Reading ppt
Canto I

 Opens on the evening of Good Friday in the year
1300.
 Traveling through a dark wood, Dante has los this
path and now wanders fearfully through the forest;
he has “strayed from the True Way into the Dark
Wood of Error.”
 Dark Wood of Error= worldliness
 Allegorical journey- reference to a life’s journey,
veering from the straight road, being alone, losing
hope, etc… all suggest an allegorical, NOT a literal
journey
Canto I

 The sun shines down on a mountain
above him, and he attempts to climb
up it but his way is blocked by three
beasts (these three beats all represent
different aspects of world sin):
 Leopard= malice and fraud
 Lion = violence and ambition
 She-Wolf = incontinence (lack of selfrestraint)
Animal symbolism

 Dante's symbols, the leopard, the lion, and the shewolf, symbolize carnal sins which are divided into
three categories of severity: the sins of malice and
fraud, the sins of violence and ambition, and the sins
of incontinence, respectively.
 Leopard tricks people with his spots (fraud); lions
are sneaking and violent as they hunt (violence); and
wolves are mysterious and usually work in packs.
Canto I

 Just as Dante faces these three beats, a human figure
appears. It is Virgil (great Roman poet).
 Virgil = Human reason
 Virgil has come to guide Dante from error. They
must first pass through Hell (the recognition of sin),
Purgatory (the renunciation of sin), and only then
can he come to the Paradise (the light of God).
 Another guide, Beatrice will take over later
 Beatrice= divine love
Canto I

 Look at lines 1-4: what tense is this written in?
 Why this tense?
 Lines 15-18: personification
 Lines 22-25: epic simile
 Lines 31-33: foreshadowing
 Predictions include ideas of danger, deceit and fraud
 The leopard is a real threat but it also represents an
abstract idea (there is old story where a leopard
changes his spots to fool the other animals)
Canto I

 Aries= god of creation
 “new creation” (line 39)= Easter (symbolic new
awakening)
 He is MOST fearful of the She-Wolf
 Temptation to sin
 “many souls she has brought to endless grief”
 He has an EMOTIONAL response to the She-Wolf (not
just physical fear); he is convinced she will destroy his
hopes for reaching the “high summit.”
 “she has struck a mortal tremor in me” (line 87)
Canto I

 (pg. 662)- Virgil’s life
 Story of Anchises’ son, Aeneas: In Greco-Roman
mythology, Aeneas was a Trojan hero, the son of the
prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite.
 Virgil is his true master and mentor (lines 81-83)
 She-Wolf
 “but feeding, she grows hungrier than she was” (line
93)- gluttony; never satisfied
 The She-Wolf kills all who approach her but someday
a magnificent hound will come and chase her back to
hell
Canto I

 “set upon a burning mountain” (referring to the
mountain of Purgatory)- line 111
 Possible purification in this place (between heaven
and hell)
 Suffering is borne in hope because it is a part of
purification that will result in the rise to Paradise.
 Ends with Virgil offering to guide Dante to Paradise
where Beatrice will take over (because of the SheWolf, he cannot pass…)
Pages 665-671
In pop culture
 First Circle: Limbo

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIlIiKijork
 Second Circle: Lust
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CDHAFy38ig
 Third Circle: Gluttony
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV_kEStNMP4
 Fourth Circle: Greed
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY3BtdM2qYI
 Seventh Circle: Violence
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMdJ1r6x27Q
 Eighth Circle: Fraud
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBydVySik6s
 Ninth Circle: Treachery
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUXQFbM4BV0
Canto III

 Gates of Hell (portrayal of Hell as an actual city)
 “sacred justice moved by architect” (line 4)- God
created Hell out of justice; a desire to see sin punished
and virtues rewarded. (ultimate JUSTICE)
 “Abandon all Hope, You Who Enter Here”
Canto III

