again on this side a new troop assembles.

And unto him the Guide: "Vex thee not, Charon; "My son," the courteous Master said to me,
It is so willed there where is power to do "All those who perish in the wrath of God
That which is willed; and farther question not." Here meet together out of every land;

Thereat were quieted the fleecy cheeks And ready are they to pass o'er the river,
Of him the ferryman of the livid fen, Because celestial Justice spurs them on,
Who round about his eyes had wheels of flame. So that their fear is turned into desire.

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This way there never passes a good soul;
And hence if Charon doth complain of thee,
Well mayst thou know now what his speech imports."

This being finished, all the dusk champaign

Trembled so violently, that of that terror
The recollection bathes me still with sweat.

The land of tears gave forth a blast of wind,

And fulminated a vermilion light,
Which overmastered in me every sense,

And as a man whom sleep hath seized I fell.

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Canto III Summary
Canto III opens with the
inscription on the gate of Hell.
Dante does not fully understand
the meaning of the inscription and
asks Virgil to explain it to him.
Virgil says that Dante must try to
summon his courage and tells him
that this is the place that Virgil told
him previously to expect: the place
for the fallen people, those who
have lost the good of intellect.
The poets enter the gate and the
initial sights and sounds of Hell at
once assail Dante; he is moved
deeply and horrified by the sight of
spirits in deep pain. The unending
cries make Dante ask where they
come from, and Virgil replies that
these are the souls of the
uncommitted, who lived for
themselves, and of the angels who
were not rebellious against God
nor faithful to Satan. Neither
Heaven nor Hell would have them,
and so they must remain here with
the selfish, forever running behind
a banner and eternally stung by
hornets and wasps. Worms at their
feet eat the blood and tears of these
beings.
Dante wants to learn more about
these souls, but Virgil moves him
along to the beach of Acheron
where the ferryman, Charon, tells
Dante to leave because Dante is
still living and does not belong
there. Charon tells Dante to take a
lighter craft from another shore.
Virgil reprimands Charon, saying
that it is willed, and what is willed
must happen.
Charon speaks no more, but by
signs, and pushing, he herds the
other spirits into the boat. The
boatman strikes with his oars any
soul that hesitates. The boat
crosses, but before it lands, the
opposite shore is again crowded
with condemned souls. Virgil tells
Dante to take comfort in Charon's
first refusal to carry him on the
boat, because only condemned
spirits come this way.
As Virgil finishes his explanation, a
sudden earthquake, accompanied
by wind and flashing fire from the
ground, terrifies Dante to such a
degree that he faints.
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 The Writing on the Gate

This condemnation does not apply Hell reserved for those who
to Dante, because, allegorically, he did not use their intellect to
can still achieve salvation, and choose God.
realistically, he is not yet dead so it
does not (necessarily) apply to The inscription above the
him. gates of Hell implies the
horror of total despair. Be
unsympathetic
towards sin in
any form.
Therefore, if Hell is the place
for people who made
deliberate and intentional
Sin [itself] is
wrong choices, there must be a not to be
place for those people who pitied.
refused to choose either evil or
good. The entrance of Hell is
the proper place for those
people who refused to make a
choice. People who reside in
Hell's vestibule are the
uncommitted of the world, and
having been indecisive in life
— that is, never making a
choice for themselves — they
are constantly stung into
movement.
“The Gates of Hell” by Auguste Rodin
B. Gerald Cantor Rodin Sculpture Garden,
Stanford University in California

Through me is the way into the doleful city;Through me the way

into the eternal pain; through me the way among the people lost.
Justice moved my high maker; divine power made me, wisdom
supreme, and primal love. Before me were no things created, but
eternal; and eternal I endure: Leave all hope, ye that enter

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When Charon refuses to take
Dante across the river, he does so
because his job is to take only the
dead who have no chance of
salvation. Dante, however, is both a
living man and one who still has
the possibility of achieving
salvation.
Among the sinners are the fallen
angels who refused to commit
themselves to either God or
Lucifer and stayed neutral.
However, a refusal to choose is a
choice, an idea Dante uses that has
since become central in
existentialist philosophy.

Virgil's incantation, "Thus it is

willed there, where what is willed
can be done," is a roundabout way
to avoid the word "Heaven," which
is repeated in Canto V. In later
cantos, Dante uses other allusions
of various kinds.

