Canto XXXIV
The Ninth & Final Circle of Hell
JASMINE MILLER
NOVEMBER 21, 2007
Summary of the Canto
The poet reach the final round of the last
circle of Cocytus, the ninth and final circle of
Hell called, Judecca, and see the sinners there
completely encased in the ice, in all sorts of
strange and twisted positions. These are
sinners who were treacherous to their
masters, and since they cannot speak, the
poets move on to see Satan, the master of
this place.
Satan
 Satan’s bat like wings are flapping, creating a cold wind
that freezes the ice firmer.
 Satan himself is represented as a giant, terrifying beast,
weeping tears from his six eyes, which mix with the
traitors' blood sickeningly.
 Satan is bound in the ice to his mid-point and has three
faces- a red one, a yellow one, and a black one. In each of
his three mouths, he chews a sinner.
 Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Christ, is the one in the
middle and suffering most, and the other two are Brutus
and Cassius, who betrayed Ceasar.
A Description
 Dante calls circle 9, a frozen lake, Cocytus (from Greek,
meaning "to lament"). One of the rivers in the classical
underworld, Cocytus is described by Virgil as a dark, deep
pool of water that encircles a forest and into which pours
sand spewed from a torrid whirlpool.
 The lake is frozen by the flapping wings of Lucifer, or
Satan ; his tears replenish the lake, and are then
frozen by his attempts to escape via the wings.
Dante describes it as being the home of traitors and
those who committed acts of complex fraud.
Satan As A Guide
 Virgil tells Dante to hold on to him as he climbs Satan
back, waiting for a moment when the wings are open so
that they can have a save passage down.
 Virgil climbs through a hole in the central rock. Dante is
afraid that Virgil is going back to Hell, but both of these
poets find themselves on their feet and standing on the
other side of the world, having passed the mid-point of
the Earth.
 The poets make the long journey to the other side of the
world where they are delivered through a round opening
emerging in the other hemisphere just before dawn on
Easter Sunday beneath a sky studded with stars.
The Frozen Marsh
 Lucifer is at the center of the circle, his lower body trapped in ice.