Levels of Hells, Descriptions, and Beasts

First circle (Limbo) In Limbo reside the unbaptized and the virtuous pagans, who, though not

sinful, did not accept Christ. They are not punished in an active sense, but rather grieve only

because of their separation from God, without hope of reconciliation. Limbo shares many

characteristics with the Asphodel Meadows; thus the guiltless damned are punished by living in a

deficient form of Heaven. Without baptism ("the portal of the faith that you embrace"[6]) they

lacked the hope for something greater than rational minds can conceive. Limbo includes green

fields and a castle with seven gates to represent the seven virtues, the dwelling place of the

wisest men of antiquity, including Virgil himself, as well as the Islamic philosopher Averroes

and the Persian polymath Avicenna. In the castle Dante meets the poets Homer, Horace, Ovid,

and Lucan, the Amazon queen Penthesilea, the mathematician Euclid, the scientist Pedanius

Dioscorides, the statesman Cicero, the first doctor Hippocrates, the philosophers Socrates,

Averroes, and Aristotle, and many others, including Julius Caesar in his role as Roman general

("in his armor, falcon-eyed"[7]), Electra, Camilla, Latinus, Lucius Junius Brutus, Lucretia, and

Orpheus. Interestingly, he also sees Saladin in Limbo (Canto IV). Dante implies that all virtuous

non-Christians find themselves here, although he later encounters two (Cato of Utica and Statius)

in Purgatory and two (Trajan and Ripheus) in Heaven.

In this Canto, Virgil mentions to Dante various figures from the Old Testament, including Noah,

Abraham, Moses, and David, and states that they were confined to this circle until the death of

Christ ("when I beheld a Great Lord enter here; / the crown he wore, a sign of victory."[8]).

Following this Harrowing of Hell, these good souls were then taken by Christ into Heaven. This

widespread medieval belief was based on such biblical texts as 1 Peter 3:19.[9]

Beyond the first circle, all of those condemned for active, deliberately willed sin are judged by

the serpentine Minos, who sentences each soul to one of the lower eight circles by wrapping his

tail around himself a corresponding number of times (Minos initially hinders the poets' passage,

until rebuked by Virgil). The lower circles are structured according to the classical (Aristotelian)

conception of virtue and vice, so that they are grouped into the sins of incontinence, violence,

and fraud (which for many commentators are represented by the leopard, lion, and she-wolf[10]).

The sins of incontinence—weakness in controlling one's desires and natural urges—are the

mildest among them, and, correspondingly, appear first, while the sins of violence and fraud

appear lower down.

Second circle (lust)

Gianciotto Discovers Paolo and Francesca by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres.In the second

circle of Hell are those overcome by lust. Dante condemns these "carnal malefactors"[11] for

letting their appetites sway their reason. They are the first ones to be truly punished in Hell.

These souls are blown about to and fro by the terrible winds of a violent storm, without hope of

rest. This symbolizes the power of lust to blow one about needlessly and aimlessly.

In this circle, Dante sees Semiramis, Dido, Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Achilles, Paris, Tristan, and

many others who were overcome by sensual love during their life. Dante is told by Francesca da

Rimini how she and her husband's brother Paolo Malatesta committed adultery, but then died a

violent death, in the name of Love, at the hands of her husband, Giovanni (Gianciotto).

Francesca reports that their act of adultery was triggered by reading the adulterous story of

Lancelot and Guinevere (an episode sculpted by Auguste Rodin in The Kiss). Nevertheless, she

predicts that her husband will be punished for his fratricide in Caina, within the ninth circle

(Canto V).

The English poet John Keats, in his sonnet "On a Dream," imagines what Dante does not give us,

the point of view of Paolo:

"... But to that second circle of sad hell,

Where ‘mid the gust, the whirlwind, and the flaw

Of rain and hail-stones, lovers need not tell

Their sorrows. Pale were the sweet lips I saw,

Pale were the lips I kiss’d, and fair the form

I floated with, about that melancholy storm."[12]

Third circle (gluttony)

.

Cerberus as illustrated by Gustave Doré. The "Great Worm" Cerberus guards the gluttons, forced

to lie in a vile slush produced by ceaseless foul, icy rain (Virgil obtains safe passage past the

monster by filling its three mouths with mud). In her notes on this circle, Dorothy L. Sayers

writes that "the surrender to sin which began with mutual indulgence leads by an imperceptible

degradation to solitary self-indulgence."[13] The gluttons lie here sightless and heedless of their

neighbours, symbolising the cold, selfish, and empty sensuality of their lives.[13] Just as lust has

revealed its true nature in the winds of the previous circle, here the slush reveals the true nature

of sensuality – which includes not only overindulgence in food and drink, but also other kinds of

addiction.[14]

In this circle, Dante converses with a Florentine contemporary identified as Ciacco, which means

"hog."[15] A character with the same nickname later appears in The Decameron of Giovanni

Boccaccio.[16] Ciacco speaks to Dante regarding strife in Florence between the "White" and

"Black" Guelphs. In one of a number of prophecies in the poem, Ciacco "predicts" the expulsion

of the White party, to which Dante belonged, and which led to Dante's own exile. This event

occurred in 1302, after the date in which the poem is set, but before the poem was written[15]

(Canto VI).

