1 Excerpts from Inferno from The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri Translated by Mark Musa “The subject of this work must first be considered according to the letter, then be considered allegorically. The subject of the whole work, then, taken in the literal sense alone, is simply “The state of souls after death, “for the movement of the whole work hinges on this. If the work be taken allegorically, the subject is “Man—as, according to his merits or demerits in the exercise of his free will, he is subject to reward or punishment by Justice… -Dante’s Letter to Can Grande Canto 1: The Dark Forest Midway along the journey of our life1 I woke to find myself in a dark wood, for I had wandered off from the straight path. 3 HALFWAY through his life, DANTE THE PILGRIM wakes to find himself lost in a dark wood. Terrified at being alone in so dismal a How hard it is to tell what it was like, valley, he wanders until he comes to a hill bathed in sunlight, and his this wood of wilderness, savage and stubborn fear begins to leave him. But when he starts to climb the hill, his path is (the thought of it brings back all my old fears), 6 blocked by three fierce beasts: first a LEOPARD, then a LION, and finally a SHE-WOLF. They fill him with fear and drive him back down to the sunless wood. At that moment the figure of a man appears before him; it is the shade of VIRGIL, and the Pilgrim begs for help. Virgil tells 1 Midway along the journey of our life: In the Middle Ages life was often him that he cannot overcome the beasts which obstruct his path; they thought of as a journey, a pilgrimage, the goal of which was God and Heaven; must remain until a “GREYHOUND” comes who will drive them back to and in the first line of The Divine Comedy Dante establishes the central motif of Hell. Rather by another path will the Pilgrim reach the sunlight, and his poem— it is the story of man’s pilgrimage to God. That we are meant to Virgil promises to guide him on that path through Hell and Purgatory, think in terms not just of the Pilgrim but of Everyman is indicated by the phrase after which another spirit, more fit than Virgil, will lead him to Paradise. “the journey of our life” (our journey through sin to repentance and redemption). The Pilgrim begs Virgil to lead on, and the Guide starts ahead. The The imaginary date of the poem’s beginning is the night before Good Pilgrim follows. Friday in 1300, the year of the papal jubilee proclaimed by Boniface VJIl. Born in 1265, Dante was thirty- five years old, which is one half of man’s Biblical life span of seventy years. 2 a bitter place! Death could scarce be bitterer. Beyond the point the slope begins to rise But if I would show the good that came of it sprang up a leopard, trim and very swift! I must talk about things other than the good. 2 9 It was covered by a pelt of many spots. 33 How I entered there I cannot truly say, And, everywhere I looked, the beast was there I had become so sleepy at the moment blocking my way, so time and time again when I first strayed, leaving the path of truth; 12 I was about to turn and go back down. 36 but when I found myself at the foot of a hill, The hour was early in the morning then, at the edge of the wood’s beginning, down in the valley, the sun was climbing up with those same stars where I first felt my heart plunged deep in fear, 15 that had accompanied it on the world’s first day, 39 I raised my head and saw the hilltop shawled the day Divine Love set their beauty turning; in morning rays of light sent from the planet3 so the hour and sweet season of creation that leads men straight ahead on every road. 18 encouraged me to think I could get past 42 And then only did terror start subsiding that gaudy beast, wild in its spotted pelt, in my heart’s lake, which rose to heights of fear but then good hope gave way and fear returned that night I spent in deepest desperation. 21 when the figure of a lion loomed up before me, 45 Just as a swimmer, still with panting breath, and he was coming straight toward me, it seemed, now safe upon the shore, out of the deep, with head raised high, and furious with hunger— might turn for one last look at the dangerous waters, 24 the air around him seemed to fear his presence. 48 so I, although my mind was turned to flee, And now a she-wolf came, that in her leanness turned round to gaze once more upon the pass seemed racked with every kind of greediness that never let a living soul escape. 27 (how many people she has brought to grief!). 