The shore of the river Acheron that

serves as the outer border of Hell
is crowded with more souls than
Dante believed possible. These
souls are propelled not by the
anger of Charon alone, but by the
sharp prod of Divine Justice, until
they desire to make the crossing.
Choosing to cross the river is their
final choice, just as their desire for
sin on Earth was also their choice.

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Charon The Ferry Man

Charon, in Greek mythology, the

son of Erebus and Nyx (Night),
whose duty it was to ferry over the
Rivers Styx and Acheron those
souls of the deceased who had
received the rites of burial. In
payment he received the coin that
was placed in the mouth of the
corpse. In art, where he was first
depicted in an Attic vase dating
from about 500 BCE, Charon was
represented as a morose and grisly
old man. Charon appears in
Aristophanes’ comedy Frogs (406
BCE); Virgil portrayed him in
Aeneid, Book VI (1st century
BCE); and he is a common
character in the dialogues of Lucian
(2nd century CE). In Etruscan
mythology he was known as
Charun and appeared as a death
demon, armed with a hammer.
Eventually he came to be regarded
as the image of death and of the
world below. As such he survives in
Charos, or Charontas, the angel of
death in modern Greek folklore.

He had, upon a few occasions, let a

living being into the Underworld.
There was Orpheus trying to
rescue Eurydice, Dionysus, trying
to retrieve his mother’s soul; and
Dante in his soul-searching quest
for redemption. But those who
cannot pay his price are doomed to
wander the banks of the river
forever.

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A Glimpse Pope Celestine
When Dante and Vergil entered the
gate of hell, Dante was moved to
the verge of tears for seeing an
unimaginable number of
tormented who race around naked
in endless pursuit of a blank
banner. While tortured by swarms
of stinging wasps and hornets,
maggots and worms drink the tears
and blood that drop to the sinners’
feet. Among them, Dante is able to
make out in the darkness one
recognizable figure, whom he does
not name.
It was through the commentaries
of Jacopo Alighieri on the Divine
Comedy that the nameless soul was
identified as Pope Celestine V:
“[It was] The Pope of Rome, named
Celestine, who for cowardice of heart,
fearing others, refused the great
apostolic office in Rome.”
Inferno 3.58-60
Dante was around twenty-nine
years old during the Celestine
papacy which began and ended in
1294. Dante was banished from
Florence in 1302 at the age of 37,
and he started to write the
Commedia, which includes the
Inferno, around 1308.
Pietro del Murrone (Peter of “I saw and
Morrone) lived a zealously austere
life, modeling himself after St. John
recognized the
the Baptist. He spent most of his shade of him
life as a hermit despite being
ordained as a priest. His holiness
who due to
became so well known, he soon cowardice made
gained followers. the great
refusal.”
When Nicholas the IV died in
1292, the papal seat remained —Inferno III,
vacant for two years. It was Peter’s 59–60
own fault that, because of warning
the bishops about God’s wrath if no
pope was elected, that they forced
him to the seat of power. Despite
his many objections and attempted
escape, he took the name Celestine
V and reluctantly became Pope.
He continued with his fervent
austere lifestyle. He attempted to
get his fellow clerics in the Church
to live strict lives of penance and
holiness, predictably without
success and with much stirring up
of resentment. For all things
considered, he is of all things holy
but was never a politician.
His decision to let three cardinals
run the Church while he lived his
life in isolation earned much
criticism.
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Things fell into chaos. He verified
with Cardinal Benedict Cajetan, a
canon lawyer and skilled statesman,
that a pope actually could step
down. Then, he issued a formal
decree allowing popes to abdicate,
and he abdicated himself on
December 13, 1294. The reasons
given for his abdication were:
“The desire for humility, for a purer life,
for a stainless conscience, the
deficiencies of his own physical
strength, his ignorance, the perverseness
of the people, his longing for the
tranquility of his former life.”
Cardinal Cajetan was elected to
succeed him, chose the name
Boniface VIII, and was crowned at
Rome on January 16th, 1295. The
only act of Celestine V that
Boniface VIII did not nullify was
the decree allowing a pope to
abdicate.
“The great refusal" of giving up the
chair of Peter after only five
months cleared the way for
Boniface VIII, to whom Dante was
an implacable enemy.
Celestine preferred to return to
the obscurity of non-commitment,
rather than face the problems of
the papacy.
While being escorted by Pope
Boniface back to Rome, Peter
made an escape. He first met with
his fellow monks and hid for
several months through woods and
mountains. He eventually was
captured when the ship taking him
to Greece was swept ashore by a
great storm. Pope Boniface had
him captured and was eventually
kept in a small cell in the citadel
of Fumone, guarded by soldiers
and cared for by two of his
religious brothers. After ten
months’ imprisonment, he died at
the age of 75 on May 19, 1296,
allegedly murdered upon the
orders of Pope Boniface himself.
Many miracles were attributed to
him after his death. By 1313,
Celestine V was canonized by Pope
Clement V, referring to him as
Saint Celestine or Saint Peter
Celestine. Canonization is an
affirmation that the saint is in
heaven. So it was quite a bold
contradiction for Dante to portray
Celestine V in the Inferno, which
was probably completed four years
after the canonization in 1317, as
doomed to spend eternity in
endless suffering.
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Dante hated cowards, and he saw
St. Celestine’s abdication as a
cowardly act. Celestine’s
resignation allowed Benedict
Caetani become the next pope,
giving massive control over the
Church and increased influence
over aristocratic families.