Fourth circle (greed)

In Gustave Doré's illustrations for the fourth circle, the weights are huge money bags.Those

whose attitude toward material goods deviated from the appropriate mean are punished in the

fourth circle. They include the avaricious or miserly (including many "clergymen, and popes and

cardinals"[17]), who hoarded possessions, and the prodigal, who squandered them. The two

groups are guarded by a figure Dante names as Pluto, either Pluto the classical ruler of the

underworld or Plutus the Greek god of wealth[18] (who uses the cryptic phrase Papé Satàn, papé

Satàn aleppe), but Virgil protects Dante from him. The two groups joust, using as weapons great

weights which they push with their chests:

"… I saw multitudes

to every side of me; their howls were loud

while, wheeling weights, they used their chests to push.

They struck against each other; at that point,

each turned around and, wheeling back those weights,

cried out: Why do you hoard? Why do you squander?' "[19]

The contrast between these two groups leads Virgil to discourse on the nature of Fortune, who

raises nations to greatness, and later plunges them into poverty, as she shifts "those empty goods

from nation unto nation, clan to clan."[20] This speech fills what would otherwise be a gap in the

poem, since both groups are so absorbed in their activity that Virgil tells Dante that it would be

pointless to try to speak to them – indeed, they have lost their individuality, and been rendered

"unrecognizable"[21] (Canto VII).

Fifth circle (wrath/sullenness)

The fifth circle, illustrated by Stradanus.

Lower Hell, inside the walls of Dis, in an illustration by Stradanus. There is a drop from the sixth

circle to the three rings of the seventh circle, then again to the ten rings of the eighth circle, and,

at the bottom, to the icy ninth circle.In the swamp-like water of the river Styx, the wrathful fight

each other on the surface, and the sullen lie gurgling beneath the water, withdrawn "into a black

sulkiness which can find no joy in God or man or the universe."[22] Phlegyas reluctantly

transports Dante and Virgil across the Styx in his skiff. On the way they are accosted by Filippo

Argenti, a Black Guelph from a prominent family. When Dante responds "In weeping and in

grieving, accursed spirit, may you long remain,"[23] Virgil blesses him. Literally, this reflects

the fact that souls in Hell are eternally fixed in the state they have chosen, but allegorically, it

reflects Dante's beginning awareness of his own sin[24] (Cantos VII and VIII).

The lower parts of Hell are contained within the walls of the city of Dis, which is itself

surrounded by the Stygian marsh. Punished within Dis are active (rather than passive) sins. The

walls of Dis are guarded by fallen angels. Virgil is unable to convince them to let Dante and him

enter, and the Furies (consisting of Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone) and Medusa threaten Dante.

An angel sent from Heaven secures entry for the poets, opening the gate by touching it with a

wand, and rebuking those who opposed Dante. Allegorically, this reveals the fact that the poem

is beginning to deal with sins that philosophy and humanism cannot fully understand. Virgil also

mentioned to Dante on how Erichtho sent him down to the lowest circle of Hell to bring back a

spirit from there.[24] (Cantos VIII and IX).

Sixth circle (heresy) In the sixth circle, Heretics, such as Epicurians (who say "the soul dies

with the body"[25]) are trapped in flaming tombs. Dante holds discourse with a pair of Epicurian

Florentines in one of the tombs: Farinata degli Uberti, a Ghibelline (posthumously condemned

for heresy in 1283); and Cavalcante de' Cavalcanti, a Guelph, who was the father of Dante's

friend and fellow poet Guido Cavalcanti. The political affiliation of these two men allows for a

further discussion of Florentine politics (Canto X). Also seen here are Epicurus, Emperor

Frederick II, and Pope Anastasius II.

In response to a question from Dante about the "prophecy" he has received, Farinata explains

that what the souls in Hell know of life on earth comes from seeing the future, not from any

observation of the present. Consequently, when "the portal of the future has been shut,"[26] it

will no longer be possible for them to know anything.

