Jessi Genske: Dante's Inferno, chapter 8

Circle five and six begin with Virgil and Dante standing at the endge of Styx. An unkown signal of flames come from the great tower. It is then answered form the other side and almost immediately, Virgil and Dante see Phlegyas, race toward them. He thinks they are new souls for him to torment. Once he sees it is once again the poets, he becomes filled with anger. First he does not want to take them, but Virgil again defeats him with devine will. As the cross the marshy river, a soul from below the muck rises up, it is Filippo Argenti. Dante knows him and wishes to see him farther punished. Virgil approves of this and suddenly, Argenti is attacked by all the other souls and ripped to pieces. The boat soon moves on. Dante then sees the flames which rise from the towers of Dis. Great iron walls guard the the lower Hell which lies inside to seperate the upper and lowers hells. Phlegyas drops them off at the gate only to find it being guarded by the Rebelious Angels. Virgil cannot get the angles to let them through, Human Reason by itself cannot defeat the essence of evil. Virgil sends a prayer and they wait for the assistance of Divine Aid from the Heavenly Messenger.

Circle:five and six
Sin:the wrathful and the fallen angels
Punishment:wrathful are to be sunk in the river of styx constantly attacking one another. The angels are to guard the gates of dis.
Retribution:They were wrathful in life so in death they are to attack and be attacked for all eternity.
Quote: "And I 'Master, it would suit my whim to see the wretch scrubbed down into the swill before we leave this stinking sink and him."
Question: In the quote above, who is the person talking and what are they talking about?
Sinners:Filippo Argenti

Canto 2--Jeremy Kundtz

As Virgil and Dante are about to enter the Vestibule of Hell, Dante becomes nervous. He questions why it is he who has been chosen to descend, alive, into Hell. To ease Dante's nerves, Virgil explains to Dante that his journey through Hell has been willed by great, heavenly powers. Virgil tells Dante that Beatrice, Dante's symbol of Divine Love, descended into Hell to tell Virgil to be Dante's guide through Hell. Virgil also tells Dante that along with Beatrice, The Virgin Mary (Dante's symbol of Compassion), Santa Lucia (Dante's symbol of Divine Light), and Rachel (Dante's symbol of the Contemplative Life), have all willed Dante's journey into Hell as a living man. Upon learning of the great, heavenly powers that have willed his journey, Dante's confidence is restored to him. Thus, with renewed confidence, Dante and Virgil walk on to the Gates of Hell.

• What is Rachel's significance? Explain the meaning of living the contemplative life and explain why it is important to Dante.

Tommy Ritz 6th Canto XXII

In canto XXII the poets set off for the 2nd bridge, since the 1st one lay shattered, leaving the second bridge as their only way to the 6th Bolgia. As Dante walks by the tormented sinners he notices how they behave like frogs in a way. This is because when no one is near they leave their heads out of the burning pitch, but whenever a demon draws close they immediately put their heads under the pitch to evade the demon’s wrath. As the poets and their demonic guardians walk by Dante notices an unidentified Navarrese who tries to submerge too late, and is caught by the demons. However before the demons can set upon the Navarrese, Dante asks the demons if he may speak to him. The sinner speaks of how his service to the king and queen of Navarrese forced him to start grafting, which is why he resides in hell. After this brisk conversation, the demons prepare to set upon the sinner; however he tries to cut a deal with the malicious demons. He says if the demons let him go free that he would whistle which would draw all the sinners hiding nearby beneath the pitch to him, whom the demons could then attack. Though suspicious of his plan, the demons agree and as soon as they let the sinner go he jumps into the pitch and escapes. The demons become enraged over this, and two demons even jump into the boiling pitch after him. When they hit the burning pitch, it finally dawns on them that the Navarrese is long gone, so they begin to fight each other. The other demons begin to organize a rescue party to get their brethren to safety. During the chaos, the poets slip away.

1. Why did the unidentified Navarrese tell his story to Dante?
2. Why did the poets slip away while the rest of the demons were distracted?

