from The Inferno
Dante
Canto 3: The Vestibule of Hell
I AM THE WAY INTO THE CITY OF WOE
I AM THE WAY TO A FORSAKEN PEOPLE
I AM THE WAY INTO ETERNAL SORROW
SACRED JUSTICE MOVED MY ARCHITECT.
I WAS RAISED HERE BY DIVINE OMNIPOTENCE.
PRIMORDIAL LOVE AND ULTIMATE INTELLECT.
ONLY THOSE ELEMENTS TIME CANNOT WEAR
WERE MADE BEFORE ME, AND BEYOND TIME STAND.
ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE.
-
Analysis
• The summary for Canto 3 alludes to the “Rebellion of
Angels” which refers to Satan, originally called
Lucifer, who was cast out of heaven after rebelling
against God.
• Symbolic retribution: the law of symbolic retribution is
based on the lex talionis, the law of retaliation
whereby one transgresses against another is made
to suffer in exactly the same way. This principle of
“an eye for an eye” was first formulated in the Code
of Hammurabi, a collection of 282 laws that
regulated every aspect of Babylonian life, and was
highly detailed and punitive.
Analysis
• The inscription on the gate to Hell is carved in
stone: this reinforces the harshness and
permanence of the message.
• By taking Dante’s hand and leading him “with
a gentle and encouraging smile,” Virgil shows
a benevolent and protective attitude toward
Dante.
• Dante employs anaphora, a rhetorical term
for the repetition of a word or phrase at the
beginning of successive clauses, at the
beginning of Canto 3
Analysis
• Though Dante is credited for creating
this canto purely based on his
imagination,
a theological justification
for Dante's invention may be found in
Apocalypse (Revelation) 3:16: "But
because thou art lukewarm and neither
cold nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee
out of my mouth."
• It is important to note that Hell is a
creation of God, not Satan.
Virgil’s Concept of Hell
from The Aeneid, Book VI
• Begins with the Trojan fleet landing on the shores of
Italy.
• Aeneas goes to the Temple of Apollo, following his
father’s
instructions, to meet Sibyl, a priestess.
• Aeneas prays to Apollo to let the Trojans settle in
Latium.
• Sibyl offers a caveat that more trials await in Italy:
fighting on the scale of the Trojan War, a nemesis the
caliber of the Greek warrior Achilles, and further
interference from Juno.
Virgil’s Concept of Hell
from The Aeneid, Book VI
• Aeneas asks Sibyl for entrance into Dis (the city of
the dead) so that he may visit his father; she tells him
that he will first need a sign---to find a golden branch
- a nearby forest.
in
• Sibyl instructs him that if the branch breaks off easily,
he is meant to enter Dis.
• Upon entering the forest, Aeneas is frightened; after
a prayer, however, two doves descend and guide him
to the golden branch.
• The branch tears away easily; he brings the branch
back to Sibyl, who leads him to the gates of Dis.
Virgil’s Concept of Hell
from The Aeneid, Book VI
• Just inside the gates runs the river Acheron; the
ferryman Charon delivers the spirits of the dead
across the river. Aeneas notices that all souls are not
granted
passage.
• These souls (which must remain on the bank), are,
according to Sibyl, must remain there because they
have not received a proper burial.
• Aeneas spots his once companion and helmsman,
Palinurus, among these souls.
• Though Charon instructs them that no living souls
may cross the bank, Sibyl shows Charon the golden
branch, and Charon ferries them across.
Virgil’s Concept of Hell
from The Aeneid, Book VI
• Horrified, Aeneas hears the screams and wails of the
souls on the other side.
• The souls of the recently deceased line up for the
judgment
of Minos.
• Nearby, Aeneas spots those in The Fields of
Mourning, where those that died for love wander.
• Aeneas spots Dido, his past lover, wandering there,
and explains to her that he did not leave her on his
own free will.
• With regret and pity, Aeneas sees the shade of the
dead queen turn away from him toward the shade of
her husband, Sychaeus.
Virgil’s Concept of Hell
from The Aeneid, Book VI
• Aeaneas continues onwards to the field of war
heroes, where he encounters the casualties of the
Trojan
War. The Greeks flee at the sight of him.
• Sibyl urges him onward to the fortress of
Rhadamanthus, who doles out harsh judgment and
punishment to the most evil of sinners.
• Finally, Aeneas and Sibyl come upon the Blessed
Groves, where people are truly at peace; Aeneas
sees his father.
• Anchises gives him a warm greeting and
congratulates him on his difficult journey.
Virgil’s Concept of Hell
from The Aeneid, Book VI
• Anchises answers many of Aeneas’s questions
regarding Dis; he explains that truly good souls can
eventually
reach the Field of Gladness.
• Anchises explains to Aeneas that his explication from
his Italian lineage is the reason for his journey into
the underworld.
• Anchises explains the future of theTrojan
descendants: Romulus will found Rome, a Caesar
will eventually come from the line of Ascanius, and
Rome will reach a Golden Age of rule over the world.
Virgil’s Concept of Hell
from The Aeneid, Book VI
• Aeneas finally understands the
significance of his journey to
Italy; Anchises accompanies
Aeneas out of Dis.
• Aeneas returns to his comrades
on the beach; they cast off.
-
Analysis of Virgil’s Concept of Hell
from The Aeneid, Book VI
• This passage helps lift Virgil to the status of Christian
prophet during the Middle Ages.
• Like Dante, Virgil’s Hell has many components and is
secular, in which many punishments are doled out in
regards to severity of the crime.
• Virgil portrays an afterlife in which people are judged
according to the virtue of their lives on Earth, amidst
a world that believed in temperamental gods that
required sacrifice to be at peace and doled out
arbitrary punishment.
Analysis of Virgil’s Concept of Hell
from The Aeneid, Book VI
• The presence of Orpheus (mythical
Greek
poet, “father of songs,” who
descended into Hades and
returned) in the Blessed Groves
gives evidence to Orphism being
fused together with future Christian
and Western beliefs. Orphism
deviated from Greek religion.
Analysis of Virgil’s Concept of Hell
from The Aeneid, Book VI
• Orphism’s core beliefs:
• human souls are divine and immortal but doomed to
live (for a period) in a "grievous circle" of successive
bodily
lives through metempsychosis, or the
transmigration of souls.
• an ascetic (pursuit of religious and spiritual goals)
way of life which guarantees not only eventual
release from the "grievous circle" but also
communion with god(s) (together with secret initiation
rites).
• postmortem punishment for certain transgressions
committed during life.
Analysis of Virgil’s Concept of Hell
from The Aeneid, Book VI
• Rhadamanthus’s judgment of souls is similar to the
Christian notion of judgment after death.
• Those that fail to repent their sins will suffer more
after
death.
• Virgil does not offer a similar version of heaven,
unlike Dante; all souls go to Dis, just occupy a better
place if good
• Virgil’s Dis fits with Christian theology because it
states that souls who died before Christ go to
purgatory (a form of Dis) instead of Heaven (only
those that have accepted Christ as Savior.
Oh Yes
by Charles Bukowski
there are worse things than
being alone
but it often takes decades
to realize this
and most often
when you do
it's too late
and there's nothing worse
than
too late.