Pausing for a moment before the steep descent to the foul-smelling seventh circle, Virgil

explains the geography and rationale of Lower Hell, in which violent and malicious sins are

punished. In this explanation, he refers to the Nicomachean Ethics and the Physics of Aristotle

(Canto XI). In particular, he asserts that there are only two legitimate sources of wealth: natural

resources ("nature") and human activity ("art"). Usury, to be punished in the next circle, is

therefore an offence against both:[27]

"From these two, art and nature, it is fitting,

if you recall how Genesis begins,

for men to make their way, to gain their living;

and since the usurer prefers another

pathway, he scorns both nature in herself

and art her follower; his hope is elsewhere."[28]

Seventh circle (violence)The seventh circle houses the violent. Its entry is guarded by the

Minotaur, and it is divided into three rings:

Outer ring: This ring houses the violent against people and property, who are immersed in

Phlegethon, a river of boiling blood and fire, to a level commensurate with their sins: Alexander

the Great is immersed up to his eyebrows, although Dante praises Alexander at other points in

the poem, meaning he might be referring to a different Alexander. Dionysius I of Syracuse,

Azzolino da Romano, Guy de Montfort, Obizzo d'Este, Rinier da Corneto, and Rinier Pazzo are

also seen in the Phlegethon as well as references to Atilla the Hun. The Centaurs, commanded by

Chiron and Pholus, patrol the ring, firing arrows into those trying to escape. The centaur Nessus

guides the poets along Phlegethon and across a ford in the river (Canto XII). This passage may

have been influenced by the early medieval Visio Karoli Grossi.[29]

The Gianfigliazzi family was identified by a heraldic device of a lion (blue on yellow

background).Middle ring: In this ring are the suicides (the violent against self), who are

transformed into gnarled thorny bushes and trees, which are fed on by the Harpies. Unique

among the dead, the suicides will not be bodily resurrected after the final judgement, having

given their bodies away through suicide. Instead they will maintain their bushy form, with their

own corpses hanging from the limbs. Dante breaks a twig off one of the bushes and from the

broken, bleeding, branch hears the tale of Pier delle Vigne, who committed suicide after falling

out of favour with Emperor Frederick II (his presence here, rather than in the ninth circle,

indicates that Dante believes that the accusations made against him were false[30]). Also here

are Lano da Siena and Jacopo da Sant' Andrea. The trees are a metaphor for the state of mind in

which suicide is committed.[31] The other residents of this ring are the profligates, who

destroyed their lives by destroying the means by which life is sustained (i.e. money and

property). They are perpetually chased by ferocious dogs through the thorny undergrowth (Canto

XIII).

Inner ring: Here the violent against God (blasphemers) and the violent against nature (sodomites

and, as explained in the sixth circle, usurers) all reside in a desert of flaming sand with fiery

flakes raining from the sky (a similar fate to Sodom and Gomorrah). The blasphemers lie on the

sand, the usurers sit, and the sodomites wander about in groups. Dante sees the classical warrior

Capaneus there, who for blasphemy against Zeus was struck down with a thunderbolt during the

Siege of Thebes. Dante converses with two Florentine sodomites from different groups. One of

them is Dante's mentor, Brunetto Latini. Dante is very surprised and touched by this encounter

and shows Brunetto great respect for what he has taught him ("you taught me how man makes

himself eternal; / and while I live, my gratitude for that / must always be apparent in my

words"[32]), thus refuting suggestions that Dante only placed his enemies in Hell.[33] The other

sodomite is Iacopo Rusticucci, a politician, who blames his wife for his fate. Those punished

here for usury include the Florentines Catello di Rosso Gianfigliazzi, Guido Guerra, Iacopo

Rusticucci, Ciappo Ubriachi, and Giovanni di Buiamonte; and the Paduans Reginaldo degli

Scrovegni and Vitaliano di Iacopo Vitaliani. They are identified not primarily by name, but by

heraldic devices emblazoned on the purses around their necks – purses which "their eyes seemed

to feast upon"[34] (Cantos XIV through XVII).

Eighth circle (fraud)

A Gustave Doré wood engraving of Geryon.The last two circles of Hell punish sins that involve

conscious fraud or treachery. These circles can be reached only by descending a vast cliff, which

Dante and Virgil do on the back of Geryon, a winged monster traditionally represented as having

three heads or three conjoined bodies,[35] but described by Dante as having three mixed natures:

human, bestial, and reptile.[35] Geryon is an image of fraud, with his face appearing to be that of

an honest man, the body of a beautifully-colored Wyvern, the furry paws of a lion, and a

poisonous sting in the pointy snake-like tail[36] (Canto XVII).

Jason and Medea, by John William Waterhouse (1907).

Dante's guide rebuffs Malacoda and his fiends between Bolgie 5 and 6, Canto 21.

Dante climbs the flinty steps in Bolgia 7, Canto 26.

Dante sees the Trojan Horse as an evil trick, punished in Bolgie 8 and 10 (The Fall of Troy, by

Johann Georg Trautmann).The fraudulent—those guilty of deliberate, knowing evil—are located

in a circle named Malebolge ("Evil Pockets"), divided into ten Bolgie, or ditches of stone, with

bridges spanning the ditches:

Bolgia 1: Panderers (pimps) and seducers march in separate lines in opposite directions, whipped

by demons (Dante makes reference here to a recent traffic rule developed for the Jubilee year of

1300 in Rome: keep to the right[37]). Just as the panderers and seducers used the passions of

others to drive them to do their bidding, they are themselves driven by demons to march for all

eternity.[37] In the group of panderers, the poets notice Venedico Caccianemico, who sold his

own sister to the Marchese d'Este. In the group of seducers, Virgil points out Jason, who gained

the help of Medea by seducing and marrying her, only to later desert her for Creusa.[37] Jason

also seduced Hypsipyle, but "abandoned her, alone and pregnant"[38] (Canto XVIII).

