Dante inferno and purgatory

What year was Dante born?

Dante Alighieri was born in 1265.

What is the opposing virtue for Pride?

The opposing virtue for Pride is Humility.

What is the sin associated with The Shores of Acheron/Vestibule of Hell?

The sin associated with The Shores of Acheron is Indecision or Apathy.

Which overall sin is associated with Circle Seven?

The overall sin associated with Circle Seven is Violence.

What is the punishment for Circle Four?

The punishment for Circle Four is that the avaricious and prodigal push heavy weights against each other.

Name, in order, the three beasts that the Pilgrim encounters in Canto One.

The three beasts are the Leopard, the Lion, and the She-Wolf.

What is the overall sin associated with Circle Eight?

The overall sin associated with Circle Eight is Fraud.

How many Cantos are included in The Inferno?

The Inferno contains 34 Cantos.

What is the name of the pilot of the vessel that transports newly arrived shades across the river Acheron?

The pilot's name is Charon.

How many Canticles comprise The Divine Comedy?

The Divine Comedy comprises three Canticles: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.

What's Dante's last name?

Dante's last name is Alighieri.

What is the story behind the frozen lake in the 4th area of Circle 9?

The frozen lake is named Cocytus, where traitors are punished. The three rivers of the underworld that supply this lake are Acheron, Styx, and Phlegethon, and the river found in Purgatory that also supplies this lake is Lethe.

Which area of Circle Nine is named after a biblical figure who killed his own brother?

The area is named after Cain.

What is the opposing sin for Envy?

The opposing virtue for Envy is Kindness.

In which area of Circle Nine do the shades who have committed treason against benefactors reside?

They reside in the area called Judecca.

What are the names of the three blessed women from Paradiso who are looking out for the pilgrim?

The three blessed women are Beatrice, Saint Lucia, and the Virgin Mary.

What is the name of the Pope who exiled Dante?

The Pope who exiled Dante is Pope Boniface VIII.

What is the significance of the dark forest at the beginning of the poem?

The dark forest symbolizes confusion and sin, representing Dante's lost state.

What is the name of the great Roman poet whose shade guides the Pilgrim through Hell?

The great Roman poet is Virgil.

What is the sin and punishment of Circle 7.2?

The sin is Violence against others, and the punishment is being submerged in a river of boiling blood.

What is the specific sin and punishment of Circle 7.1?

The sin is Violence against neighbors, and the punishment is being immersed in a river of boiling blood.

What is the sin and punishment of Circle 8.4?

The sin is Fraudulent Counsel, and the punishment is being trapped in flames.

What is the sin and punishment of Circle 8.2?

The sin is Flattery, and the punishment is being immersed in excrement.

What is the sin and punishment of Circle 8.10?

The sin is Falsification, and the punishment is being afflicted with diseases.

What is the sin and punishment of Circle 6?

The sin is Heresy, and the punishment is being trapped in flaming tombs.

What are the two types of purgation being endured by the spirits in Purgatory?

The two types are the purgation of sin and the purgation of attachment to sin.

What is the purpose of the spiritual purgation occurring in Mt Purgatory?

The purpose is to cleanse the souls of their sins so they can ascend to Heaven.

How many terraces, not including Ante-Purgatory, are there in Mount Purgatory?

There are seven terraces in Mount Purgatory.

What is the opposing virtue for Sloth?

The opposing virtue for Sloth is Diligence.

What is the opposing virtue for Avarice?

The opposing virtue for Avarice is Generosity.

What is the opposing virtue for Gluttony?

The opposing virtue for Gluttony is Temperance.

What is the opposing virtue for Lust?

The opposing virtue for Lust is Chastity.

What is the opposing virtue for Wrath?

The opposing virtue for Wrath is Patience.

What is the opposing virtue for Envy?

The opposing virtue for Envy is Kindness.

Where does Dante's journey in the Inferno begin?

The Dark Wood of Error

What does the Dark Wood of Error symbolize?

worldliness

What are the three beasts?

Leopard

Lion

She-Wolf

What does the leopard symbolize?

malice and fraud

What does the lion symbolize?

violence and ambition

What does the she-wolf symbolize?

incontinence

What is Virgil a personification of?

Human Reason

What is Beatrice a personification of?

Divine Love

Why must Virgil lead Dante to Beatrice?

Dante cannot come to Divine Love unaided; Reason must be his guide

Who sent whom to save Dante?

Virgin Mary sent Lucy and Rachel

Lucy and Rachel sent Beatrice

Beatrice sent Virgil

What is the Virgin Mary a personification of?

Compassion

What is Saint Lucy a personification of?

Divine Light

What is Rachel a personification of?

The Contemplative Life

Who is being punished in the first vestibule of Hell?

The Opportunists

Those in life who were neither good nor bad, but were only for themselves

The Outcasts who refused to take sides in the War of the Angels

What is the punishment in Hell for the Opportunists?

They eternally chase around a banner in the darkness while continually being stung by hornets and wasps

What is the Law of Dante's Hell?

Symbolic Retribution

as they sinned, so are they punished

Who is present among the Opportunists in the Vestibule of Hell?

Pope Celestine V

The first of the rivers in Hell

Acheron

Ferries souls from the Vestibule of Hell over to Hell proper for their eternal punishment

Charon

Who resides in Limbo?

The Virtuous Pagans

What is the punishment of the souls in Limbo?

Their only pain is that they have no hope

Who are the five greatest poets of all time who welcome Dante as the sixth?

Homer

Horace

Ovid

Lucan

Virgil

Where do the Master Souls of pagan antiquity reside within Limbo?