51 I rested my tired body there awhile This last beast brought my spirit down so low and then began to climb the barren slope with fear that seized me at the sight of her, (I dragged my stronger foot and limped along). 30 I lost all hope of going up the hill. 54 As a man who, rejoicing in his gains, suddenly seeing his gain turn into loss, 2 The reader must be careful from the beginning to distinguish between the two will grieve as he compares his then and now, 57 uses of the first person singular in The Divine Comedy: one designating Dante so she made me do, that relentless beast; the Pilgrim, and the other Dante the Poet. The first is a character in a story coming toward me, slowly, step by step, invented by the second. The events are represented as having taken place in the she forced me back to where the sun is mute. 60 past; the writing of the poem and the memories of these events are represented as taking place in the poet’s present. We find references to both past and present, While I was rushing down to that low place, and to both pilgrim and poet, in line 10: “How I entered there I cannot truly my eyes made out a figure coming toward me say.” 3 planet: the sun, which was thought to be a planet in Ancient Greece. of one grown faint, perhaps from too much silence. 63 3 And when I saw him standing in this wasteland, this beast, the one you cry about in fear, “Have pity on my soul,” I cried to him, allows no soul to succeed along her path, “whichever you are, shade or living man!” 66 she blocks his way and puts an end to him. 96 “No longer living man, though once I was,” She is by nature so perverse and vicious, he said, “and my parents were from Lombardy, her craving belly is never satisfied, both of them were Mantuans by birth. 69 still hungering for food the more she eats. 99 I was born, though somewhat late, sub Julio4, She mates with many creatures, and will go on and lived in Rome when good Augustus reigned, mating with more until the greyhound comes when still the false and lying gods were worshipped. 72 and tracks her down to make her die in anguish. 102 I was a poet and sang of that just man, He will not feed on either land or money: son of Anchises5, who sailed off from Troy his wisdom, love, and virtue shall sustain him; after the burning of proud Ilium. 75 he will be born between Feltro and Feltro6. 105 But why retreat to so much misery? He comes to save that fallen Italy Why not climb up this blissful mountain here, for which the maid Camilla gave her life the beginning and the source of all man’s joy?” 78 and Turnus, Nisus, Euryalus7 died of wounds. 108 “Are you then Virgil, are you then that fount from which pours forth so rich a stream of words?” And he will hunt for her through every city I said to him, bowing my head modestly. 81 until he drives her back to Hell once more, whence Envy first unleashed her on mankind. 111 “O light and honor of the other poets, may my long years of study, and that deep love And so, I think it best you follow me that made me search your verses, help me now! 84 for your own good, and I shall be your guide and lead you out through an eternal place 114 You are my teacher, the first of all my authors, and you alone the one from whom I took where you will hear desperate cries, and see the noble style that was to bring me honor. 87 tormented shades, some old as Hell itself, and know what second death8 is, from their screams. You see the beast that forced me to retreat; And later you will see those who rejoice save me from her, I beg you, famous sage, while they are burning, for they have hope of coming, she makes me tremble, the blood throbs in my veins.”90 whenever it may be, to join the blessèd— 120 “But you must journey down another road,” he answered, when he saw me lost in tears, “if ever you hope to leave this wilderness; 93 6 Feltro and Feltro: Can Grande della Scala (1290-1329) was an Italian leader born in Verona, wich is situated between Feltre and Montefeltro. 4 sub Julio: in the reign of Julius Caesar 7 Camilla…Turnus…Nisus…Euryalus: When Aeneas led the Trojans into 5 Son of Anchises: Aeneas, hero of the Aeneid; according to legend he was the Italy, these figures were killed in a war between the Trojans and the Latins. founder of Rome 8 second death: damnation 4 to whom, if you too wish to make the climb, I AM THE WAY INTO THE DOLEFUL CITY, a spirit, worthier than I, must take you; I AM THE WAY INTO ETERNAL GRIEF, I shall go back, leaving you in her care, 123 I AM THE WAY TO A FORSAKEN RACE.9 3 because that Emperor dwelling on high JUSTICE IT WAS THAT MOVED MY GREAT CREATOR; will not let me lead any to His city, DIVINE OMNIPOTENCE CREATED ME, since I in life rebelled against His law. 126 AND HIGHEST WISDOM JOINED WITH PRIMAL LOVE. Everywhere He reigns, and there He rules; BEFORE ME NOTHING BUT ETERNAL THINGS there is His city, there is His high throne. WERE MADE, AND I SHALL LAST ETERNALLY. Oh, happy the one He makes His citizen!” 