Bolgia 2: Flatterers also exploited other people, this time using language. They are steeped in

human excrement, which represents the words they produced. Alessio Interminei of Lucca and

Thaïs are seen here.[37] (Canto XVIII).

Bolgia 3: Dante now forcefully expresses[39] his condemnation of those who committed

simony. These are placed head-first in holes in the rock (resembling baptismal fonts), with

flames burning on the soles of their feet. One of the simoniacs, Pope Nicholas III, denounces two

of his successors, Pope Boniface VIII and Pope Clement V, for the same offence. Simon Magus,

Saint Matthias are also seen here. The simile of baptismal fonts gives Dante an incidental

opportunity to clear his name of an accusation of malicious damage to the font in the church of

San Giovanni dei Fiorentini[40] (Canto XIX).

Bolgia 4: Sorcerers, astrologers, and false prophets here have their heads twisted around on their

bodies backward, so that they "found it necessary to walk backward, / because they could not see

ahead of them."[41] While referring primarily to attempts to see into the future by forbidden

means, this also symbolises the twisted nature of magic in general.[42] In this Bolgia, Dante sees

Amphiaraus, Tiresias (who's double transformation was also reference), Tiresias' daughter

Manto, Aruns, Michael Scot, Alberto de Casalodi, and Guido Bonatti, among others (Canto XX).

Bolgia 5: Corrupt politicians (barrators) are immersed in a lake of boiling pitch, which represents

the sticky fingers and dark secrets of their corrupt deals.[43] The barrators are the political

analogue of the simoniacs, and Dante devotes several cantos to them. They are guarded by devils

called the Malebranche ("Evil Claws"), who provide some savage and satirical black comedy.

The leader of the Malebranche, Malacoda ("Evil Tail"), assigns a troop to escort Virgil and

Dante safely to the next bridge. The troop hook and torment one of the sinners (identified by

early commentators as Ciampolo), who names some Italian grafters and then tricks the

Malebranche in order to escape back into the pitch. The promise of safe conduct the poets have

received from the demons turns out to have limited value (and there is no "next bridge"[44]), so

that the poets are forced to scramble down into the sixth Bolgia (Cantos XXI through XXIII).

Bolgia 6: In the sixth Bolgia, the poets find the hypocrites listlessly walking along wearing

gilded lead cloaks, which represent the falsity behind the surface appearance of their actions –

falsity that weighs them down and makes spiritual progress impossible for them.[44] Dante

speaks with Catalano and Loderingo, two members of the Jovial Friars, an order which had

acquired a reputation for not living up to its vows,[44] and which was eventually suppressed by

Pope Sixtus V. Caiaphas, the high priest responsible for ordering Jesus crucified, is also seen

here, crucified to the ground and trampled (Canto XXIII).

Bolgia 7: Two cantos are devoted to the thieves, who are guarded by the centaur Cacus, who has

a fire-breathing dragon on his shoulders (in Roman mythology, Cacus was not a centaur but an

unspecified fire-breathing monster slain by Heracles). The thieves are pursued and bitten by

snakes and lizards. The full horror of the thieves' punishment is revealed gradually: just as they

stole other people's substance in life, their very identity becomes subject to theft here,[45] and

the snake bites make them undergo various transformations. Vanni Fucci is turned to ashes and

resurrected; Agnello is blended with the six-legged reptile that is Cianfa; and Buoso exchanges

shapes with the four-legged Francesco: "The soul that had become an animal, / now hissing,

hurried off along the valley; / the other one, behind him, speaks and spits."[46] (Cantos XXIV

and XXV).

Bolgia 8: Two further cantos are devoted to the fraudulent advisers or evil councillors, who are

concealed within individual flames. These are not people who gave false advice, but people who

used their position to advise others to engage in fraud.[47] Ulysses and Diomedes are

condemned here for the deception of the Trojan Horse. Ulysses also tells the tale of his fatal final

voyage (an invention of Dante's) where he left his home and family to sail to the end of the Earth

only to have his ship founder near Mount Purgatory. Ulysses also mentions of his encounter with

Circe stating that she "beguiled him." Guido da Montefeltro recounts how he advised Pope

Boniface VIII to capture the fortress of Palestrina, by offering the Colonna family inside it a

false amnesty, and then razing it to the ground after they surrendered. Guido became a

Franciscan in 1296, and died two years later. Guido describes St. Francis as coming to take his

soul to Heaven, only to have a demon assert prior claim. Although Boniface had absolved Guido

in advance for his evil advice, Dante points out the invalidity of that, since absolution requires

contrition, and a man cannot be contrite for a sin at the same time that he is intending to commit

it[48] (Cantos XXVI and XXVII).

