DANTE ALIGHIERI

Who Was Dante?

Dante Alighieri, (born May 21–June 20, 1265, Florence, Italy—died September 13/14, 1321,
Ravenna), Italian poet, prose writer, literary theorist, moral philosopher, and political thinker. He
is best known for the monumental epic poem La commedia, later named La divina
commedia (The Divine Comedy). This poem, a great work of medieval literature and considered
the greatest work of literature composed in Italian, is a philosophical Christian vision of
mankind’s eternal fate. Dante is seen as the father of modern Italian, and his works have
flourished before his 1321 death.

Early Years

Dante Alighieri was born in 1265 to a family with a history of involvement in the complex
Florentine political scene. Dante’s mother died only a few years after his birth, and when Dante
was around 12 years old, it was arranged that he would marry Gemma Donati, the daughter of a
family friend. Around 1285, they married, but Dante was in love with another woman—Beatrice
Portinari, who would be a huge influence on Dante and whose character would form the
backbone of Dante’s Divine Comedy.

Dante met Beatrice when she was only nine years old, and he had apparently experienced love at
first sight. They were acquainted for years, but Dante’s love for Beatrice was “courtly” (which
could be called an expression of love and admiration, usually from afar) and unrequited. Beatrice
died unexpectedly in 1290, and five years later Dante published Vita Nuova (The New Life),
which details his tragic love for Beatrice. Beyond being Dante’s first book of verse, The New
Life is notable in that it was written in Italian, whereas most other works of the time appeared in
Latin.

Around the time of Beatrice’s death, Dante began to immerse himself in the study of philosophy
and the machinations of the Florentine political scene. In 1302, however, he fell out of favor and
was exiled for life by the leaders of the Black Guelphs (among them, Corso Donati, a distant
relative of Dante’s wife), the political faction in power at the time and who were in league with
Pope Boniface VIII.

Exile

In his exile, Dante traveled and wrote, conceiving The Divine Comedy, and he withdrew from all
political activities. In 1304, he seems to have gone to Bologna, where he began his Latin treatise
"De Vulgari Eloquentia" (“The Eloquent Vernacular”), in which he urged that courtly Italian,
used for amatory writing, be enriched with aspects of every spoken dialect in order to establish
Italian as a serious literary language. The created language would be one way to attempt to unify
the divided Italian territories. The work was left unfinished, but it has been influential
nonetheless.

In March 1306, Florentine exiles were expelled from Bologna, and by August, Dante ended up in
Padua, but from this point, Dante’s whereabouts are not known for sure for a few years. Reports
place him in Paris at times between 1307 and 1309, but his visit to the city cannot be verified.

In 1308, Henry of Luxembourg was elected emperor as Henry VII. Full of optimism about the
changes this election could bring to Italy, Dante wrote his famous work on the monarchy, De
Monarchia, in three books, in which he claims that the authority of the emperor is not dependent
on the pope but descends upon him directly from God. However, Henry VII’s popularity faded
quickly, and his enemies had gathered strength, threatening his ascension to the throne. These
enemies, as Dante saw it, were members of the Florentine government, so Dante wrote a diatribe
against them and was promptly included on a list of those permanently banned from the city.
Around this time, he began writing his most famous work, The Divine Comedy.

'The Divine Comedy'

In the spring of 1312, Dante seemed to have gone with the other exiles to meet up with the new
emperor at Pisa (Henry’s rise was sustained, and he was named Holy Roman Emperor in 1312),
but again, his exact whereabouts during this period are uncertain. By 1314, however, Dante had
completed the Inferno, the segment of The Divine Comedy set in hell, and in 1317 he settled at
Ravenna and there completed The Divine Comedy.

The Divine Comedy is an allegory of human life presented as a visionary trip through the
Christian afterlife, written as a warning to a corrupt society to steer itself to the path of
righteousness: "to remove those living in this life from the state of misery, and lead them to the
state of felicity." The poem is written in the first person (from the poet’s perspective) and follows
Dante's journey through the three Christian realms of the dead: hell, purgatory and finally
heaven. The Roman poet Virgil guides Dante through hell (Inferno) and purgatory (Purgatorio),
while Beatrice guides him through heaven (Paradiso). The journey lasts from the night before
Good Friday to the Wednesday after Easter in the spring of 1300 (placing it before Dante’s
factual exile from Florence, which looms throughout the Inferno and serves as an undercurrent to
the poet’s journey).