 Law of symbolic retribution
 Punishment that symbolizes the crime
 “as they sinned, so are they punished”
 All about ULTIMATE JUSTICE and DIVINE JUSTICE
(justice carried out by God)
 Opportunists
Canto III

 Those souls who were neither good
nor bad but only for themselves.
They lived their lives without
making conscious moral choices;
therefore both Heaven and Hell
have denied them. (reside in the
Ante-Inferno)
 They must constantly chase after a
blank banner. Flies and wasps
continually bite them and consume
the blood and tears that flow from
them.
 Dante recognizes Pope Celestine
V here (renounced his title)
Canto III

 Symbolic retribution of the opportunists:
 Took no sides- so they are given no place
 Ever-shifting illusion- so they pursue an ever-shifting
banner
 Their sin was a darkness- so they move in darkness
 Guilty conscious pursued them- wasps pursue them
 Actions were a moral filth- they run eternally through
the filth of worms and maggots
Canto III

 Acheron= the first of the rivers of Hell
 Newly arrived damned souls wait to be ferried along
 Charon= boatman of the river
 Refuses to take Dante because is a living soul (lines 85-90)
 Virgil forces Charon- God ordained it (lines 91-93)
 Dante faints and does not awaken until they get to the
other side
 “sleep comes over in a swoon” (line 133)
Canto III

 “Divine justice transforms and spurs them so their
dread turns wish: they yearn for what they fear”
(lines 121-123).
 Hell= sin (allegorically) so….
 Hell is their CHOICE, for divine grace is denied to
none who wish for it in their hearts.
Pages 674-682
In pop culture

 Second Circle: Lust
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CDHAFy38ig
 Third Circle: Gluttony
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV_kEStNMP4
 Fourth Circle: Greed
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY3BtdM2qYI
Canto V

 Virgil and Dante are now in the
SECOND circle of Hell (size does
not change, just “size” of crimes)
 Minos: monster who stands in
front of the endless line of sinners,
assigning them to their torments.
 Wraps his tail around them;
number of times around =
number of hell they are assigned
 From classical Greek mythology;
son of Europa and Zeus,
descended in the form of a bull
Canto V

 Sins of Lust: those who betrayed reason to their
appetites; their sin was to abandon themselves to the
tempest of their passions: so they are swept forever
in the tempest of Hell, forever denied the light of
reason and of God.
 List of famous “sinners” of lust
 Francesca tells her own story (as Paolo weeps)
 Dante immediately feels sympathy for these souls
and once again faints
Canto V

 http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/circle2.html#francesca
 Semiramis: legendary queen of King Nimus; tricked her husband’s
army and had him killed.
 Dido: Queen of Carthage; falls in love, only to be left by the Trojan
hero Aeneas
 Cleopatra: last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt; had affair with Caesar
and bore a son as co-ruler
 Helen- of Troy
 Achilles- Greek hero of Trojan War; died in an ambush after falling
in love with the Trojan princess Polyxena; overall, lustful character
 Paris- story of Troy
 Tristan- a Cornish hero and one of the Knights of the Round Table;
he and Iseult accidentally consume a love potion and fall in love,
having a secret affair.
 Francesca and Paolo (tells their story…)
 Allusions
 All are women who followed their passions
Canto V

 The story of Francesca and Paolo
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrI1VAQEos8
 Bound in marriage to an old and deformed man, she fell in
love with Paolo, her husband’s younger brother. One day,
as she and Paolo sat reading an Arthurian Legend about the
love of Lancelot and Guenivere, each began to feel that the
story spoke to their own secret love,
 When they came to a particular romantic moment in the
story, they could not resist kissing. Francesca’s husband
quickly discovered them and had Paolo killed.
 Francesca and Paolo are doomed to spend eternity in the
second level of Hell.
Canto V

Symbolic Retribution
 “stripped bare of ever light” (in darkness)- where
inappropriate sins/acts would have occurred
 Naked
 In a “hellish flight of storm” sweeping their souls and
whirling and battering them on- just as their sin is of the
flesh, the storm racks their nerves and hurts their skin.
 Out of control storm- they demonstrated lack of control as
well
**Central theme- those who abandon reason for passion will
be punished**
Hand out
Canto XXXIII