Of course, not everyone agree

with Dante’s assessment.
Franchesco Petrarch, himself lived
a solitary life, wrote in “De Vita
Solitaria” in 1356 that Celestine’s
refusal was a “virtuous example of
a man choosing the solitary life as a
way of perfection.” Other writers,
both lay and clergy, regard
Celestine’s abdication of his duties
as an action of a man who would
rather live an austere and simple
life and not be brought down by
worldly living.

Nevertheless, Dante only saw the

dire consequence of Celestine’s
action, leading to the rampant
corruption of the Church under
the reign of Pope Boniface VIII.

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Canto V
Thus I descended out of the first circle
Down to the second, that less space begirds,
And so much greater dole, that goads to wailing.

There standeth Minos horribly, and snarls;

Examines the transgressions at the entrance;
Judges, and sends according as he girds him.

I say, that when the spirit evil-born

Cometh before him, wholly it confesses;
And this discriminator of transgressions

Seeth what place in Hell is meet for it;

Girds himself with his tail as many times
As grades he wishes it should be thrust down.

Always before him many of them stand;

They go by turns each one unto the judgment;
They speak, and hear, and then are downward hurled.

"O thou, that to this dolorous hostelry

Comest," said Minos to me, when he saw me,
Leaving the practice of so great an office,