The structure of the three realms of the afterlife follows a common pattern of nine stages plus an
additional, and paramount, tenth: nine circles of hell, followed by Lucifer’s level at the bottom;
nine rings of purgatory, with the Garden of Eden at its peak; and the nine celestial bodies of
heaven, followed by the empyrean (the highest stage of heaven, where God resides).

The poem is composed of 100 cantos, written in the measure known as terza rima (thus the
divine number 3 appears in each part of the poem), which Dante modified from its popular form
so that it might be regarded as his own invention.

Legacy

Dante’s Divine Comedy has flourished for more than 650 years and has been considered a major
work since Giovanni Boccaccio wrote a biography of Dante in 1373. By 1400, at least 12
commentaries had already been written on the poem’s meaning and significance. The work is a
major part of the Western canon, and T.S. Eliot, who was greatly influenced by Dante, put Dante
in a class with only one other poet of the modern world, Shakespeare, saying that they ”divide
the modern world between them. There is no third.”
 CANTO III: SUMMARY

Canto III opens with the inscription on the gate of Hell. Dante does not fully understand the
meaning of the inscription and asks Virgil to explain it to him. Virgil says that Dante must try to
summon his courage and tells him that this is the place that Virgil told him previously to expect:
the place for the fallen people, those who have lost the good of intellect.

The poets enter the gate and the initial sights and sounds of Hell at once assail Dante; he is
moved deeply and horrified by the sight of spirits in deep pain. The unending cries make Dante
ask where they come from, and Virgil replies that these are the souls of the uncommitted, who
lived for themselves, and of the angels who were not rebellious against God nor faithful to Satan.
Neither Heaven nor Hell would have them, and so they must remain here with the selfish, forever
running behind a banner and eternally stung by hornets and wasps. Worms at their feet eat the
blood and tears of these beings.

Dante wants to learn more about these souls, but Virgil moves him along to the beach of
Acheron where the ferryman, Charon, tells Dante to leave because Dante is still living and does
not belong there. Charon tells Dante to take a lighter craft from another shore. Virgil reprimands
Charon, saying that it is willed, and what is willed must happen.

Charon speaks no more, but by signs, and pushing, he herds the other spirits into the boat. The
boatman strikes with his oars any soul that hesitates. The boat crosses, but before it lands, the
opposite shore is again crowded with condemned souls. Virgil tells Dante to take comfort in
Charon's first refusal to carry him on the boat, because only condemned spirits come this way.

As Virgil finishes his explanation, a sudden earthquake, accompanied by wind and flashing fire
from the ground, terrifies Dante to such a degree that he faints.

Nine Circles

First Circle (Limbo) - resided by virtuous non-Christians and unbaptized pagans who are
punished with eternity in an inferior form of Heaven. They live in a castle with seven gates
which symbolize the seven virtues. Dante sees many prominent people from classical antiquity
such as Homer, Socrates, Aristotle, Cicero, Hippocrates, and Julius Caesar.

Second Circle (Lust) – resided by people who were overcome by lust. They are punished by
being blown violently back and forth by strong winds, preventing them from finding peace and
rest. Strong winds symbolize the restlessness of a person who is led by the desire for fleshly
pleasures. Again, Dante sees many notable people from history and mythology including
Cleopatra, Tristan, Helen of Troy and others who were adulterous during their lifetime.

Third Circle (Gluttony) – resided by souls of gluttons who are overlooked by a worm-monster
Cerberus. They are punished by being forced to lie in a vile slush that is produced by never-
ending icy rain. The vile slush symbolizes personal degradation of one who overindulges in food,
drink, and other worldly pleasures, while the inability to see others lying nearby represents the
gluttons’ selfishness and coldness. Here, Dante speaks to a character called Ciacco who also tells
him that the Guelphs (a fraction supporting the Pope) will defeat and expel the Ghibellines (a
fraction supporting the Emperor to which Dante adhered) from Florence which happened in 1302
before the poem was written (after 1308).
Fourth Circle (Greed) – resided by souls of people who are punished for greed. They are
divided into two groups – those who hoarded possessions and those who lavishly spent it –
jousting. They use great weights as a weapon, pushing it with their chests which symbolizes their
selfish drive for fortune during their lifetime. The two groups that are guarded by a character
called Pluto. Dante says to see many clergymen including cardinals and popes.

Fifth Circle (Anger) - where the wrathful and sullen are punished for their sins. Transported on
a boat by Phlegyas, Dante and Virgil see the furious fighting each other on the surface of the
river Styx and the sullen gurgling beneath the surface of the water. Again, the punishment
reflects the type of the sin committed during their lifetime. While passing through, the poets are
approached by Filippo Argenti, a prominent Florentine politician who confiscated Dante’s
property after his expulsion from Florence.

