Canto III

Summary In canto III, Dante travels through the gate. What

he sees overwhelms him. The sinners in this area
are forever chasing a banner. They are being
chased by hornets and wasps, and their blood
feeds worms and maggots that live below. Virgil
guides Dante to the river that leads further into the
inferno. Charon denies Dante’s passage further
into the inferno because he is a living man
destined for a better place. Virgil tells Charon that
Dante must make this journey. At the end of the
canto, Dante faints.
The Gate of Hell
In
what ways does Dante’s use of a
gate,OF
I AM THE WAY INTO THE CITY an WOE
object familiar to all medieval
people, make his allegory seem all the
I AM THE W more real?

○ The gate symbolizes entering

a different phase or place.
The Gate of Hell is a door,
locking up the condemned
and warning all who enter. It
also serves as a boundary.
The Gate of Hell
Why do you think the imagery at this point
in the poem appeals almost solely to the
sense of hearing?
○ “Here sighs and cries and wails coiled and
recoiled on the starless air, spilling my soul to
tears. A confusion of tongues and monstrous
accents toiled in pain and anger. Voices hoarse
and shrill and sounds of blows, all intermingled,
raised tumult and pandemonium” (Dante 666).
○ “‘Master, what gnaws at them so
hideously their lamentation stuns the
very air’ ‘They have no hope of death,’
he answered me” (Dante 667).
○ The disturbing cries and sounds of the
souls set the tone and mood for Inferno.
Sound can be interpreted the same. The
darkness of the place limits all other
senses.
 The Opportunists
What message does this Canto provide
to readers about those who will not or
cannot make a commitment to God?
○ Those who can’t make a commitment suffer
the consequences, deserving nothing good.
They took no side, therefore they are given no
place. They pursue an eternal, ever-shifting
banner, as they pursued the ever-shifting
illusion of their own advantage. As their guilt
conscience pursued them, they are pursued by
wasps and hornets.
What image might be appropriate to
appear on the banner pursued by the
Opportunists?
○ “These are the nearly soulless whose
lives concluded neither blame nor
praise. They are mixed here with that
despicable corps of angels who were
neither God nor Satan, but only for
themselves” (Dante 667).
○ An image of something of self-desire
would be appropriate.
The River
○ The general concept of the ○ According to Greek mythology, Charon is a
underworld is already set
in stone. The reader can
interpret what is going to
happen and recognize the
meaning behind it.
Judging from this character, in what
ways has the mythology of ancient
Greece and Rome provided Dante
with source material for his allegory?
boatman who ferries the souls of the dead
across the river Styx to Hades. In Dante
Inferno, he ferries on the Acheron.
 Torments of Hell
Why do you think Dante dwells on the physical
torments of Hell?

○ Having experienced this for the first time, Dante

is shocked and feels sympathy for the
condemned souls. He feels it is important to
elaborate on the physical torments and how truly
terrifying and horrible Hell is. The physical
torments and consequences indicate what type of
sin was committed by the individual.
The Vulgar Tongue

○ A vulgar tongue is the language spoken by the

“vulgus” or common people.
○ As the common tongue became the dominant
literary language, literature took an
increasingly important place in the life of
society.

Choose three or four

words that seem to you to
reflect the language of
ordinary people...
Senses and Culture

Identify the senses to which the

images in the last three stanzas of
Canto III appeal. Why do you
think Dante swoons at this point?

Dante is a national hero for

many Italians. Which writers,
if any, play a similar role for
Americans?
Stanza Analysis
(Virgil): “This is the place I told you to expect.
Here you shall pass among the fallen people,
Souls who have lost the good of intellect.”
(16-18)
“No soul in Grace comes to this crossing;
Therefore if Charon rages at your presence
You will understand the reasons for his cursings”
(124-126)
~What does Vigil mean by “souls
who have lost intellect?” How does
this line connect with Dante’s belief
that the human’s ability to think and
reason are gifts from God?
~Charon, the ferryman of the
underworld, leads certain souls across
Acheron into Limbo. Why does he rage
in the presence of souls who are
doomed for hell?