DANTE—THE INFERNO—REVIEW OF SELECTED CANTOS

PresentationBy

Ralph Monday

Western Literature I

DANTE IN THE WOOD OF DARK ERROR

CANTOI

THIS IS THE MEDIEVAL EASTER SEASON

THE ANGELADDRESSESTHE THREEMARYS

AT THEEMPTYTOMB OFCHRIST.

DANTE IS35 IN 1300,THE FICTIONALDATE OF THEPOEM.

THE SUNRISEQUIETSHIS FEAR.

DANTEBEGINSONCE AGAINTO ASCENDTHE HILL.

HE ISSEARCHINGFOR THERIGHTPATH.

THE DARK HILLTHAT HE MUSTCLIMB, FOR HE

HAD LOST THEWAY. THE PATH

WAS RENEWED BYTHE APPEARANCEOF SOL.

HE BEGAN TOCLIMB, ONCEAGAIN.

                                                         

                                                                                          

HE FIRST ENCOUNTERS THE LEOPARD SYMBOL

OF

MALICE

AND

FRAUD

THE LEOPARDDRIVES HIMBACK FROMTHE PATH.

DANTE AND THE LION

                                                                                                                 

HE NEXTENCOUNTERSTHE LION.

SYMBOL OFVIOLENCE ANDAMBITION,

THIS IS ANOTHEROBSTACLE INHIS JOURNEYTO SEEK

THE RIGHTPATH.

THE SHE WOLFSYMBOL OFINCONTINENCE

SHE DRIVESDANTE BACKIN DESPAIR.

HE NOW FEARSTHAT HE ISTOTALLY LOST.

                                                                                                                                                                    

VIRGILIN DANTE’SDESPAIR,VIRGIL COMESTO HIS RESCUE.

SYMBOL OFCLASSICALHUMAN REASON,

A GOOD BEGINNINGGUIDE, DANTEWILL EVENTUALLY

UNDERSTAND THATREASON CAN ONLY

TAKE ONE SO FARUPON THE JOURNEY.

CANTO IITHE DESCENT

INVOCATION OF THEMUSE.

DANTE CALLS UPONTHE ANCIENT MUSEFOR INSPIRATION.

EUTERPE, THE GREEKINSPIRATION OF POETRYWAS A LIKELY CONJUR.

INVOCATION OF THE MUSESIS A TYPICAL CHARACTERISTICOF THE EPIC.

It is near the end of the day; Dante then asks Virgil if he considershim worthy of making the long and arduous journey.

Virgil tells Dante that an Angelic spirit, Beatrice, has concern forhim. Virgil relates the conversation between them and tells Dante

that Beatrice had descended to Limbo, sent by the Virgin Mary,through her messenger St. Lucia, to plead for Virgil’s aid inhelping to bring Dante back from his dark wanderings.

Beatrice wept when she spoke with Virgil, and now, Virgil tellsDante, the three Ladies of Heaven care for him—have courage.

Dante’s courage is renewed; Virgil moves away and Dante follows.

The Three Ladies of Heaven

TheVirginMary

BeatriceDanteFirstSpottingBeatrice.

She was theLove of hisLife.

St. Lucia

Canto III

ABANDONALL HOPEYE WHOENTERHERE.

THEGATEOF HELL

Virgil tells Dante that this is the place that he had spoken ofearlier; he takes Dante’s hand and leads him into a dark andstarless place of such horrific noise that Dante weeps.

Here are the souls of the uncommitted, who livefor themselves alone, and of the angels who didnot rebel against God, nor did they support Satan.

HEAVEN and HELL will not have them. They remain herewith the selfish, forever chasing a banner. They are eternallystung by hornets and wasps.

At their feet, worms are fed by their blood and tears.

The river Acheron looms ahead, and a boatmanappears who shouts at the spirits and tells themthat he will take them to a place from which theycan never escape.

Dante sees people standing eagerly awaiting passage.

Charon, the boatman, orders Dante to leave becausehe is still living.

Virgil tells Charon that he cannot prevent Dante’scrossing. Heaven has willed Dante’s way.