The Citadel of Human Reason

When do Virgil and Dante eventually emerge from Hell?

Dawn on Easter Sunday

What is the Second Circle of Hell?

the place where Hell Proper begins

Who guards the Second Circle of Hell?

Minos

What is the job of Minos?

He assigns to each damned soul their place in Hell for their eternal torment

What souls are punished in the Second Circle of Hell?

The Carnal

What is the punishment of the Carnal?

They are swept up forever in a wind storm/tempest

Who are some of the souls of the Carnal?

Cleopatra

Dido

Helen of Troy

Achilles

Paris

Tristan

Paolo and Francesca

What souls are punished in the Third Circle of Hell?

The Gluttons

What is the punishment of the Gluttons?

They lie forever swollen and miserable in a slushy paste of putrid sludge falling from the sky while Cerberus tears into their flesh

Who are some of the souls of the Gluttons?

Ciacco the Hog from Florence

Who is waiting at the beginning of the Fourth Circle?

Plutus, who menaces the Poets

He chants "Papa Satan, Papa Satan, Aleppy"

What souls are punished in the Fourth Circle?

The Hoarders and the Wasters

What is the punishment of the Hoarders/Wasters?

The Hoarders are on one side and the Wasters are on the other side and their push great boulders towards each other as they scream, and then separate, and then do it over and over and over again

Who are some of the souls of the Hoarders/Wasters?

Dante does not recognize any among them

What souls are punished in Circle Five?

The Wrathful and the Sullen

What is the punishment of the Wrathful and the Sullen?

the Wrathful are in the Marsh of Styx attacking one another

The Sullen are entombed under the mud of the Marsh of Styx --- the bubbles coming up to the surface are evidence of their presence

Who is the boatman of Styx?

Phlegyas

Virgil calms him down and convinces him to give them passage

Who are some of the souls of the Wrathful?

Philippo Argenti - he arises from the Marsh of Styx and tries to pull Dante in. Dante berates him, causing him to be torn apart by the other souls and invoking the praise of Virgil for his chastisement of such a sinner

What can Dante and Virgil see from across the Marsh of Styx?

The Tower of Dis

What is Dis?

the Capital of Hell

What does Dis stand in between?

Upper and Lower Hell

Who guards the Gate of Dis?

Rebellious Angels

they refuse to let the Poets pass

even Virgil is powerless against them

How does Virgil overpower the Rebellious Angels at the Gate of Dis?

He sends up a prayer and waits for a Heavenly Messenger

The Messenger eventually appears super casually and just touches the Gate of Dis to make it fly open

What happens while the Poets are waiting for Divine Aid?

Three furies appear and threaten to summon Medusa

What sinners are being punished in Circle Six?

The Heretics

How are the Heretics punished?

Tombs are scattered across a vast cemetery encircled in flames and the wailing Heretics can be heard from within the tombs

They know that after the Second Coming, the tombs will be sealed forever (right now the lids are off)

What kinds of heresies are the Heretics in Circle Six guilty of?

For Dante, these are particularly the souls who denied the immortality of the soul! How ironic...

Who are some of the souls of the Heretics?

Farinata degli Uberti = Ghibelline war hero from Tuscany

Cavalcante dei Cavalcanti = father of Guido Cavalcanti, a contemporary poet

Pope Anastasius

What is memory and knowledge like for the damned souls?

They can see the future but they are unaware of the present

Why do Dante and Virgil hesitate before entering the Seventh Circle?

the stench is so bad that they wait until they can grow accustomed to it

What souls lie in Round One of Circle Seven?

The Violent against Neighbors

What is the punishment of the Violent Against Neighbors?

They are boiled in a river of blood and are shot by Centaurs wielding arrows if they pop out of the river

Who guards the beginning of Circle Seven?

a Minotaur

Who are some of the souls of the Violent Against Neighbors?

Alexander the Great

Attila the Scourge of God

What happens between the Poets and the Centaurs?

The Centaurs give the Poets a hard time but Chiron, the chief of the Centaurs, assigns Nessus to guide them across the River of Blood (he carries them across)

What souls lie in Round Two of Circle Seven?

The Violent Against Themselves

What is the punishment of the Violent Against Themselves?

The souls of the Suicides are encased in thorny trees whose leaves are eaten by Harpies

The trees bleed when the Harpies wound them

The tree-souls are only able to speak when they are bleeding

They reside in the Wood of the Suicides

Who are some of the souls in the Wood of the Suicides?

Pier delle Vigne

Unknown Florentine Suicide (in a bush trampled by the hounds)

Who else appears in the Wood of the Suicides?

Jacomo da Sant'Andrea

Lano da Siena

(two Squanderers who are chased around by a pack of hounds)

What souls reside in Round Three of Circle Seven?

The Violent Against God, Nature, and Art

(Blasphemers, Sodomites, Usurers)

What is the punishment for the souls who are Violent Against God, Nature, and Art?

These sinners are punished to varying degrees by residing on burning hot sand while they are rained on with fire

Blasphemers = stretched out on the sand

Sodomites = run around in endless circles on the sand

Usurers = huddle on the sands

Who are some of the souls punished here?

Capaneus = the chief sinner here, still blaspheming God

Brunetto Latini = one of Dante's teachers in life; he was a Sodomite

Three Florentine Politicians whom Dante admired in life: Jacopo Rusticucci, Guido Guerra, Tegghiaio Aldobrandi

What is at the edge of Circle Seven?

A Great Cliff with a waterfall plunging down to Circle Eight of Hell