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"Look how thou enterest, and in whom thou
trustest;
Let not the portal's amplitude deceive thee."
And unto him my Guide: "Why criest thou too?
Do not impede his journey fate-ordained;
It is so willed there where is power to do
That which is willed; and ask no further question."
And now begin the dolesome notes to grow
Audible unto me; now am I come
There where much lamentation strikes upon me.
I came into a place mute of all light,
Which bellows as the sea does in a tempest,
If by opposing winds 't is combated.
The infernal hurricane that never rests
Hurtles the spirits onward in its rapine;
Whirling them round, and smiting, it molests
them.
When they arrive before the precipice,
There are the shrieks, the plaints, and the laments,
There they blaspheme the puissance divine.
I understood that unto such a torment
The carnal malefactors were condemned,
Who reason subjugate to appetite.
And as the wings of starlings bear them on
In the cold season in large band and full,
So doth that blast the spirits maledict;
It hither, thither, downward, upward, drives them;
No hope doth comfort them for evermore,
Not of repose, but even of lesser pain.
And as the cranes go chanting forth their lays,
Making in air a long line of themselves,
So saw I coming, uttering lamentations,
Shadows borne onward by the aforesaid stress.
Whereupon said I: "Master, who are those
People, whom the black air so castigates?"
"The first of those, of whom intelligence
Thou fain wouldst have," then said he unto me,
"The empress was of many languages.
To sensual vices she was so abandoned,
That lustful she made licit in her law,
To remove the blame to which she had been led.
She is Semiramis, of whom we read
That she succeeded Ninus, and was his spouse;
She held the land which now the Sultan rules.
The next is she who killed herself for love,
And broke faith with the ashes of Sichaeus;
Then Cleopatra the voluptuous."
Helen I saw, for whom so many ruthless
Seasons revolved; and saw the great Achilles,
Who at the last hour combated with Love.
Paris I saw, Tristan; and more than a thousand
Shades did he name and point out with his finger,
Whom Love had separated from our life.
After that I had listened to my Teacher,
Naming the dames of eld and cavaliers,
Pity prevailed, and I was nigh bewildered.
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And I began: "O Poet, willingly
Speak would I to those two, who go together,
And seem upon the wind to be so light."
And, he to me: "Thou'lt mark, when they shall
be
Nearer to us; and then do thou implore them
By love which leadeth them, and they will
come."
Soon as the wind in our direction sways them,
My voice uplift I: "O ye weary souls!
Come speak to us, if no one interdicts it."
As turtle-doves, called onward by desire,
With open and steady wings to the sweet nest
Fly through the air by their volition borne,
So came they from the band where Dido is,
Approaching us athwart the air malign,
So strong was the affectionate appeal.
"O living creature gracious and benignant,
Who visiting goest through the purple air
Us, who have stained the world incarnadine,
If were the King of the Universe our friend,
We would pray unto him to give thee peace,
Since thou hast pity on our woe perverse.
Of what it pleases thee to hear and speak,
That will we hear, and we will speak to you,
While silent is the wind, as it is now.
Sitteth the city, wherein I was born,
Upon the sea-shore where the Po descends
To rest in peace with all his retinue.
Love, that on gentle heart doth swiftly seize,
Seized this man for the person beautiful
That was ta'en from me, and still the mode offends me.
Love, that exempts no one beloved from loving,
Seized me with pleasure of this man so strongly,
That, as thou seest, it doth not yet desert me;
Love has conducted us unto one death;
Caina waiteth him who quenched our life!"
These words were borne along from them to us.
As soon as I had heard those souls tormented,
I bowed my face, and so long held it down
Until the Poet said to me: "What thinkest?"
When I made answer, I began: "Alas!
How many pleasant thoughts, how much desire,
Conducted these unto the dolorous pass!"
Then unto them I turned me, and I spake,
And I began: "Thine agonies, Francesca,
Sad and compassionate to weeping make me.
But tell me, at the time of those sweet sighs,
By what and in what manner Love conceded,
That you should know your dubious desires?"
And she to me: "There is no greater sorrow
Than to be mindful of the happy time
In misery, and that thy Teacher knows.
But, if to recognise the earliest root
Of love in us thou hast so great desire,
I will do even as he who weeps and speaks.
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One day we reading were for our delight
Of Launcelot, how Love did him enthral.
Alone we were and without any fear.

Full many a time our eyes together drew

That reading, and drove the colour from our faces;
But one point only was it that o'ercame us.

When as we read of the much-longed-for smile

Being by such a noble lover kissed,
This one, who ne'er from me shall be divided,

Kissed me upon the mouth all palpitating.

Galeotto was the book and he who wrote it.
That day no farther did we read therein."

And all the while one spirit uttered this,

The other one did weep so, that, for pity,
I swooned away as if I had been dying,

And fell, even as a dead body falls.

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Canto V Summary
As Dante and Vergil descent into
the threshold of the second circle
of hell, they see the monster
Minos, who stands at the front of
an endless line of sinners, assigning
them to their torments. Doomed
souls flock to confess their sins to
it. Minos wraps his great tail
around himself a certain number of
times, indicating the number of the
circle to which the soul must go.
Like Charon, Minos recognizes
Dante as a living soul and warns
him not to enter; it is Virgil’s word
that again allows them to pass
unmolested.
By the time they pass into darkness
that the two are welcomed by
torrential rains that fall ceaselessly
and gales of wind tear through the
air. About them circle swarms of
souls tossed and swirled helplessly.
Dante realized these are the Lustful
who committed the sins of the
flesh. Or have they?
Amidst the wail of the souls of the
damned, Dante recognized a few of
them: Helen of the ill-fated city of
Troy, Queen Cleopatra of Egypt,
and one other soul who recognizes
Dante as a living soul.
Dante calls out to her to hear her
sad story. Fancesca Da Rimini,
original name Francesca Da
Polenta, (died 1283/84, Rimini,
Romagna [Italy]), daughter of
Guido da Polenta, lord of Ravenna,
was married to a deformed man
named Gianciotto Malatesta (called
“the Lame”) for reasons of state.
She fell in love with his handsome
younger brother, Paolo. Fueled by
the tragic story of Queen
Guinevere and Sir Lancelot that
they have been reading, Paolo and
Franchesa could no longer hold
back their desire for each other.
But at the moment they were to
consume their love for one
another, Gianciotto caught them
and both lovers were murdered.
Overcome with pity, Dante faints.
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Minos: From Greece to Italy

Dante lavishly used references

from Greek mythology and Vergil’s
own literature to construct a visual
framework for his vision of hell.