129 ABANDON EVERY HOPE, ALL YOU WHO ENTER.10 And I to him: “Poet, I beg of you, I saw these words spelled out in somber colors in the name of God, that God you never knew, inscribed along the ledge above a gate; save me from this evil place and worse, 132 “Master,” I said, “these words I see are cruel.” 12 He answered me, speaking with experience: lead me there to the place you spoke about “Now here you must leave all distrust behind; that I may see the gate Saint Peter guards let all your cowardice die on this spot. 15 and those whose anguish you have told me of.” 135 We are at the place where earlier I said Then he moved on, and I moved close behind him. you could expect to see the suffering race of souls who lost the good of intellect.” 18 Placing his hand on mine, smiling at me Canto 3: Hell’s Gate/the Neutrals in such a way that I was reassured, he led me in, into those mysteries. 21 As THE TWO POETS enter the vestibule that leads to Hell itself, Dante Here sighs and cries and shrieks of lamentation sees the inscription above the gate, and he hears the screams of anguish echoed throughout the starless air of Hell; from the damned souls. Rejected by God and not accepted by the powers at first these sounds resounding made me weep: 24 of Hell, the first group of souls are “nowhere,” because of their cowardly refusal to make a choice in life. Their punishment is to follow a tongues confused, a language strained in anguish banner at a furious pace forever, and to be tormented by flies and with cadences of anger, shrill outcries hornets. The Pilgrim recognizes several of these shades but mentions and raucous groans that joined with sounds of hands, 27 none by name. Next they come to the River Acheron, where they are greeted by the infernal boatman, CHARON. Among those doomed souls raising a whirling storm that turns itself who are to be ferried across the river, Charon sees the living man and challenges him, but Virgil lets it be known that his companion must pass. 9 DIVINE OMNIPOTENCE …HIGHEST WISDOM…PRIMAL LOVE: Then across the landscape rushes a howling wind, which blasts the These three attributes represent, respectively, the triune God: the Father, the Pilgrim out of his senses, and he falls to the ground. Son, the Holy Spirit. Thus, the gate of Hell was created by the Trinity moved by Justice. 10 Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’entrate. 5 forever through that air of endless black, behind it an interminable train like grains of sand swirling when a whirlwind blows. 30 of souls pressed on, so many that I wondered how death could have undone so great a number. 57 And I, in the midst of all this circling horror, began, “Teacher, what are these sounds I hear? When I had recognized a few of them, What souls are these so overwhelmed by grief?” 33 I saw the shade of the one who must have been the coward who had made the great refusal.12 60 And he to me: “This wretched state of being is the fate of those sad souls who lived a life At once I understood, and I was sure but lived it with no blame and with no praise. 36 this was that sect of evil souls who were hateful to God and to His enemies. 63 They are mixed with that repulsive choir of angels These wretches, who had never truly lived, neither faithful nor unfaithful to their God, went naked, and were stung and stung again who undecided stood but for themselves. 39 by the hornets and the wasps that circled them 66 Heaven, to keep its beauty, cast them and made their faces run with blood in streaks; but even Hell itself would not receive them, their blood, mixed with their tears, dripped to their feet, for fear the damned might glory over them.” 42 and disgusting maggots collected in the pus. 69 And when I looked beyond this crowd I saw And I, “Master, what torments do they suffer a throng upon the shore of a wide river, that force them to lament so bitterly?” which made me ask, “Master, I would like to know: 72 He answered: “I will tell you in few words: 45 who are these people, and what law is this these wretches have no hope of truly dying, that makes those souls so eager for the crossing— and this blind life they lead is so abject as I can see, even in this dim light?” 