CANTO III INFERNO

Dante Alighieri
translated by John Ciardi
CHARACTERS
• Dante- is the central character
who embarks on a spiritual quest
after erring in life. Dante is also
the writer of Inferno.
• Virgil
- is an ancient Roman poet
who guides Dante through the
circles of Hell.
• Charon- the ferryman from Greek
mythology who transports the dead, is
in the Canto, as are a large number of
uncommitted souls.
• Beatrice
- asks Virgil to find Dante and
guide him on his way.
• Lucifer
- is the prince of Hell who
takes the form of a giant with three
faces.
EXPOSITION
• Dantefollows virgil to the gates of
Hell, the through them into a place
called the “Ante-Inferno”, where
those who cannot enter Heaven or
Hell must slay… Dante and his
guide encounter minos, who
assigns each sinner to a circle.
CONFLICT
• Dante'sjourney to find God in his life
while those sentenced to punishment
in Hell hinder him from the True
Path. He also struggles with the pity
he feels for those he sees punished in
Hell, pity he knows he should not
have towards the sinners.
RISING ACTION
• Virgil
and Dante come to the gates
of Hell, inscribed with the now
infamous words, "Abandon all
hope yet who enter here." Through
the gates, in the "vestibule"of Hell,
are souls known as The
Opportunists. They chose neither
evil nor good in their lives -- only
themselves.
• Dantefinds himself astray from his
righteous path and alone in the Dark
Wood of Error. His path his blocked
by three creatures who represent
Worldliness. He is met by the Roman
poet Virgil, who offers to take him on
a journey around the creatures, into
Hell, so he can reach the Mount of
Joy.
CLIMAX
• Dante is at a crossroads in his life
where he needs to understand
what has happened so that he can
regain his faith in God's plan. He
is frightened to enter Hell with
Virgil, has been sent to guide him
through this journey by Beatrice,
the love of Dante's life.
FALLING ACTION
• Thepoets descend through the levels of
Hell, finding each sin and torment to be
worse than the previous level. They meet
the lesser sinners in limbo, the lustful, the
avaricious, and the prodigal. They move
into the deeper levels of Hell, where they
meet murderers, sexual deviants,
sorcerers, hypocrites, thieves, and finally,
the traitors.
RESOLUTION
• Theyenter the lowest circle of Hell and
find Lucifer himself in the central ring,
called Judecca. Lucifer has three faces
and mighty wings, whuch flap and
freeze him in place. He has Judas
Iscariot, Brutus, and Cassius in his
three mouths, each there because they
were teacherous to their masters.
• Virgil
and Dante climb unto Lucifer
and down, passing the center of
gravity, until they are finally out of
Hell.
• Dantelooks up the stars and sees the
Mount of Purgatory, his next step in
his journey of understanding his own
personal turmoil. He and Virgil
continue on without rest.
VOCABULARY WORDS
• Rebellion - A rebel doesn't listen to the rules and regulation,
they create their own rules and live life on their own terms.
• Treachery - Behaviour that deceives or is not loyal to
someone who trust you.
• Torment - Great mental suffering and unhappiness, or great
physical pain.
• Lustful - a very strong sexual desire, a very powerful feeling
of wanting something
• Avaricious - showing an extremely strong wish to get or
keep money or possessions.
• Prodigal - spending or using large amount of money, time,
energy, especially in a way that is not very wise.
MORAL VALUE
•Have faith with God, in
every trials and struggles
that we encounter there is
always a solution. So,
don't be a rebellion. 😊
THANK YOU!
GOD BLESS!