Bolgia 9: In the ninth Bolgia, a sword-wielding demon hacks at the sowers of discord, dividing

parts of their bodies as in life they divided others.[49] As they make their rounds the wounds

heal, only to have the demon tear apart their bodies again. Dante encounters Muhammad, who

tells him to warn the schismatic and heretic Fra Dolcino. Dante describes Muhammad as a

schismatic,[49][50] apparently viewing Islam as an off-shoot from Christianity, and similarly

Dante seems to condemn Ali for schism between Sunni and Shiite (for more on Dante's

relationship to Islam, see the relevant section of the main article). In this Bolgia, Dante also

encounters Bertran de Born, who carries around his severed head like a lantern, as a punishment

for (Dante believes) fomenting the rebellion of Henry the Young King against his father Henry II

(Cantos XXVIII and XXIX).

Bolgia 10: In the final Bolgia, various sorts of falsifiers (alchemists, counterfeiters, perjurers,

and impersonators), who are a "disease" on society, are themselves afflicted with different types

of diseases.[51] Potiphar's wife is briefly mentioned here for her false accusation of Joseph, as is

Sinon, the Greek spy who tricked the Trojans into taking the Trojan Horse into their city (Sinon

is here, rather than in Bolgia 8, because his advice was false as well as evil). The Spendthrift

Club and Myrrha were here as well. In the notes on her translation, Sayers remarks that the

descent through Malebolge "began with the sale of the sexual relationship, and went on to the

sale of Church and State; now, the very money is itself corrupted, every affirmation has become

perjury, and every identity a lie;"[51] so that every aspect of social interaction has been

progressively destroyed (Cantos XXIX and XXX).

Ninth circle (treachery)

Titans and giants, including Ephialtes on the left, in Gustave Doré's illustrations to Dante's

Divine Comedy.

Dante speaks to the traitors in the ice, Canto 32.The ninth circle is ringed by classical and

Biblical giants, who perhaps symbolize the pride and other spiritual flaws lying behind acts of

treachery.[52] The giants are standing on a ledge above the ninth circle of Hell,[53] so that from

the Malebolge they are visible from the waist up. They include Nimrod, as well as Ephialtes

(who with his brother Otus tried to storm Olympus during the Gigantomachy), Briareus, Tityos,

and Typhon. The giant Antaeus lowers Dante and Virgil into the pit that forms the ninth circle of

Hell (Canto XXXI).

The traitors are distinguished from the "merely" fraudulent in that their acts involve betraying a

special relationship of some kind. There are four concentric zones (or "rounds") of traitors,

corresponding, in order of seriousness, to betrayal of family ties, betrayal of community ties,

betrayal of guests, and betrayal of liege lords. In contrast to the popular image of Hell as fiery,

the traitors are frozen in a lake of ice known as Cocytus, with each group encased in ice to

progressively greater depths.

Round 1 is named Caïna, after Cain, who killed his brother. Traitors to kindred are here

immersed in the ice up to their faces – "the place / where shame can show itself"[54] Mordred,

who attacked his uncle King Arthur, is one of the traitors here: "him who, at one blow, had chest

and shadow / shattered by Arthur's hand;"[55] (Canto XXXII).

Round 2 is named Antenora, after Antenor of Troy, who according to medieval tradition,

betrayed his city to the Greeks. Traitors to political entities, such as party, city, or country, are

located here. Count Ugolino pauses from gnawing on the head of his rival Archbishop Ruggieri

to describe how Ruggieri imprisoned him along with his children, condemning them to death by

starvation. A number of correspondences, such as allusions to the same passage of the Aeneid,

link this passage to the story of Paolo and Francesca in the second circle,[56] indicating that this

icy hell of betrayal is the final result of consent to sin[56] (Cantos XXXII and XXXIII).

Round 3 is named Ptolomaea, probably after Ptolemy, son of Abubus, who invited Simon

Maccabaeus and his sons to a banquet and then killed them.[56] Traitors to their guests are

punished here, lying supine in the ice, which covers them, except for their faces. They are

punished more severely than the previous traitors, since the relationship to guests is an entirely

voluntary one.[57] Fra Alberigo, who had armed soldiers kill his brother at a banquet, explains

that sometimes a soul falls here before Atropos cuts the thread of life. Their bodies on Earth are

immediately possessed by a demon, so what seems to be a walking man has reached the stage of

being incapable of repentance (Canto XXXIII).

Round 4 is named Judecca, after Judas Iscariot, Biblical betrayer of Christ. Here are the traitors

to their lords and benefactors. All of the sinners punished within are completely encapsulated in

ice, distorted in all conceivable positions. With no one to talk to here, Dante and Virgil quickly

move on to the centre of Hell (Canto XXXIV).