 Circle Nine (compound fraud)
 Round two: Antenora (The Treacherous to Country)
 Round three: Ptolomea (the Treacherous to Guests and
Hosts)
In pop culture

 Eighth Circle: Fraud
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBydVySik6s
 Ninth Circle: Treachery
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUXQFbM4BV0

Canto 33: Fraud and
Treachery

The nine circles are groups into
threes, corresponding to the three
kinds of vice that Dante learned
from Aristotle:
incontinence (the Wolf)
violence (the Lion)
fraud and malice (the Leopard).
Canto 33: Fraud and
Treachery

 The ninth circle, Cocytus (a river in the Greek
underworld which means "river of wailing") is
reserved for sins of fraud and treachery.
 The rounds are dedicated to a specific type of sin
(Antenora, treachery towards country, and Ptolomea,
treachery towards guests and hosts).
Canto 33: Antenora
(treachery toward country)

 Named for Antenor who betrayed Troy to the Greeks
(in some versions).
 Count Ugolino and Archbishop Ruggieri are in the
Round for treason: they once plotted together, and
Ruggieri betrayed his fellow-plotter and caused his
death by starvation along with his four “sons.” His
sons offer their father themselves as food.
 In Dante’s world of symbolic retribution, Ruggieri
becomes food for Ugolino, who gnaws on his head.
Canto XXXIII

 Story of Count Ugolino and Archbishop Ruggieri
 The sinner raises himself from his gnawing and declares
that in life he was Count Ugolino; the man whose head he
chews was Archbishop Ruggieri. Both men lived in Pisa
(community known for scandal but went unpunished), and
the archbishop, a traitor himself, had imprisoned Ugolino
and his sons as traitors. He denied them food, and when the
sons died, Ugolino, in his hunger, was driven to eat the
flesh of their corpses.
Canto 33: Antenora
(treachery toward country)

 Ugolino’s sons are actually grown men and the
younger grandson is fifteen; for effect, Dante makes
them much younger.
 The Canto brings forth the concept of fairness: is
Ugolino’s revenge justified?
 Ugolino has betrayed Pisa by giving up castles during
a war, and for this, he is punished. Dante also blames
Pisa for allowing his children to die.
Ptolomea (treachery to
guests and hosts)

 At this point, Dante is numb from witnessing the
horrors of Hell.
 He is also confused as to the source of the wind.
 Hell is not warm and full of light from fire: it is a
“frozen mine” (metaphor).
 The round is named for Ptolomeus, who invited
Simon Maccabaeus, king of Judea, and his two sons
to a banquet and then murdered them.
Ptolomea(treachery to
guests and hosts)

 Those condemned to this round lie with only half their
faces above the ice and their tears freeze in their eye
sockets, sealing them with little crystal visors. Thus, the
comfort of tears is taken away from them.
 So great is the sin of Friar Alberigo and Branca d’Oria that
their souls fall to its torments even before they die, leaving
their body still on earth, inhabited by demons.
 To avenge an insult, Friar Alberigo invited his brother
Manfred and his son to dinner. At the signal “bring the
fruit,” murderers killed Manfred and son.
 Dante promises the Friar that he will relieve his
punishment if he will tell his story; however, he breaks it,
because then he will not suffer to the full extent.
Ptolomea(treachery to
guests and hosts)

 Branca d’Oria invited his father-in-law to a feast,
Michel Zanche, and then murdered him.
 In this Round, Dante introduces the idea the demons
(and Satan) can live on earth through living souls.
 Ptolomea
Canto XXXIII