75 it makes them envy every other fate. 48 And he: “All this will be made plain to you The world will not record their having been there; as soon as we shall come to stop awhile Heaven’s mercy and its justice turn from them. upon the sorrowful shore of Acheron,”13 78 Let’s not discuss them; look and pass them by.” 51 12 the coward who had made the great refusal: The difficulty of identifying And so I looked and saw a kind of banner11 this figure has plagued critics and commentators for over seven hundred years. rushing ahead, whirling with aimless speed Most Critics say that it is Pope Celestine V, who renounced the papacy in 1294, as though it would not ever take a stand; 54 five months after having been elected. Fearing his own soul would be corrupted by worldliness, he abdicated in favor of Pope Boniface VIII, who became a political enemy of Dante’s and represented the worst sort of evil secularization of the Church. Some have also suggested that this shade is Pontius Pilate, who refused 11 I looked and saw a kind of banner: In this canto the contrapasso opposes to pass sentence on Christ. His role, then, would be parallel to that of the the sin of neutrality, or inactivity: the souls who in their early lives had no “neutral angels”: as they stood by while Lucifer rebelled against God, so Pilate’s banner, no leader to follow, now run forever after one. neutral attitude at the trial of Christ resulted in the crucifixion of Christ. 6 And I, with eyes cast down in shame, for fear Then all together, weeping bitterly, that I perhaps had spoken out of turn, they packed themselves along the wicked shore said nothing more until we reached the river. 81 waits for every man who fears not God. 108 And suddenly, coming toward us in a boat, The devil, Charon, with eyes of glowing coals, a man of years14 whose ancient hair was white summons them all together with a signal, shouted at us, “Woe to you, perverted souls! 84 and with an oar he strikes the laggard sinner. 111 Give up all hope of ever seeing Heaven: As in autumn when the leaves begin to fall, I come to lead you to the other shore, one after the other (until the branch into eternal darkness, ice, and fire. 87 is witness to the spoils spread on the ground), 114 And you, the living soul, you over there, so did the evil seed of Adam’s Fall get away from all these people who are dead.” drop from that shore to the boat, one at a time, But when he saw I did not move aside, 90 at the signal, like the falcon to its lure. 117 he said, “Another way, by other ports, Away they go across the darkened waters, not here, shall you pass to reach the other shore; and before they reach the other side to land, a lighter skiff than this must carry you.”15 93 a new throng starts collecting on this side. 120 And my guide, “Charon, this is no time for anger! “My son,” the gentle master said to me, It is so willed, there where the power is “all those who perish in the wrath of God for what is willed; that’s all you need to know.” 96 assemble here from all parts of the earth; 123 These words brought silence to the woolly cheeks they want to cross the river, they are eager; of the ancient steersman of the livid marsh, it is Divine Justice that spurs them on, whose eyes were set in glowing wheels of fire. 99 turning the fear they have into desire.16 126 But all those souls there, naked, in despair, A good soul never comes to make this crossing, changed color and their teeth began to chatter so, if Charon grumbles at the sight of you, at the sound of his announcement of their doom. 102 you see now what his words are really saying.” 129 They were cursing God, cursing their own parents, He finished speaking, and the grim terrain the human race, the time, the place, the seed shook violently; and the fright it gave me of their beginning, and their day of birth. 105 even now in recollection makes me sweat. 132 13 Acheron: in Greek mythology, the river of woe in the underworld; dead souls were ferried across the river to Hades. 14 a man of years: Charon; in Greek mythology, the ferryman who carried the dead to Hades. 16 They want to cross the river…desire: It is perhaps part of the punishment 15 Another way, by other ports…carry you.: Charon, whose boat bears only that the souls of the damned are eager for their punishment to begin; those who the souls of the damned, recognizes the Pilgrim as a living man and refuses him were so willing to sin on earth are in Hell damned with a willingness to go to passage. their just retribution. 