Maurell James

Canto XVIII
This is circle eight called the Malebolge, and this contains the fraudulent and Malicious. These people sinned because they harmed their neighboor. In the first ditch the poets enconter the panderes and Seducers, and they form two files walking in oppostite directions. They walk at a fast pace, and are hurried by demons who whip them with great lashes. The retribution of this sinner punishment is they hurried others to benefit themselves and in hell they are the ones who are driven. Also the horned demons represent their consicous of their sin. Dante also sees Venedico Cacciamemcio who sold his sister to win favor of the Maquis. They also see Jason who carrried of women and abandoned others. He was a sinner who was a seducer. They also enconter the souls of the flatterrs who are immersed in excrement filled fieces, and they see in the pit Alessio and Thais. In life these people were filled with crap, and telling lies and so they are forever filled in crap.
Quote"And as he spoke, one of those lashes fell across his back, and a demon cried/Move on, you pimp, there are no women left to sell."
-What is the significance of the demon rushing these sinners?
lines 64-66

Welcome and Introduction

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Mackenna Crosby Canto III- Canto IV

Canto III

Circle: Vestibule of Hell

Sin: Opportunists- Took no sides in the Rebellion of the Angels

Punishment: Forced to chase after a banner that runs forever
-Stung by wasps/hornets who make them bleed
-Worms and maggots below them feast on their blood

Sinner: Pope Celestine V

Retribution: In life, the Opportunists were not committed to either good or evil, they shifted back and forward for their own personal gain, instead of being loyal to one side. In Hell, these sinners are now punished by being forced to continuously move with no definite direction.

In this canto, Dante and Virgil enter the Vestibule of Hell, where they find the opportunists. The vestibule is neither in Hell, nor out of it. They are given no place, because they took no sides. Here the poets come across Pope Celestine V, who was tricked into leaving his position as Pope, so that Boniface VIII could replace him. Dante does not pity him, and does not stop to speak to him. When reaching the river called Acheron, the ferry man, Charon, notices that Dante is alive and refuses to allow him to cross. Virgil forces Charon to take them on his ferry, and once they are aboard, Dante swoons for the first time in his journey.

Question: Who is Dante referring to in this quote?
"And some I knew among them; last of all/ I recognized the shadow of that soul/ who, in his cowardice, made the Great Denial." (line 55-57)

Canto IV

Circle: Circle one-Limbo

Sin: The Virtuous Pagans- Those who were born before Christianity, or those who were never baptized.

Punishment: They have no hope.

Sinner: Homer, Horace, Ovid, Lucan

Dante awakes after swooning and is now in Limbo, the first circle of Hell. This is the circle in which Virgil resides and he explains to Dante that he pities these souls because they are punished for never learning Christianity. Dante sees souls in the distance coming towards them, and Virgil identifies them as Homer, Horace, Ovid and Lucan. These souls greet Virgil and Dante courteously, addressing Virgil as the "Prince of Poets". The souls lead Dante to the Citadel of Human Reason, where recognizes many Virtuous Pagans, all of whom he considers to be noble. The poets continue their voyage, and make their way to the edge of Circle two.

Question: Refer to the quote below and explain why Dante's assumption of the reason for Virgil's pale face is incorrect.
"And I, sick with alarm at his new pallor,/ cried out, 'How can I go this way when you/ who are my strength in doubt turn pale with terror?'" (line 16-18)

Dante's Inferno canto XXI- Tommy Ritz 6th

In canto XXI the poets reach the 5th Bolgia of the 8th circle. Here grafters, or those who bribed, cheated, and used corrupted means to gain political, social, or economical power are punished. The sinner’s punishment is being kept under a ditch full of boiling pitch. Pitch, is the disgusting sticky byproduct of tar. The sinners are surrounded by demons that wield pitch forks, and attack any of the sinners who put their heads above the pitch’s surface. The pitch symbolizes a few things. First off it represents the sticky fingers that the grafters, who ascended to their positions on earth through theft and deceit. Also, the grafters being under the dark colored pitch symbolizes their shady actions being hidden from the eyes of men. The demons can symbolize a few things as well. They probably symbolize how even though the grafters are trying to free themselves from the pitch, aka their sins, their being pushed back in by the demons, aka their corrupt ways. Upon the poets arrival they see a senator from Lucca being thrown into the pitch. Virgil then has Dante hide behind some jagged rocks, as he goes out to the demons to try to negotiate the poet’s safe passage across the Bolgia. Just before the demons stop listening to their leader and give in to their rage and tear Virgil to shreds, Virgil manages to gain safe passage from the leader named Malacoda. He tells the poets about a bridge they can take to go to the 6th Bolgia, and the poets set off to it under the protection of Malacoda who brings a group of demons with him. Upon reaching the bridge the poets discover that it is shatter and uncrossable, but Malacoda tells them of a second bridge a ways away so they set off to it.

1. What does the pitch symbolize?
2. What could the demons symbolize?
3.Why do you think the bridge is shatterd?