 Houses those who betrayed their guests. The souls here lie on
their backs in the frozen lake, with only their faces poking out
of the ice. Tears cannot offer comfort because the water freezes
as crystal visors over their eyes.
 Friar Alberigo-13th century Italian. His family were banished from
Faenza by their rivals. Alberigo had his brother and nephew killed
during a banquet at his home. Alberigo's orders to bring fruit was the
signal for the murder. Dante portrays him as regretting this crime,
stating in Canto XXXIII that he is repaid in Hell in dates for the figs he
called for at the banquet (dates being much more expensive than figs).
 Branca d’Oria- treacherous murder of Michele Zanche, his father-
in-law, in 1275.
 Although these individuals have not yet died on Earth, their crimes
were so great that their souls were obliged to enter Hell before
their time; devils occupy their living bodies aboveground.
Canto XXXIII

 Infamy: extremely bad reputation, public reproach,
or strong condemnation as the result of a shameful,
criminal, or outrageous act
 Ugolino will tell his story only because he hopes to
bring condemnation to Ruggieri (lines 5-9)
 Irony in “gnaw his brain” (line 15)
 Importance of hospitality (Greek “code”)
Canto XXXIII

 Spiritual retribution
Pages 683-690
Canto XXXIV

 Ninth Circle (Compound Fraud) : Cocytus
 Round 4: Judeca, the Treacherous to their Masters
 The Center: Satan
 Betrayal- Dante considered this the worst sin
 They betrayed their masters; now they are tortured by
their “master” Satan (holds all three in his mouth)
 Judas, Brutus and Cassius
Canto XXXIV

 Story of the three men in Satan’s mouth
 Judas:
 Brutus:
 Cassius:
Judas Iscariot

 Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the
Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ.
 He is infamously known for his kiss and betrayal of Jesus to the
hands of the chief Sanhedrin priests in exchange for a payment
of 30 pieces of silver, after which he subsequently hanged
himself out of remorse and guilt.
 Mark states that the chief priests were looking for a sly way to
arrest Jesus. They decided not to do so during the feast since they
were afraid that people would riot; instead, they chose the night
before the feast to arrest him. In the Gospel of Luke, Satan enters
Judas at this time.
 According to the account in the Gospel of John, Judas carried the
disciples' money bag. He betrayed Jesus for a bribe of "thirty
pieces of silver“ by identifying him with a kiss — "the kiss of
Judas — to arresting soldiers of the High Priest Caiaphas, who
then turned Jesus over to Pontius Pilate's soldiers.
Brutus

 Marcus Junius Brutus (early June, 85 BC – 23 October,
42 BC), often referred to as Brutus, was a politician of the
late Roman Republic.
 He is best known in modern times for taking a leading role
in the assassination of Julius Caesar.
 Many senators began to fear Caesar's growing power
following his appointment as dictator for life. Brutus was
persuaded into joining the conspiracy against Caesar by the
other senators. Eventually, Brutus decided to move against
Caesar after Caesar's king-like behavior prompted him to
take action.
Cassius

 Gaius Cassius Longinus (before 85 BC – October, 42 BC)
was a Roman senator, a leading instigator of the plot to
kill Julius Caesar, and the brother in-law of Marcus Junius
Brutus.
 Although Cassius was "the moving spirit" in the plot
against Caesar, Brutus became their leader. On the Ides of
March, 44 BC, Cassius urged on his fellow liberators and
struck Caesar in the face. Though they succeeded in
assassinating Caesar, the celebration was short-lived, as
Mark Antony seized power and turned the public against
them. According to some accounts, Cassius had wanted
to kill Antony at the same time as Caesar, but Brutus
dissuaded him
Canto XXXIV

 Satan
 “his great wings beating like a windmill. It is their
beating that is the source of the icy wind of Cocytus”
(LITERAL meaning of the frozen environment)
 Titans only come up to his armpits (line 30)
 “bat like wings” (line 48-50)
 “Grotesque parody of the Trinity”- 3 faces with 3
sinners in his mouth (page 685)
 No longer beautiful as he was in heaven
Not this
version….
Canto XXXIV

 Retribution
Canto XXXIV
