AP Lit Dante

first “nonlayer” of hell sin and punishment

the vestibule: where the people who did nothing with their lives went. They are “nowhere” because they had no direction in life. They run around in circles chasing a blank banner and getting stung by wasps

Charon

(vestibule)the boatman of the River Acheron who brings the sinners across the river. He challenges Dante because he is living and he is a good soul. Virgil convinces cheron to ferry him because his journey is ordered by God

first circle (limbo) sin and punishment

unbaptized/nonchristians who still did great things

not active torture, but live in darkness bc deprived of the joy of God

examples of people in limbo (circle 1)

great poets: Virgil, Horace, homer, Lucan, Ovid

great thinkers: plato, Aristotle, Caesar, and more

second circle sin and punishment

lust

blown about by endless and violent winds

Francesca and Paolo

circle 2- punished for lust. Francesca was married to Paolo’s (much older) brother and was intimate with Paolo after they read the story of Lancelot and Guinevere. When Francesca’s husband found out he killed them both. Dante pities their fate

minos

the bestial judge of the underworld. appears in circle 2

3rd circle sin and punishment

gluttony

endless rain, hail, and snow (contrapasso bc contrasts the warm comfort that gluttony brought them in life)

cerberus

3 headed dog that guards the gluttons in circle 3 Virgil pacifies him with mouthfuls of dirt

Ciacco

circle 3- gives a prophecy about Florence to Dante, revealing that the shades in Hell can see the future but not the present. 

the conversation about the last judgement

circle 3- Dante asks Virgil what will happen to the souls on Judgement Day. Because they will be reunited with their bodies, they will feel the suffering more and the souls in Heaven will enjoy paradise more.

fourth circle sin and punishment

the spenders and the hoarders. they push boulders in a circle in opposite directions. this is pointless labor which represents the great and pointless lengths they went to in the pursuit of $

plutus

god of wealth in circle 4

significance of the bald priests

circle 4- they’re punished for their hoarding of money from the church. even though they were religious figures, they ended up here because of the corruption they showed in the church

5th circle sin and punishment

wrathful and slothful. wrathful fight each other ontop of the swamp of the Styx, slothful sink to the Bottom of the mud.

Phlegyas

the ferryman of the Styx river- characterized as wrathful and irritated

Filippo Argenti

character between the 5th and 6th circles that grabs onto the boat on the River Styx. He was a political opponent of Dante and his appearance and arrogance enrages Dante. For the first time, Dante feels no pity for a damned soul. Virgil pushes him back into the water

what happens at the gates of the city of dis

Dante and Virgil run into three Furies who won’t let Dante through because he is not dead. they threaten to call upon Medusa. For the first time, Virgil’s reason fails and they need divine intervention. An angel comes and opens the gates for them

6th circle sin and punishment

heresy is punished by being put in burning tombs. this represents contrapasso because those who believed that nothing happens after death must live entombed forever

7th circle ring one sin and punishment

sin: violence against others

river Phlegethon of boiling blood. centaurs shoot arrows at sinners to keep them in the river.

7th circle ring two sin and punishment

sin: suicide

transformed into thorny trees and ripped apart by harpies. contrapasso bc they rejected the body God gave them in life, so they don’t get a human form in Hell

7th circle ring 3 punishment and sin

blasphemers, sodomies, urserers

blazing desert of sand 

old man of Crete

giant statue in the 7th circle. the rivers of Hell flow from his tears. His head is made of gold and the materials get less valuable as you go down, symbolizing the decline of human morals over time. The gold head symbolizes how the best is in the mind

Brunetto Latini

Dante’s mentor/teacher who is in circle 7. He gives Dante advice that Dante would’ve wanted to hear irl as he was going through his “Hell on Earth”. He tells him that he is meant for something bigger, using earth/rock imagery to describe Dante’s enemies and celestial imagery to describe Dante. “follow your constellation (passion) and you will reach your port of glory”. There is a sub theme about Dante’s ego bc he’s writing all this about himself

significance of the cord that Virgil takes off Dante’s waist and throws over the cliff 

the cord symbolizes self-confidence. Dante originally tried to use it to capture the leopard of fraud, but now he uses it to summon the beast of fraud, Geryon. His throwing of the cord away symbolizes his acceptance that his worldy wisdom is not enough, and he needs spiritual guidance.

Geryon

the monster who takes the characters between the 7th and 8th circles. He is half scorpion and half human (face looks honest, has a dangerous stinger)

what do the 8th and 9th circles overall punish

fraud

8th circle 1st bolgia punishment and sin

seducers are whipped by demons while marching

8th circle second bolgia sin and punishment

flatterers immersed in human excrement

8th circle 3rd bolgia sin and punishment

simonacs placed in tubes head-first and their feet are burned. these are church officials. when the next pope dies, he will push the current one further into the tube. contrapasso bc they pocketed money so now they suffer in a pocket. 

4th bolgia 8th circle sin and punishment

diviners punished by having their heads screwed on backwards and crying until blind. this is bc they tried to see the future

5th bolgia 8th circle sin and punishment

corrupt politicians immersed in a pool of boiling pitch

6th bolgia sin and punishment

hypocrites forced to wear cloaks of led 

7th bolgia sin and punishment

thieves chased and bitten by reptiles

pasture simile (8th circle)

describes a peasant waking to a frost-covered field and being disappointed that his sheep will have no food (thinks frost is snow). When he goes outside again he notices the frost has faded and it’s just frost. Dante compares himself to the peasant and Virgil to the pasture, because he gets a little nervous when he sees Virgil’s “troubled look” but Virgil’s level-headedness immediately puts him back at ease- his anger from the last canto has passed.

Vanni Fucci

8th circle 7th bolgia- thieves

robbed a church and is attacked by snakes, turns into ashes, and rises again like a phoenix 

8th circle 9th bolgia sin and punishment

false counselors/decievers punished by being wrapped in individual columns of flames. (ulysses and dimmed punished for leading people to death.

two different interpretations of ulysses in Tennyson poem and Dante canto 26

1. Tennyson writes Ulysses as a heroic character yearning for adventure

2. Dante puts him in Hell because he lead his people to their death