Greek mythology depicted King

Minos as a cruel tyrant who kept a
monster called a Minotaur in a
labyrinth under his palace. He was
also well known for his well-
crafted set of laws and when he
died, he became a judge of the
dead in Hades, the underworld.
Virgil’s Aeneid showed him as the
judge who sends souls to Tartarus
(a Hell-like afterworld) or Elysium
(a Heaven-like realm). Stripping
him of his humanity, Dante
envisoned Minos as a monster who
judges only the damned, deciding
where in Hell they will be
punished. His tail represents God’s
plan of justice wherein
punishments are implemented
according to the specific sin
committed, placing the condemned
souls to a particular area of hell for
their punishment.

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When Love becomes a Sin
Dante was the first to make a
literary reference to the tragedy of
love and lust. Paolo and Francesca’s
love and death have also been
celebrated in plays by Silvio Pellico
and Gabriele D’Annunzio, in
operas by Hermann Götz and
Sergey Rachmaninoff, and by many
other writers, painters and
composers.
Love is a powerful force, both
redeeming and condemning. For
Dante, love in its purest sense,
must be sensible and not be
blinded by emotions or wanton
desire. Francesca explains that she
and Paolo began to have an affair as
a result of reading a romance,
suggesting that literature is
powerful and potentially
dangerous. If good literature—the
kind written by Virgil—has the
ability to teach virtue, bad
literature has the ability to tempt
readers into sin.
It is through Francesca’s story that
the reader learns how she
maintains the courtly doctrine that
love is a compulsive force that need
to be checked.
As is referenced in Inferno, Canto
V:
“Amore” rightly construed, aligned
with reason, leads to salvation:
“amor mi mosse, che mi fa parlare”
(Inf. 2.72).
In Inferno 5 “amore” wrongly Contrapasso,
construed leads to death: a Latin term
“Amor condusse noi ad una morte”
(Inf. 5.106). meaning "to
suffer the
As for the punishment for a person
swept over by desire, subjecting opposite"
reason to the rule of lust, they are
punished by literally being blown
here and there by strong winds.
God’s justice for Dante must
require a punishment suitable to
the type and severity of sin. Thus,
Francesa, and all those who
selfishly took love for their own are
forever tossed by the tumultuous
storm.
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CANTO XXXIV
"'Vexilla Regis prodeunt Inferni'
Towards us; therefore look in front of thee,"
My Master said, "if thou discernest him."

As, when there breathes a heavy fog, or when

Our hemisphere is darkening into night,
Appears far off a mill the wind is turning,

Methought that such a building then I saw;

And, for the wind, I drew myself behind
My Guide, because there was no other shelter.

Now was I, and with fear in verse I put it,

There where the shades were wholly covered up,
And glimmered through like unto straws in glass.

Some prone are lying, others stand erect,

This with the head, and that one with the soles;
Another, bow-like, face to feet inverts.

When in advance so far we had proceeded,

That it my Master pleased to show to me
The creature who once had the beauteous semblance,

He from before me moved and made me stop,

Saying: "Behold Dis, and behold the place
Where thou with fortitude must arm thyself."