7 Out of the tear—drenched land a wind arose knows to what place in Hell the soul belongs; which blasted forth into a reddish light, the times he wraps his tail around himself knocking my senses out of me completely, 135 tell just how far the sinner must go down. 12 and I fell as one falls tired into sleep. The damned keep crowding up in front of him: they pass along to judgment one by one; they speak, they hear, and then are hurled below. 15 Canto 5: The Lustful “O you who come to the place where pain is host,” FROM LIMBO Virgil leads his ward down to the Second Circle of Hell, Minòs spoke out when he caught sight of me, where for the first time he will see the damned in Hell being punished for putting aside the duties of his office, 18 their sins. There, barring their way, is the hideous figure of MINÒS, the “be careful how you enter and whom you trust bestial judge of Dante’s underworld; but after strong words from Virgil, it’s easy to get in, but don’t be fooled!” the poets are allowed to pass into the dark space of this circle, where can And my guide said to him: “why keep on shouting? be heard the wailing voices of the LUSTFUL, whose punishment consists in being forever whirled about in a dark, stormy wind. After seeing a Do not attempt to stop his fated journey; thousand or more famous lovers – including SEMIRAMIS, DIDO, it is so willed there where the power is HELEN, ACHILLLES, and PARIS—the Pilgrim asks to speak to two for what is willed; that’s all you need to know.” 24 figures he sees together. They are FRANCESCA DA RIMINI and her And now the notes of anguish start to play lover, PAOLO, and the scene in which they appear is probably the most upon my ears; and now I find myself famous episode of the Inferno. At the end of the scene, the Pilgrim, who where sounds on sounds of weeping pound at me. 27 has been overcome by pity for the lovers, faints to the ground. I came to a place where no light shone at all, This way I went, descending from the first bellowing like the sea racked by a tempest, into the second round17, that holds less space when warring winds attack it from both sides. 30 but much more pain – stinging the soul to wailing. 3 The infernal storm, eternal in its rage, There stands Minòs grotesquely18 and he snarls, sweeps and drives the spirits with its blast: examining the guilty at the entrance; it whirls them, lashing them with punishment.19 33 he judges and dispatches, tail in coils. 6 When they are swept back past their place of judgment, By this I mean that when the evil soul then come the shrieks, laments, and anguished cries; appears before him, it confesses all, there they blaspheme God’s almighty power. 36 and he, who is the expert judge of sins, 9 I learned that to this place of punishment 17 second round: Dante places the sins of the flesh on the upper circles of Hell all those who sin in lust have been condemned, those who make reason slave to appetite; 39 where punishment is the mildest; the sins of anger in the middle circles; and the sins resulting from abuse of reason at the lowest circles, where the torment is the greatest. 18 There stands Minòs grotesquely: Minòs was the son of Zeus and Europa. 19 The infernal storm…punnishment: The contrapasso, or punishment, As king of Crete, he was revered for his wisdom and judicial gifts. For these suggests that lust (the “infernal storm”) is pursued without the light of reason (in qualities he became chief magistrate of the underworld in classical literature. the darkness). 8 and as the wings of starlings in the winter See Helen24 there, the root of evil woe bear them along in wide-spread, crowded flocks, lasting long years, and see the great Achilles,25 so does that wind propel the evil spirits: 42 who lost his life to love, in final combat; 66 now here, then there, and up and down, it drives them See Paris,26 Tristan27” –then, more than a thousand with never any hope to comfort them— he pointed out to me, and named them all, hope not of rest but even of suffering less. 45 those shades whom love cut off from life on earth. 69 And just like cranes in flight, chanting their lays, After I heard my teacher call the names stretching an endless line in their formation, of all these knights and ladies of ancient times, I saw approaching, crying their laments, 48 pity confused my senses, and I was dazed. 72 spirits carried along by the battling winds. 