CHARONFERRYINGTHEMACROSS

INTO HELL

Doomedsoulspreparingto crossthe Acheron.

Limbo is a Noble Castle of great Pagan Poets

Dante and Virgil are welcomed by Homer, Horace,Ovid, and other aesthetic artisans of the ancientPast.

They welcome and honor Dante as one oftheir own.

Their pain is that they were unfortunatein being born before the illuminating presenceof Christ came incarnated into the world.

They are sinless, not physically tormented,they have no hope of ever seeing God.

Yet, there are individuals in this catacomb ofWoe who were allowed to embrace the visageOf God.

Old Testament patriarchs, in particular: Adam,Abel, Noah, Moses, Abraham, David, the KingOf Israel were transported to Heaven

In the Harrowing of Hell.

Notice that Eve, the Mother of the race isnot mentioned.

Do you wonder why?

The Ancient Poets

Homer, the great poetHorace, the satirist

OvidGreatest of the ancientRoman poets.

Lucan greeting Dante

These individuals represent theHighest achievement of humanReason unaided by Divine Love

Canto V The Carnal; the Lustful

Here the Lustful are eternally buffeted by a violentStorm.

The bestial Minos is the judge of the dead.

When a sinner approaches him, he wraps his tail

Around his body. The number of encirclements

determines which Circle of Hell the sinnergoes to.

The CarnalSinners areContinuallyWhirledAround.

The twoIllicit lovers--

FrancescaAndPaolo

Canto VIThis is the Circle of the Gluttons.

A cold, barren place, filled withicy snow and slush, pelting rain.

Cerberus, a monstrous three-headed dog, stands overthe sinners sunken into the filthy slush.

He howls and barks furiously, clawing all within reach.

Virgil silences him by throwing dirt inhis mouth.

Virgil, Dante, and hungry dog

Ciacco, the hog, is also here.

He prophesies that Florence will undergo a war;One party will be defeated and banished.

Canto VIII

Phlegyas, boatmanOf dead souls,

Ferries DanteAnd Virgil

Across the riverStyx.

The Wrathful andThe Sullen resideHere.

A furtherGraphic viewOf theirCrossing theStyx.

Notice thePoor, sufferingSouls.

Dis, the great city of Hell, the lower part.This is theApproach toDis.

The demons,The FallenAngels exist here.

They obstruct,Oppose, Dante’sPassage.

Dis is describedAs havingMosques.

Why do youThink suchAn imageIsUtilized?

Dante is confronted by Medusa

Before the city walls,

                                                                     

             

Called by the Furies

IfDanteLooksAt her,He willBeTurnedTo stone.

Canto IXThe realm of the heretics.

They need a HeavenlyMessenger to unlockThe gate.

One appears,Sent by GodTo aid DanteOn his quest.

With a wave of aWand, the GatesAre opened, andThey continue on.

Canto XII

This is the Seventh Circle, the First Ring; containedhere are the Violent against their Neighbors, against God, or themselves.The Centaurs exist here, led by Chiron, who instructsNessus to guide Dante and Virgil across the boilingRiver of blood.

The beginning of the descent is rocky, broken, perhapsFrom an earthquake. The only opening is a cleft in theRock guarded by Minotaur, who is in a horrific rage.

The Minotaur

Minotaur on the shatteredCliff.

PerhapsA betterImage ofThe grislyBeast.

Half man,Half bull,A horrificChallenge.

Chiron, tutor of Achilles.

These half human,Half beast creaturesSymbolize theBestial nature ofPeople.

CatholicismWishes toEliminate thisPart of humanNature.

Chiron instructs Nessus to lead them across theBoiling river of blood, which he does.

The Minotaur and the centaurs are like their figures inmythology:

The Minotaur is violent and bloodthirsty, a fittingGuardian for the Seventh Circle.

The centaurs were mythological creatures capableof sudden violence.

They kept theSinners in theBoiling bloodBy shootingArrows at them.

Canto XIII

Still in the Seventh Circle, Second Ring is where theViolent against Themselves (suicides) are found.