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• How frozen I became and powerless then,
Ask it not, Reader, for I write it not,
Because all language would be insufficient.
• I did not die, and I alive remained not;
Think for thyself now, hast thou aught of wit,
What I became, being of both deprived.
• The Emperor of the kingdom dolorous
From his mid-breast forth issued from the ice;
And better with a giant I compare
• Than do the giants with those arms of his;
Consider now how great must be that whole,
Which unto such a part conforms itself.
• Were he as fair once, as he now is foul,
And lifted up his brow against his Maker,
Well may proceed from him all tribulation.
• O, what a marvel it appeared to me,
When I beheld three faces on his head!
The one in front, and that vermilion was;
• Two were the others, that were joined with this
Above the middle part of either shoulder,
And they were joined together at the crest;
• And the right-hand one seemed 'twixt white and
yellow;
The left was such to look upon as those
Who come from where the Nile falls valley-ward.
• Underneath each came forth two mighty wings,
Such as befitting were so great a bird;
Sails of the sea I never saw so large.
• No feathers had they, but as of a bat
Their fashion was; and he was waving them,
So that three winds proceeded forth therefrom.
• Thereby Cocytus wholly was congealed.
With six eyes did he weep, and down three
chins
Trickled the tear-drops and the bloody drivel.
• At every mouth he with his teeth was crunching
A sinner, in the manner of a brake,
So that he three of them tormented thus.
• To him in front the biting was as naught
Unto the clawing, for sometimes the spine
Utterly stripped of all the skin remained.
• "That soul up there which has the greatest
pain,"
The Master said, "is Judas Iscariot;
With head inside, he plies his legs without.
• Of the two others, who head downward are,
The one who hangs from the black jowl is
Brutus;
See how he writhes himself, and speaks no
word.
• And the other, who so stalwart seems, is
Cassius.
But night is reascending, and 'tis time
That we depart, for we have seen the whole."
• As seemed him good, I clasped him round the
neck,
And he the vantage seized of time and place,
And when the wings were opened wide apart,
• He laid fast hold upon the shaggy sides;
From fell to fell descended downward then
Between the thick hair and the frozen crust.
• When we were come to where the thigh
revolves
Exactly on the thickness of the haunch,
The Guide, with labour and with hard-drawn
breath,
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• Turned round his head where he had had his
legs,
And grappled to the hair, as one who
mounts,
So that to Hell I thought we were returning.
• "Keep fast thy hold, for by such stairs as
these,"
The Master said, panting as one fatigued,
"Must we perforce depart from so much
evil."
• Then through the opening of a rock he issued,
And down upon the margin seated me;
Then tow'rds me he outstretched his wary
step.
• I lifted up mine eyes and thought to see
Lucifer in the same way I had left him;
And I beheld him upward hold his legs.
• And if I then became disquieted,
Let stolid people think who do not see
What the point is beyond which I had passed.
• "Rise up," the Master said, "upon thy feet;
The way is long, and difficult the road,
And now the sun to middle-tierce returns."
• It was not any palace corridor
There where we were, but dungeon natural,
With floor uneven and unease of light.
• "Ere from the abyss I tear myself away,
My Master," said I when I had arisen,
"To draw me from an error speak a little;
• Where is the ice? and how is this one fixed
Thus upside down? and how in such short
time
From eve to morn has the sun made his
transit?"
• And he to me: "Thou still imaginest
Thou art beyond the centre, where I grasped
The hair of the fell worm, who mines the world.
• That side thou wast, so long as I descended;
When round I turned me, thou didst pass the point
To which things heavy draw from every side,
• And now beneath the hemisphere art come
Opposite that which overhangs the vast
Dry-land, and 'neath whose cope was put to death
• The Man who without sin was born and lived.
Thou hast thy feet upon the little sphere
Which makes the other face of the Judecca.
• Here it is morn when it is evening there;
And he who with his hair a stairway made us
Still fixed remaineth as he was before.
• Upon this side he fell down out of heaven;
And all the land, that whilom here emerged,
For fear of him made of the sea a veil,
• And came to our hemisphere; and peradventure
To flee from him, what on this side appears
Left the place vacant here, and back recoiled."
• A place there is below, from Beelzebub
As far receding as the tomb extends,
Which not by sight is known, but by the sound
• Of a small rivulet, that there descendeth
Through chasm within the stone, which it has
gnawed
With course that winds about and slightly falls.
• The Guide and I into that hidden road
Now entered, to return to the bright world;
And without care of having any rest
• We mounted up, he first and I the second,
Till I beheld through a round aperture
Some of the beauteous things that Heaven doth
bear;
• Thence we came forth to rebehold the stars.
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CANTO XXXIV Summary
