Dantes Divine Comedy Study Guide

Guelphs

Artisans and urban elites who supported the pope and opposed Roman imperial interference in politics.

Ghibellins

were against of the pope and Guelphs, advocating for monarchy and feudal aristocracy.

Epic

A long narrative.

Terza Rima

A three-line rhyme scheme used in the epic.

Canticles

Collections of cantos or chapters in a literary work.

Cantos

Chapters in the epic, totaling 100.

Canto per Canticle

Each canticle contains 33 cantos.

Star at the end of the Canticle

Represents affirmation of God's goodness.

Picaresque

A narrative about a pilgrim seeking life experiences.

Pilgrim

A person on a journey in search of faith.

Shades

Souls of the dead in hell.

Necromancy

The ability to communicate with shades in hell.

Rivers in Hell

Stix, Acheron, Cocytus, Phlegethon.

Stream of Forgetfulness

Lethe.

Four Elements

Fire, Air, Water, Earth.

Four Virtues

Justice, Temperance, Wisdom, Fortitude.

Seven Deadly Sins

Lust, Gluttony, Sloth, Envy, Wrath, Pride, Avarice (Greed).

Colors and Meanings

Green (Hope), White (Faith), Red (Love), Purple (Other Virtues).

Why this is a comedy and not a tragedy

It is a comedy because it starts low and ends high.

Leopard

Represents fraud.

Lion

Represents malice.

Heretics

Individuals who oppose church teachings.

Epicurean Heretics

Those who deny salvation and existence of heaven or hell.

Blasphemy

Actions against God.

Furies

Spirits of vengeance, snake hair and hydra waist

Virgil's Weakness

First when angels open the gates of Dis, second when tricked by the Malebranche.

She Wolf

Represents intemperance.

Deep Forest

Symbolizes being lost in life without faith. Dante’s loss of morality and all of humanity’s sin

Ante-Inferno

The forest where the first canticle takes place.

Blacks

Guelphs supporting the pope.

Whites

Guelphs advocating for city-state independence, including Dante.

Jubilee in Rome

A political meeting called by Pope Boniface, diverting Dante from Florence.

Pope Boniface VIII

Desired power and riches, he caused Dante's exile.

Virgil

Pagan poet and Dante's guide.

Limbo

A place for those who lived before Christianity, place lacking joy or sorrow.

Three in Limbo

Plato, Socrates, Aristotle.

Verga

The magic wand used by Virgil.

Three Ladies protecting Dante

Saint Lucy, Rachel, and Mary

Beatrice

Her name means "Blessed."

Who picked Vergil to guide Dante

Beatrice chooses Virgil to guide Dante.

Dante's Journey

A quest to regain faith through hell to reach heaven.

Dante's Fear

Rooted in his lost faith and cowardice.

Charon

The boatman who ferries souls across Acheron.

Minos

The judge of hell, indicated by the wrapping of his tail.

River for Souls

Acheron.

Gate of Hell Inscription

"Abandon every hope, all ye who enter."

Francesca and Paolo

In the lustful circle, they are blown around endlessly never being able to touch.

Ciacco

A famous glutton with no conscience.

Cerberus

The three-headed dog in hell, silenced by Virgil's muck.

Plutus

The God of wealth

Miserly

Individuals who hoarded wealth, representing greed.

Prodigal

Wasteful or prideful individuals.

Phlegyas

The boatman on the river Styx.

Arch Messenger/Angel

Opens the gates of hell for Dante and Virgil, showing God's power over the Devil.

Minotaur

A bull-headed man, gatekeeper of hell.

Chiron

The head of centaurs guarding the seventh circle of hell.

Pholus

A drunken and raging centaur who does not assist others.

Nessus

A centaur who helps Dante and Virgil across Phlegethon river

Suiciders

Transformed into trees, tormented by harpies and ravaging dogs.

Harpies

Half-woman, half-beast creatures that torment the suiciders

What beast rips at the trees

Wild dogs/harpies

Old Man Crete

When the innocence was lost in Crete he started crying. His tears pool at the bottom of Mt. Ida and create the four rivers of hell.

Ser Brunetto Latini

Dante’s mentor, told him to remember his book Treasure

2 symbols of the chord

Virgil takes off chord and throws it into a precipice and geryon flies up, Boniface puts it around Guido for teaching him the ways of deceiving

Geryon

Dante and Virgil ride on his back, has a scorpion tail

Malebolge

Evil pockets (10 of them)

Malebranche

 black devils who poke at shades with pitchforks.

Malcoda

leader of the Malebranche

Thais the Whore

flatterer who was scratching her genitals while covered in feces.

Simonist

Sell church favors for favors

Astrologist/Soothsayers

Their heads are twisted backward, forcing them to walk backward for eternity. (punishment for trying to see into the future)

Grafter

those in a political position who take money for favors

Usurer

charge high interest for loaning money

Hypocrites

 those who go against what they preach

Vanni Fucci

outrageous. He stole sacraments from the Church and allowed someone else to hang. Directs an obscene gesture towards God.

Guido Da Montefeltro

The great Deceiver. Pope Boniface said he absolve his sins and make him a friar if he taught him how to be a deceiver

Sowers of Scandal

the 9th malbolge that contained people who created divisions and rivalry between people, sliced by a sword

Who scratches their scabs furiously

falsifiers

Alchemist

someone who studies or practices alchemy, seemingly magical transformation of matter 

Dis

lowest pit of hell

Empyrean

highest point in paradise (heaven)

Three Giants

Nimrod, Ephialtes, Antaeus

Tower of Giants

dante thought he saw towers but they were giants

Watch Tower

a high tower that guards over the depths of hell where Satan lives. It guards Dis.

Count Ugalino

 the governor of Pisa, locked in the tower of hunger. (hunger proved more powerful than grief)

Arch Bishop Ruggieri

Arch Bishop of Pisa, betrayed Count Ugalino

Betrayers

Judas Iscariot, Brutus, Cassius

Describe the devil

has three heads one red, yellow, and black, has bat-like wings, and tuffs of fur. 

Reversal Hemisphere

Place Dante and Vergil passed through when they climbed down Satan and arrived on the other hemisphere

Peccato

Latin word for sin

Cato of Utica

tells Virgil to pick a reed and wrap it around Dantes waist

Angel of Chastity

Singing Beatitudes and puts the 7 P’s on Dantes Forehead

Reed of Humility

everytime this reed is plucked, another one comes out. A sense of renewal/regeneration.

Statius

They are enthralled with Virgil. He was a poet but not yet a Christian. He is pretending to be Christian and is in Purgatory.

Casella

He took Dante's work and put it to music. Dante tries to embrace him three times but can't because Casella is only a spirit.

Beatitudes

blessings. i.e: “Blessed are the meek”

Bernard of Clairveaux

appears to Dante before he ascends, french mystic, the one who tells him to “Look Up”

Why does Beatrice admonish him at the end

Beatrice does this because Dante had lost his faith

Crown and Mitre

Vergil's final words before leaving Dante “I crown and mitre you lord of yourself”

 Why does every monster leave quickly after doing their job

because their primary role is to enforce the punishments and maintain order in Hell.