Dante
Inferno
Oooh…Scary!
Before we begin our journey into the depths of
Dante’s Hell…
What other depictions of Hell
have you seen?
Ever play
“DOOM?”
Ever wonder what Hell
looks like?
Even Lucifer can’t stand it…
Excellent Choice!
The River Acheron…
CHARON
Who will guide you across the river towards the
gates of hell? (click for a hint)
Dante and…who was
his guide?
VIRGIL
Now, you must choose your own guide
through the depths of Hell…
THE GATES OF HELL
ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER
HERE…
Famous Icons Trapped in Limbo
Click to reveal the names of the eternally damned…
Ovid
Homer
Lucan
Horace
Circle II – The Carnal
-The sinners are sentenced to their punishment by Minos (pictured
here).
The Suffering of the Carnal
- The Lustful…indulged their passions beyond
reason.
- trapped forever in a violent storm, never to
touch anything again.
- Features the lovers Francesca and Paolo
(pictured below).
Circle III – The Gluttonous
CERBERUS
-Those trapped in Circle 3 are constantly maimed by Cerberus
-Symbolic of their excessive drinking and eating
-Click here to see a picture of the suffering of the gluttonous…
The Suffering of the Gluttonous
-They lie in putrid slush (symbolic of the garbage they produced)
-It is continuously raining and hailing
-They provide quite a hefty snack for Cerberus…
Circle IV – The Hoarders and Wasters
-The Greedy vs. the Wasteful
- They are divided into two groups, each pushing boulders against each other
(symbolic of their mundane existence on earth, with sin punishing its opposite
sin).
Circle V - The River Styx
-The Wrathful are forever attacking
one another while stuck in the marsh
of the Styx…
- Crossing the river on your own is too
dangerous…who will be your guide? (click the
picture to find out)
Crossing the River Styx
Click HERE to view a
video of Dante and
Virgil crossing the
Styx…
Phlegyas, your guide
-The Slothful are eternally trapped beneath the swampy water of the River
-They reach out and try to pull you into the swamp…
You have reached the City of Dis!
…THE SINS OF MALICE
Click HERE to see a
video about the “Sins
of Malice
The Shores of Dis…
Now, your true nightmare beings…for within the Walls of Dis are the worst sins of
Hell...
There is no turning back now…Click the Stairs to enter Dis…
Circle VI
The Heretics
-The heretics denied
immortality, and therefore
denied God.
- They are entombed in flaming
graves for eternity (since they
believed the soul dies with the
body, they will suffer that fate
in Hell).
Circle VII
The Violent and the Bestial
Circle VII - Outer Ring
The Violent Against Neighbors
-Murderers and Warmakers are
immersed in boiling blood
(symbolic of the blood of those
they killed).
-Centaurs (pictured here)
guard the banks and shoot
arrows at anyone who tries to
escape
Circle VII – Middle Ring
The Violent Against Self
-The Wood of the Suicides
-Their souls are encased
in thorny trees.
- The harpies feed upon
their leaves.
(Click to see the harpies
feeding on the trapped
souls)
Circle VII – Middle Ring
The Violent Against God
-The blasphemers, sodomites, and usurers all
committed a profane act against God
-They are lain over burning sand or forced to
ceaselessly run around in circles
-The sky rains fire symbolic of God’s wrath
Circle VIII - Malebolge
-Malebolge contains the “Fraudulent” sinners
-They are guilty of committing deliberate evil
-Each type of sinner is placed in their own ditch
-Click on the diagram of Malebolge to explore…
Seducers
Hypocrites
Flatterers
Thieves
Simoniacs
Evil Counselors
Sorcerers
Sowers of Discord
Grafters
Falsifiers
Circle VIII – Inside Malebolge…
Seducers – Run forever in opposite directions and are whipped by demons
Falsifiers
Simoniacs
Flatterers – Lie up to their necks in human feces
Sowers of
Simoniacs – Those who mocked the church are placed head-first in flaming holes
Discord
Sorcerers – Their heads are put on their bodies backward
Grafters – Trapped in a lake of burning pitch
Hypocrites – Made to wear brightly painted lead cloaks
Thieves – Chased by venomous snakes and who, after being bitten by the venomous
snakes, turn into snakes themselves and
chase the other thieves in turn
Thieves
Evil Counselors – Eternally trapped in flames
Sowers of discord – Their bodies are ripped apart, healed, and they destroyed again
Falsifiers – Alchemists, counterfeiters, and perjureres are cursed with disease
The Path to the Ninth Circle...