Lumbering their way through the
frozen lake Cocytus, Dante
becomes aware of a great shape in
the distance, hidden by the fog.
Right under his feet, however, he
notices sinners completely covered
in ice, sometimes several feet deep,
contorted into various positions.
These souls constitute the vilest of
all sinners—the Traitors to their
Benefactors. Their part of Hell, the
Fourth Ring of the Ninth Circle, is
called Judecca, the fourth section
of the final circle named after Judas
Iscariot. Virgil informs Dante that
they are now approaching Lucifer,
once the fairest of angels before he
rebelled against God. Lucifer’s
sight is unspeakably hideous. A
giant among giants, his lower body
trapped deep into the frozen lake
while its huge bat-like wings flap
wildly, creating a cold wind that
freezes the ice firmer.
Dante cannot help but notice that
Lucifer has three faces - a red one,
a yellow one, and black one. In
each of his three mouths he chews
a sinner. Virgil explains that Judas
Iscariot, who betrayed Christ, is
the one in the middle and suffering
most, and that the other two are
Brutus and Cassius, who betrayed
Caesar.
Having seen all he needs to know
Dante is now ready to leave. Vergil
advises him climb onto the devil’s
back and head down while the
wings flap apart. Underneath
Cocytus, they reach Lucifer’s
waist, and here Virgil slowly turns
himself around, climbing back
upward. However, Dante notes
with amazement that Lucifer’s legs
now rise above them, his head
below. It is here that Vergil reveals
how Lucifer had been struck down
from Heaven headfirst into the
earth, having his upper body stuck
deep at the earth’s center. The
impact caused the lands of the
Southern Hemisphere to retreat to
the North, leaving only the
Mountain of Purgatory in the
water of the South. Dante and
Virgil climb a long path through
this hemisphere, until they finally
emerge to see the stars again on
the opposite end of the Earth from
where they began.
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Satan: The Archangel Lucifer
Once beautiful and immaculate,
Lucifer (the morning star) was
given free will at the time Eden
was created. With pride
overshadowing his wisdom, he
became disobedient and chose to
rebel against God. As punishment,
he was cast down from his pedestal
and into the earth. It was there that
his name was changed to Satan, or
the adversary of God.
As described in Inferno, Satan has
three faces, a mockery of the Holy
Trinity. The sinners trapped with
him, permanently frozen in the ice;
they were treacherous to their
masters, the ultimate sin of malice,
and are forever encased in their sin
of coldness.
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The Worst Sin
At this center of the final circle
of hell lies the epitome of
Dante’s concern for the theme
of divine retribution and justice.
Curiously, despite the many sins
that seem more severe, it was
fraud that Dante has considered
truly unforgivable. The
positioning of fraud as the worst
of sins helps us to define evil:
fraud, more than any other
crime, acts contrary to God’s
greatest gift to mankind—love.
How deep is this sin committed
will depend upon the degree to
which it opposes love. For one
thing, ordinary fraud only
violates the trust and love
between persons, but the
betrayal of a loved one is deeper.
. One can betray a kin, country
or government is only light as it
only violates socially obligated
bonds that can change in time.
But the most severe of all
betrayals is to commit fraud
against a benefactor. According
to Dante, for it violates a love
that is purely voluntary, a love
that most resembles God’s love
for us. Correspondingly, one
who betrays one’s benefactor
comes closest to betraying God
directly. Thus, the ultimate
sinner, Judas Iscariot, was a man
who betrayed both
simultaneously, for his
benefactor was Jesus Christ.
Historically speaking, Brutus and
Cassius have indeed betrayed and
killed one of Rome’s greatest
leader, Julius Caesar, but
Caesar’s status as a great
benefactor remains disputed.
Dante often-implied the belief
that Rome is the sovereign city,
destined to rule the world both
physically and spiritually. As
Christ’s Church stands firm at
the center of Rome, so should
Caesar be the perfect
manifestation of secular
government, as the emperor of
Rome at the height of its power.
Whereas spiritual concerns
must, in the end, outweigh
temporal ones, Judas has
committed the greater sin, and
his head, rather than his legs,
feels the constant chewing of
Lucifer’s teeth. Brutus and
Cassius, on the other hand,
suffer a punishment only slightly
less harsh, symbolizing Dante’s
belief that the Church and state
play equally important roles,
each in its own sphere.

Reference:
• Danteworlds. University of Texas at Austin. http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/
• World of Dante.org. Institute of Advanced Technology in the Humanities, University of Virginia.
http://www.worldofdante.org/
• Brittanica. On Dante Alighieri. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Dante-Alighieri
• Dante Alighieri’s “Divine comedy: Inferno.” Project Guttenberg.
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1004/pg1004.html
• (With special thanks to Cliffnotes and Sparknotes.)
• Note: Not all information are from my own.

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