The Squanderers, or those violent against theirPossessions, are also found here.

The suicides in the dreary wood are transformed intoStrange trees.

The Squanderers are hounded and rent by bitches.

Harpies in the ForestOf the Suicides.

CANTO 15

Circle Seven: Round Three The Violent Against Nature.

The poets are protected by the powers of the boiling rill, andSo walk along its banks across the burning plain.The Wood of Suicides is behind them; the Great Cliff atWhose base lies the Eighth Circle, before them.

They pass a roving band of Sodomites. One of the sinnersStops Dante and he recognizes him under his bakedFeatures as Ser Brunetto Latino. Dante had greatly admiredThis writer and pays him the highest tribute offered to anySinner in the Inferno.

Brunetto LatinoAccosts Dante.

He gives an account of theSouls that move with himThrough the fire.

Finally, under DivineCompulsion, he races offAcross the plain.

CANTO XVI

The descent into the AbyssOn Geryon’s back.

CANTO XXVIII

Circle Eight: Bolgia Nine. The Sowers of Discord.

A Bolgia is a ditch or pouch. Here they come to the edge ofThe Ninth Bolgia and gaze down at a throng of hideouslyMutilated souls, the Sowers of Discord.

Their sin was to rend asunder what God had meant to beUnited; they are hacked and torn apart for all eternity byA great demon with a bloody sword.

After being mutilated the souls must drag their brokenBodies around the pit and return to the demon, whereTheir since healed bodies are once again rent by the sword.

Three Different Classes of Sinners are Here• Sowers of Religious

Discord:• Mahomet and his son-

in-law, Ali, split from crotch to chin appear first.

• Mahomet, the creator of Islam, and Ali, represent the rift between Christianity and Mohammedanism.

• The other two classes are:

• The Sowers of Political Discord, and

• The Sowers of Discord between Kinsmen.

• They are all punished according to the Law of Divine Retribution.

The mutilated shade of Mahomet.

Mahomet, fromDante’s perspective,One of the greatSinners in history.

Canto XXXICentral Pit of Malebolge

• This is the central pit of Malebolge, a great well. At the bottom lies Cocytus, the ninth and final circle of Hell.

• The Giants and Titans are here.• Nimrod, builder of the Tower of Babel.• Ephialtes and Briareus who warred against the

Gods.• Tityos and Typhon who insulted Jupiter.• Antaeus, who is there for no particular reason.

All are bound exceptFor Antaeus.

They are the sons ofEarth, elementalForces unbalancedBy love, desire withoutRestraint.

Great intellect withoutAcknowledgment ofMoral and theological law.

Anateus lowering Virgil and Dante tothe final floor of Hell

Canto XXXII

• Circle Nine: Cocytus—Compound Fraud

• Round One: Caina—Treacherous to Kin

• Round Two: Antenora—Treacherous to Country

• At the bottom of the well Dante finds himself on a huge frozen lake.

• This is Cocytus, the Ninth Circle, the fourth and last great water of Hell.

• Sinners are frozen in the ice.

• This is Dante’s symbolic equivalent of the final guilt: denials of love (God) and of human warmth.

• Because they denied God’s love they are the furthest removed from the light and warmth of His Sun.

• They denied all human ties, so they are bound only be the unyielding ice.

• The first round is Caina where frozen are the sinners who were treacherous against blood ties.

The frozen in hell.

Only the remorseless deadCenter of the ice will serveTo express their natures.

Canto XXXIV

• Ninth Circle: Cocytus—Compound Fraud

• Round Four: Judecca—Treacherous to their Masters

• The Center: Satan

• Here is Satan, fixed into the ice at the center, to which flow all the rivers of guilt.

• His great wings beat like a windmill and provide the icy wind.

• In a grotesque parody of the Trinity, he has three faces, each a different color.

• In each mouth he rips three sinners:

• Judas, Brutus, Cassius.

• These, in Dante’s vision, are the three greatest sinners of all time:

• Betrayers of Church and State, and the worst punishment is meted out to these individuals.

• They symbolize the Christian and the Roman tradition.

Lucifer, King of Hell