You must be lowered into the pit by
the Giants Antaeus and Nimrod…
Circle IX – Compound Fraud
Circle IX - Caina
You travel across the
frozen lake of the 9th
circle of Hell…
Caina features those
who betrayed their
family…
They are frozen up to
their necks in ice…
They cry eternally for
those they betrayed…
Circle IX - Antenora
Antenora holds those
who betrayed their
country…
Your fear rises as you
travel closer to the
lair of the Devil…
Circle IX - Ptolomea
Ptolomea holds those
who betryaed their
guests…
Their tears freeze
instantly and pierce
their eyes…
Circle IX - Judecca
ESCAPE!!!
Lucifer’s three faces eternally consume the bodies of Brutus and Cassius for
betraying Caesar, and Judas Iscariot for betraying Christ…
There is only one path for you to take now…
Dante’s Inferno: Introduction
• The Divine Comedy is a narrative poem describing
Dante’s imaginary journey.
• Midway on his journey through life, Dante realizes he
has taken the wrong path.
• The Roman poet Virgil searches for the lost Dante at
the request of Beatrice.
– He finds Dante in the woods on the evening of Good Friday
in the year 1300 and serves as a guide as Dante begins his
religious pilgrimage to find God.
– To reach his goal, Dante passes through Hell, Purgatory,
and Paradise.
Dante’s Inferno: Introduction
• The Divine Comedy was not titles as such by
Dante; his title for the work was simply
Commedia or Comedy.
– Dante’s use of the word “comedy” is medieval by
definition.
– To Dante and his contemporaries, the term
“comedy” meant a tale with a happy ending, not a
funny story as the word has since come to mean.
Dante’s Inferno: Introduction
• The Divine Comedy is made up of three parts,
corresponding with Dante’s three journeys: Inferno
(or Hell); Purgatorio (or Purgatory); and Paridisio (or
Paradise).
• Each part consists of a prologue and approximately
33 cantos.
• Since the narrative poem is in an exalted form with a
hero as its subject, it is an epic poem.
Dante’s Inferno
• Dante and Virgil enter the wide gates of Hell
and descend through the nine circles of Hell.
• In each circle they see sinners being punished
for their sins on Earth; Dante sees the torture
as Divine justice.
Dante’s Inferno
• The sinners in the circles include:
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Circle One – Those in limbo
Circle Two – The lustful
Circle Three – The gluttonous
Circle Four – The hoarders
Circle Five – The wrathful
Circle Six – The heretics
Circle Seven – The violent
• Ring 1: Murderers, robbers, and plunderers
• Ring 2: Suicides and those harmful to the world
• Ring 3: Those harmful against God, nature, art, as well as usurers
Dante’s Inferno: Introduction
• Circle Eight – The Fraudulent
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Bowge (Trench) I: Panderers and Seducers
Bowge II: Flatterers
Bowge III: Simoniacs
Bowge IV: Sorcerers
Bowge V: Barrators
Bowge VI: Hypocrites
Bowge VII: Thieves
Bowge VIII: Counselors
Bowge IX: Sowers of Discord
Bowge X: Falsifiers
Dante’s Inferno: Introduction
• Circle Nine – Traitors
– Region i: Traitors to their kindred
– Region ii: Traitors to their country
– Region iii: Traitors to their guests
– Region iv: Traitors to their lords
Dante’s Inferno: Introduction
• On Easter Sunday, Dante emerges from Hell.