Satan is trapped in the frozen central zone in the Ninth Circle of Hell, Canto 34.In the very centre

of Hell, condemned for committing the ultimate sin (personal treachery against God), is Satan.

Satan is described as a giant, terrifying beast with three faces, one red, one black, and one a pale

yellow:

he had three faces: one in front bloodred;

and then another two that, just above

the midpoint of each shoulder, joined the first;

and at the crown, all three were reattached;

the right looked somewhat yellow, somewhat white;

the left in its appearance was like those

who come from where the Nile, descending, flows.[58]

Satan is waist deep in ice, weeping tears from his six eyes, and beating his six wings as if trying

to escape, although the icy wind that emanates only further ensures his imprisonment (as well as

that of the others in the ring). Each face has a mouth that chews on a prominent traitor, with

Brutus and Cassius feet-first in the left and right mouths respectively. These men were involved

in the assassination of Julius Caesar—an act which, to Dante, represented the destruction of a

unified Italy and the killing of the man who was divinely appointed to govern the world.[59] In

the central, most vicious mouth is Judas Iscariot—the namesake of Judecca and the betrayer of

Jesus. Judas is being administered the most horrifying torture of the three traitors, his head

gnawed by Satan's mouth, and his back being forever skinned by Satan's claws. What is seen

here is a perverted trinity: Satan is impotent, ignorant, and full of hate, in contrast to the all-

powerful, all-knowing, and loving nature of God.[59]

The two poets escape Hell by climbing down Satan's ragged fur, passing through the centre of

the earth (with a consequent change in the direction of gravity, causing Dante to at first think

they are returning to Hell), and they emerge in the other hemisphere (described in the Purgatorio)

just before dawn on Easter Sunday, beneath a sky studded with stars (Canto XXXIV).

Character List

Note: There are two character lists that’s why some appear twice. The first is from spark

notes and the second from cliff notes. The number behind the cliff notes version is the

Canto the character first appears in.

Dante Alighieri

Thirty-five years old at the beginning of the story, Dante—the character as opposed to the poet—

has lost his way on the “true path” of life; in other words, sin has obstructed his path to God. The

Divine Comedy is the allegorical record of Dante’s quest to overcome sin and find God’s love; in

Inferno, Dante explores the nature of sin by traveling through Hell, where evil receives

punishment according to God’s justice. Allegorically, Dante’s story represents not only his own

life but also what Dante the poet perceived to be the universal Christian quest for God. As a

result, Dante the character is rooted in the Everyman allegorical tradition: Dante’s situation is

meant to represent that of the whole human race.

For this reason, Dante the character does not emerge as a particularly well-defined individual;

although we know that he has committed a never-specified sin and that he participates in

Florentine politics, we learn little about his life on Earth. His traits are very broad and universal:

often sympathetic toward others, he nonetheless remains capable of anger; he weeps at the sight

of the suffering souls but reacts with pleasure when one of his political enemies is torn to pieces.

He demonstrates excessive pride but remains unsatisfied in many respects: he feels that he ranks

among the great poets that he meets in Limbo but deeply desires to find Beatrice, the woman he

loves, and the love of God. Dante fears danger but shows much courage: horrified by Hell, he

nevertheless follows his guide, Virgil, through its gates. He also proves extremely emotional, as

shown by his frequent fainting when he becomes overly frightened or moved. As the story

progresses, Dante must learn to reconcile his sympathy for suffering with the harsh violence of

God’s justice; the deeper he proceeds into Hell, the less the agonies of the damned affect him.

Virgil encourages him to abhor sin and not pity the justice meted out to sinners; Dante must

achieve this level of stringent moral standards before he may begin his journey to Heaven,

played out in Purgatorio and Paradiso.

Because Dante the character is a fictional creation of Dante the poet, the reader should remember

that the character’s feelings do not always correspond to those of the poet. For instance, when

Dante sees Brunetto Latini among the Sodomites in Canto XV, Dante the character feels deeply

moved and treats his patron kindly and with compassion. But outside the poem, Dante the poet

has chosen to condemn his former patron to damnation; by placing him among the Sodomites, he

implies that Latini was homosexual, a vicious slur in fourteenth-century Italy. Indeed, on a

general level, the kindness and compassion of Dante the character often contrasts with the

feelings of Dante the poet, who, after all, has devised excruciating torments with which to punish

his characters, many of whom are historical individuals with whom Dante was acquainted in life.

Virgil

The only character besides Dante to appear all the way through Inferno, Virgil’s ghost is

generally taken by critics to represent human reason, which guides and protects the individual

(represented by Dante/Everyman) through the world of sin. As befits a character who symbolizes

reason, Virgil proves sober, measured, resolute, and wise. He repeatedly protects Dante from

hostile demons and monsters, from Charon to the Centaurs; when he appears powerless outside

the gates of the city of Dis in Canto VIII, his helplessness appears very ominous, signifying that

Lower Hell offers far darker dangers than Upper Hell. Virgil’s reliance on the angelic messenger

in this scene also symbolizes the fact that reason is powerless without faith—an important tenet

of Dante’s moral philosophy and one that marks Inferno as a Christian poem, distinct from the

classical epics that preceded it. In the fullest sense of the word, Virgil acts as Dante’s guide,

showing him not only the physical route through Hell but also reinforcing its moral lessons.