23 Cleopatra: Cleopatra was the daughter of the last king of Egypt before it And so I asked, “Teacher, tell me, what souls came under Roman domination. She was married to her brother in conformity are these punished in the sweep of the black wind?” with the incestuous practices of the Ptolemies, but with the assistance of Julius Caesar, whose child she bore, Cleopatra disposed of her brother and became “The first of those whose story you should know, queen of Egypt. After Caesar’s death, she seduced Mark Antony, with whom my master wasted no time answering, she lived in debauchery until his death. Finally she attempted, unsuccessfully, to “was empress over lands of many tongues; 54 seduce Octavianus, the Roman governor of Egypt, and his refusal precipitated her suicide. her vicious tastes had so corrupted her 24 Helen: Helen, wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta, was presented by Aphrodite she licensed every form of lust with laws to Paris in compensation for his judgment in the beauty contest of the goddesses. to cleanse the stain of scandal she had spread; 57 Paris carried Helen off to Troy and there married her, but her enraged husband she is Semiramis,20 who, legend says, retaliated and thus began the Trojan War. 25Achilles: Dante’s knowledge of the Trojan War came directly or indirectly was Ninus’ wife as well as his successor; from the early medieval accounts. In these versions Achilles had been she governed all the land the Sultan rules.21 60 transformed into an ordinary mortal who languished in the bonds of love. Enticed by the beauty of Polyxena, a daughter of the Trojan king, Achilles The next is she who killed herself for love desired her to be his wife, but Polyxena’s mother arranged a counterplot with and broke faith with the ashes of Sichacus;22 Paris so that when Achilles entered the temple for his presumed marriage, he and there is Cleopatra,23 who loved men’s lusting. 63 was treacherously slain by Paris. 26 Paris: Paris was the son of Priam, king of Troy, whose abduction of Helen 20 Semiramis: the legendary queen of Assyria who, although renowned for her ignited the Trojan War. The classical Latin poets and the medieval redactors of military conquests and civic projects, fell prey to her passions and became the legend of Troy consistently depicted him more disposed to loving than to dissolute to the extent of legalizing lust. fighting. 21 she governed all the land the Sultan rules: During the Middle Ages the 27 Tristan: Tristan is the central figure of numerous medieval French, German, Sultan controlled the area that now contains Egypt and Syria. and Italian romances. Sent as a messenger by his uncle, King Mark of Cornwall, 22 The next is she who killed herself for love: Dido, the queen of Carthage, to obtain Isolt for him in marriage, Tristan, became enamored of her, and she of swore faithfulness to the memory of her dead husband, Sichacus. However, him. After Isolt’s marriage to Mark, the lovers continued their love affair, and in when the Trojan survivors of the war arrived in port, she fell helplessly in love order to maintain its secrecy they necessarily employed many deceits and ruses. with their leader, Aeneas, and they lived together as man and wife until the gods According to one version, however, Mark, growing continuously more reminded Aeneas of his higher destiny: the founding of Rome and the Roman suspicious of their attachment, finally discovered them together and ended the Empire. Immediately he set sail for Italy, and Dido, deserted, committed suicide. incestuous relationship by mortally wounding Tristan with a lance. 9 I began: “Poet, I would like, with all my heart, The place where I was born lies on the shore to speak to those two there who move together28 where the river Po with its attendant streams and seem to be so light upon the winds.” 75 descends to seek its final resting place. 99 And he: “You’ll see when they are closer to us; Love, quick to kindle in the gentle heart, if you entreat them by that love of theirs seized this one for the beauty of my body, that carries them along, they’ll come to you.” 78 torn from me, (How it happened still offends me!) 102 When the winds bent their course in our direction Love, that excuses no one loved from loving, I raised my voice to them, “O wearied souls, seized me so strongly with delight in him come speak with us if it be not forbidden.” 