• Through his travels, he has found his way to
God and is able, once more, to look upon the
stars.
Dante’s Inferno: Canto I
• Characters:
– Dante: The writer, narrator, main character, and traveler in
The Inferno.
– Leopard: The first character (Self-indulgence) whom Dante
meets.
– Lion: The second character ( Violence) whom Dante
meets.
– She-Wolf: The third character (Malice) whom Dante
meets.
– Virgil: Ancient Roman poet who appears to Dante and
becomes his guide.
Dante’s Inferno: Canto I
• Midway on his journey through life, Dante falls
asleep and loses his way.
• He wakes during the night of Maundy Thursday (Holy
Thursday) to find himself in a dark wood; he does not
know how he got there.
• Dante loses the right way; the narrow road he had
wanted to travel has disappeared.
• Dante feels hope when he sees morning rays of sun
over the mountain, even though he is still alone in
the valley.
Dante’s Inferno: Canto I
• As he scales the mountain, Dante encounters a
leopard.
– The leopard impedes his progress, but it is not very
frightening
• The second animal that Dante meets is a fierce,
hungry lion, which comes toward him swiftly and
savagely.
• The third – and worst – animal that Dante
encounters is a vicious she-wolf.
– She terrifies Dante so much that he is unable to continue
his travels.
Dante’s Inferno: Canto I
• The shade of the poet Virgil appears to Dante.
– Until the greyhound comes to secure the wolf in Hell, Virgil
explains, the only way past the wolf is another path.
– Virgil offers to show Dante the path to an eternal place
where he can see long-departed souls.
– At that point, Virgil says, another guide will come and take
Dante to a city which Virgil cannot enter.
– Dante accepts Virgil’s offer and follows the poet.
Analysis: Canto I
• Dante has lost the narrow way to God; he finds
himself in the valley of sin and separation from God
– Dante is not sure how he lost the bright, right, narrow way;
the darkness of sin and night (Maundy Thursday before
Passover) frightens him.
– When Good Friday (the morning of Jesus’ crucifixion)
arrives, Dante feels hope as he sees the rays of light
(goodness) shine over the mountain – a symbol of the
ascent from evil that one must make to reach God.
Analysis : Canto I
• The three animals – the leopard, lion, and wolf, are images of
sin.
• The first animal – the leopard – depicts the sins of selfindulgence or incontinence, which are often sins of youth.
• The lion represents the sins of bestial violence which often
are the sins of adulthood.
• The wolf represents the malicious sins, the sins of age.
• The greyhound is a symbol of the political or religious leader
who will come to help rid the world of greed.
– It could also symbolize Dante’s friend Can Grande (Italian for “Great
Dog”) della Scalla, the Ghibelline leader.
Analysis: Canto I
• Virgil represents human reason, which can help – to a point –
in bringing Dante out of the wood.
• Virgil was the inspiration for Dante.
– Virgil’s Aeneid was the pattern for The Inferno.
– It is natural that Virgil should guide Dante when Dante was lost in life
just as Virgil guided Dante as Dante wrote.
– Virgil’s hoarseness could refer to his not having spoken since he began
his journey to Hell, or it could refer to the fact that he had not spoken
to the world for some time since he was not a popular writer at the
time.
– It is significant that Virgil cannot speak until Dante speaks to him.
Analysis: Canto I
• Dante’s main theme is the picaresque ( or journey)
theme.
• Dante’s journey to the nether regions is vital to The
Inferno.
• With pilgrimages being common in the 1200s and
1300s, and with the influence of Virgil’s writings on
Dante, it is not surprising that Dante uses the
picaresque theme.
Analysis: Canto I
• A second theme in The Inferno is the survival
of the unfittest.
– A weak, lost Dante encounters three wild animals
and even manages a trip to the depths of Hell and
back.
• A third main theme is the reversal of fortune.
– Dante is lost at the beginning of Canto I, but by
the end of The Inferno, he has found his way.