When Dante appears slow to learn these lessons—such as when he sympathizes with sinners or

attempts to remain too long in one region of Hell—Virgil often grows impatient with him, a trait

that humanizes this otherwise impersonal shade.

Dante the character and Dante the poet seem to regard Virgil differently. Dante the character

regards Virgil as his master, constantly swearing his admiration for, and trust in, him. Dante the

poet, however, often makes use of Inferno to prove his own poetic greatness in comparison to the

classical bards who preceded him—including Virgil, who lived more than a thousand years

before Dante. In Dante’s time, Virgil, the author of the Aeneid, was considered the greatest of

the Roman poets. As with many of his other classical and mythological appropriations, Dante’s

inclusion of Virgil in his poem denotes both an acknowledgment and appreciation of classical

tradition and, to some degree, a form of bragging on Dante’s part: for while he respects Virgil

enough to include him in his work, he also suggests that his poem subsumes Virgil entirely.

Beatrice - One of the blessed in Heaven, Beatrice aids Dante’s journey by asking an angel to

find Virgil and bid him guide Dante through Hell. Like Dante and Virgil, Beatrice corresponds to

a historical personage. Although the details of her life remain uncertain, we know that Dante fell

passionately in love with her as a young man and never fell out of it. She has a limited role in

Inferno but becomes more prominent in Purgatorio and Paradiso. In fact, Dante’s entire

imaginary journey throughout the afterlife aims, in part, to find Beatrice, whom he has lost on

Earth because of her early death. Critics generally view Beatrice as an allegorical representation

of spiritual love.

Charon - A figure that Dante appropriates from Greek mythology, Charon is an old man who

ferries souls across the river Acheron to Hell.

Paolo and Francesca da Rimini - A pair of lovers condemned to the Second Circle of Hell for

an adulterous love affair that they began after reading the story of Lancelot and Guinevere.

Lucifer - The prince of Hell, also referred to as Dis. Lucifer resides at the bottom of the Ninth

(and final) Circle of Hell, beneath the Earth’s surface, with his body jutting through the planet’s

center. An enormous giant, he has three faces but does not speak; his three mouths are busy

chewing three of history’s greatest traitors: Judas, the betrayer of Christ, and Cassius and Brutus,

the betrayers of Julius Caesar.

Minos - The king of Crete in Greek mythology, Minos is portrayed by Dante as a giant beast

who stands at the Second Circle of Hell, deciding where the souls of sinners shall be sent for

torment. Upon hearing a given sinner’s confession, Minos curls his tail around himself a specific

number of times to represent the circle of Hell to which the soul should be consigned.

Pope Boniface VIII - A notoriously corrupt pope who reigned from 1294 to 1303, Boniface

made a concerted attempt to increase the political might of the Catholic Church and was thus a

political enemy of Dante, who advocated a separation of church and state.

Farinata - A Ghibelline political leader from Dante’s era who resides among the Heretics in the

Sixth Circle of Hell. Farinata is doomed to continue his intense obsession with Florentine

politics, which he is now helpless to affect.

Phlegyas - The boatman who rows Dante and Virgil across the river Styx.

Filippo Argenti - A Black Guelph, a political enemy of Dante who is now in the Fifth Circle of

Hell. Argenti resides among the Wrathful in the river Styx.

Nessus - The Centaur (half man and half horse) who carries Dante through the First Ring of the

Seventh Circle of Hell.

Pier della Vigna - A former advisor to Emperor Frederick II, della Vigna committed suicide

when he fell into disfavor at the court. He now must spend eternity in the form of a tree.

Geryon - The massive serpentine monster that transports Dante and Virgil from the Seventh to

the Eighth Circle of Hell.

Malacoda - The leader of the Malabranche, the demons who guard the Fifth Pouch of the

Eighth Circle of Hell. Malacoda (his name means “evil tail”) intentionally furnishes Virgil and

Dante with erroneous directions.

Vanni Fucci - A thief punished in the Seventh Pouch of the Eighth Circle of Hell who

prophesies the defeat of the White Guelphs. A defiant soul, Fucci curses God and aims an

obscene gesture at Him before Dante journeys on.

Ulysses - The great hero of the Homeric epics the Iliad and the Odyssey. Ulysses was a bold and

cunning man who is now imprisoned in the Eighth Pouch of the Eighth Circle of Hell among

those guilty of Spiritual Theft.

Guido da Montefeltro - An advisor to Pope Boniface VIII, da Montefeltro was promised

anticipatory absolution—forgiveness for a sin given prior to the perpetration of the sin itself. Da

Montefeltro now suffers in Hell, since absolution cannot be gained without repentance and it is

impossible to repent a sin before committing it.