81 that, as you see, he never leaves my side. 105 As doves, called by desire to return Love led us straight to sudden death together. to their sweet nest, with wings raised high and poised, Caïna30 awaits the one who quenched our lives.” float downward through the air, guided by will,29 84 These were the words that came from them to us. 108 so these two left the flock where Dido is When those offended souls had told their story, and came toward us through the malignant air, I bowed my head and kept it bowed until such was the tender power of my call. 87 the poet said, “What are you thinking of?” 111 “O living creature, gracious and so kind, When finally I spoke, I sighed, “Alas, who makes your way here through this dingy air all those sweet thoughts, and oh, how much desiring to visit us who stained the world with blood, 90 brought these two down into this agony.” 114 if we could claim as friend the King of Kings, And then I turned to them and tried to speak; we would beseech him that he grant you peace, I said, “Francesca, the torment that you suffer you who show pity for our atrocious plight. 93 brings painful tears of pity to my eyes. 117 Whatever pleases you to hear or speak But tell me, in that time of your sweet sighing we will hear and we will speak about with you how, and by what signs, did love allow you as long as the wind, here where we are, is silent, 96 to recognize your dubious desires?” 120 find she to me: “There is no greater pain 28 those two there who move together: Francesca, daughter of Guido Vecchio than to remember, in our present grief, da Polenta, lord of Ravenna, and Paolo Malatesta, third son of Malatesta da past happiness (as well your teacher knows)! 123 Verrucchio, lord of Rimini. Around 1275 the aristocratic Francesca was married for political reasons to Gianciotto, the physically deformed second son of But if your great desire is to learn Malatesta da Verrucchio. In time a love affair developed between Francesca and the very root of such a love as ours, Gianciotto’s younger brother, Paolo. One day the betrayed husband discovered I shall tell you, but in words of flowing tears. 126 them in an amorous embrace and slew them both. 29 As doves…guided by will: The use of the words “desire” and “will” is particularly interesting because it suggests the nature of lust as a sin: the 30 Caïna: the level of Hell reserved for murderers of kin; named for Cain, the son subjugation of the will to desire. of Adam and Eve, who slew his brother Abel. 10 One day we read, to pass the time away, The Structure of Lower Hell of Lancelot,31 of how he fell in love; we were alone, innocent of suspicion. 129 Canto 11 Time and again our eyes were brought together by the book we read; our faces flushed and paled. To the moment of one line alone we yielded: 132 In this canto, Virgil describes the structure of lower Hell, which includes the 6th-9th Circles. it was when we read about those longed—for lips now being kissed by such a famous lover, that this one (who shall never leave my side) 135 6th Circle: The Heretics Heresy is a disbelief of the teachings and practices of the Church. Arch- then kissed my mouth, and trembled as he did. heretics include those who followed the philosophy of the Epicureans, Our Galehot32 was that book and he who wrote it. who taught that the highest good was temporal happiness and therefore That day we read no further.” And all the while 138 denied the immortality of the soul and the afterlife. the one of the two spirits spoke these words, the other wept, in such a way that pity 7th Circle – The Violent blurred my senses; I swooned as though to die, 141 The circle of the Violent is divided into three rings: and fell to Hell’s floor as a body, dead, falls. Outer Ring: Violent against others Sinners are submerged in a river of boiling blood. Depth is determined according to the degree of their guilt and ranges from ankle-deep to over a person’s head. 1. Tyrants 2. Murderers 3. Thieves and Robbers Middle Ring: Violent against themselves and their own properties Sinners include: 1. Suicides 2. Violent Wasters and Polluters: those who destroy their lives by destroying the means by which life is sustained (money and 31 Lancelot: In the medieval legends of King Arthur, Lancelot fell in love with property – i.e. gamblers) Guinevere, Arthur’s queen, and their love led to the downfall of Knights of the 3. Those who weep when they should have rejoiced Round Table. 32 Galehot: In an old version of the romance of Lancelot, the character who urges on the secret lovers Lancelot and Guinevere is Galehot. A Galeotto is an Italian word for “pander” (someone who urges on the passions between secret lovers). The book was thus a kind of “pander” between Paolo and Francesca.