Antaeus - The giant who transports Dante and Virgil from the Eighth to the Ninth Circle of

Hell.

Count Ugolino - A traitor condemned to the Second Ring of the Ninth Circle of Hell. Ugolino

gnaws on the head of another damned traitor, Archbishop Ruggieri. When Ruggieri imprisoned

Ugolino and his sons, denying them food, Ugolino was driven to eat the corpses of his starved

sons.

Fra Alberigo and Branca d’Oria - Sinners condemned to the Third Ring of the Ninth Circle of

Hell. Fra Alberigo and Branca d’Oria are unlike the other sinners Dante encounters: their crimes

were deemed to be so great that devils snatched their souls from their living bodies; thus, their

souls reside in Hell while their bodies live on, now guided and possessed by demons.

Achilles (12) One of the heroes of the Trojan War.

Antaeus (31) Giant slain by Hercules.

Argenti (8) Florentine, bitter enemy of Dante's.

Attila (12) Chief of the Huns. Called "the Scourge of God."

Beatrice (2). The inspiration for Dante's work. She entreats Virgil to save Dante.

Bocca (32) Traitor of Florence. On one occasion he betrayed the Guelphs and caused their

defeat.

Boniface VIII, Pope (27) Dante's bitter enemy.

Brunetto Latini (15) Distinguished scholar, beloved friend, and advisor to Dante.

Brutus (34) One of the conspirators in the murder of Caesar.

Caiaphas (23) The high priest who influenced the Hebrew Council to crucify Jesus.

Capaneus (14) One of the seven against Thebes. Defied Zeus and was killed by him.

Cassius (34) One of the conspirators who killed Julius Caesar.

Calvacanti, Cavalcante dei (10) Father of the poet Guido who is Dante's friend.

Guido His son. The father inquires about him in Hell.

Celestine V, Pope (3) Resigned the papal throne, thus making way for Pope Boniface VIII.

Cerberus (6) The three headed hound: guards one of the gates of Hell.

Charon (3) The Ferryman of the river Acheron in Hell.

Ciacco (5) A notorious glutton: his name means "the hog."

Cleopatra (5) Queen of Egypt; mistress of Caesar and Mark Antony.

Dido (5) Queen of Carthage. She was Aeneas' lover.

Diomede (26) Companion of Ulysses in his last voyage.

Donati family (28) A politically powerful family who caused the split in the political parties.

Erichtho (9) Sorceress who conjured Virgil's spirit to help Dante.

Farinata (10) A prominent leader of the Ghibelline party who defeated Dante's party.

Francesca da Rimini (5) Lover of Paolo whose brother slew them in the act of adultery.

Frederick II, Emperor (10) Attempted to unite Italy and Sicily.

Geri del Bello (29) Cousin to Dante whose murder was not avenged.

Geryon (17) A monster who represents fraud.

Gianni Schicchi (3) Aided a member of the Donati family in falsifying a will.

Harpies (13) In mythology, birds with the faces of women.

Jason (28) Leader of the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece.

Judas Iscariot (34) One of the twelve disciples. He betrayed Jesus.

Mahomet (28) Founder of the Islamic religion.

Malabranche (21) Demons who punish the barrators. The name means "evil-claws."

Malacoda (21) One of the Malebranche. His name means "evil tail."

Medusa (9) One of the Gorgons. The sight of her head filled with snakes turned men to stone.

Minotaur (12) A monster with a bull's body and a man's head.

Nessus (12) One of the Centaurs, killed by Hercules.

Nicholas, III, Pope (19) Successor to Pope John XXI; accused of Simony.

Paolo da Rimini (5) Committed adultery with Francesca, his brother's wife.

Phlegyas (8) Ferryman of the river Styx in Hell.

Plutus (7) God of riches.

Potiphar's Wife (30) Falsely accused Joseph of trying to seduce her.

Ruggieri, Archbishop (10) Traitor who starved Ugolino and his sons.

Satan (34) Also called Lucifer, Dis, and Beelzebub, he is the "Emperor of Hell."

Scala, Can Grande ella (1) Dante's friend and protector in exile.

Sinon the Greek (30) Accused of treachery during Trojan War.

Thaïs (18) A courtesan who flattered her lover excessively.

Ugolino, Count (33) Imprisoned with his sons and starved to death.

Ulysses (26) Legendary hero of Homer's Odyssey.

Vanni Fucci (24) A thief who shocks Dante with his obscenity.

Vigne, Pier delle (13) He was unjustly imprisoned for graft and committed suicide.

Other Important Facts

CITY-STATES: CONFLICTS AND FACTIONS

Guelphs and Ghibellines; Blacks and Whites; factions based on local, papal, national and

imperial politics; people were killing one another over these issues Just know that there were a

lot of conflicts between political factions in Italy; Dante was exiled from his native Florence

because of political conflict.