Sixth Circle (Heresy) – resided by heretics who are condemned to eternity in flaming tombs.
Dante talks with a couple of Florentines – Farinata degli Uberti and Cavalcante de’ Cavalcanti –
but he also sees other notable historical figures including the ancient Greek philosopher
Epicurus, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, and Pope Anastasius II. The latter, as some
scholars argue, probably meant the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I.

Seventh Circle (Violence) - The Seventh Circle of Hell is divided into three rings.

Outer Ring - houses murderers and others who were violent to other people and
property. Here, Dante sees Alexander the Great (disputed), Dionysius I of Syracuse, Guy de
Montfort and many other notable historical and mythological figures such as the Centaurus, sank
into a river of boiling blood and fire.

Middle Ring - the poet sees suicides who have been turned into trees and bushes which
are fed upon by harpies. But he also sees here profligates, chased and torn to pieces by dogs.

Inner Ring - blasphemers and sodomites, residing in a desert of burning sand and
burning rain falling from the sky.

Eight Circle (Fraud) - resided by the fraudulent. Dante and Virgil reach it on the back of
Geryon, a flying monster with different natures, just like the fraudulent. This circle of Hell is
divided into 10 Bolgias or stony ditches with bridges between them.

Bolgia 1 - Panderers and seducers (Drove others to serve their own wills)
Driven by evil (whipped by demons)

Bolgia 2 - Flatterers (Flattered others for their personal gain)

Sitting in a vat of poop

Bolgia 3 - Simoniacs (Mocked holy office)

Upside down in baptismal fonts with feet on fire and get pushed through and disappear
when another takes their place

Bolgia 4 - Fortune tellers (Tried to see the future and have the powers of god)
Heads backwards and walking backwards with tears in eyes so can't see

Bolgia 5 - Grafters (Greed, wanting/getting everything)

Pit of tar and when poke heads up demons grab them with hooks and spears, torture them,
then throw them back down forever
 Bolgia 6 - Hypocrites (Good on outside, evil on inside)
Wear heavy robes and walk in circles and can never show appearance again

Bolgia 7 - Thieves (Stole)

Used hands to steal so hands are bound by snakes, reptiles bite jugular people light on
fire and they combine like melting wax, have to steal bodies back by throwing
themselves at reptiles

Bolgia 8 - Deceivers/evil counselors/manipulators (Misused or abused the gifts of god

with mouths)
Each hidden in a single flame, or tongue

Bolgia 9 - Sowers of discord (Separate what god had joined)

Demons hack them with sword, have to walk around dragging whatever's left, regenerate

Bolgia 10 – Falsifiers(Alchemist-falsifier of things, evil impersonators- falsifiers of

people, counterfeiters- falsifiers of money, false witnesses- falsifiers of words)
Filth, stench, thirst, disease, run & attack each other, rip and tear apart

Ninth Circle (Treachery) - The last Ninth Circle of Hell is divided into 4 Rounds according to
the seriousness of the sin though all residents are frozen in an icy lake. Those who committed
more severe sin are deeper within the ice. Each of the 4 Rounds is named after an individual who
personifies the sin.

Round 1 Caina - named after Cain who killed his brother Abel.

Round 2 Antenora - named after Anthenor of Troy who was Priam’s counselor during
the Trojan War

Round 3 Ptolomaea - named after Ptolemy (son of Abubus)

Round 4 Judecca – named after Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Jesus with a
kiss.

Characters

Dante - The author and protagonist of Inferno. Dante the poet often portrays Dante the
character as compassionate, sympathetic at the sight of suffering sinners, somewhat fearful of
danger, and confused both morally and intellectually by his experience in Hell. As the poem
progresses, Dante the character gradually learns to abandon his sympathy and adopt a more
pitiless attitude toward the punishment of sinners, which he views as merely a reflection of
divine justice.

Virgil – He is Dante’s guide through the depths of Hell. Historically, scholars consider
him the greatest of the Latin poets. His masterpiece, the Aeneid, tells the story of how Aeneas,
along with fellow survivors of the defeat of Troy, came to found Rome. The shade of Virgil that
appears in Inferno has been condemned to an eternity in Hell because he lived prior to Christ’s
appearance on Earth. Virgil proves a wise, resourceful, and commanding presence, but he often
seems helpless to protect Dante from the true dangers of Hell. Critics generally consider Virgil
an allegorical representation of human reason—both in its immense power and in its inferiority
to faith in God.
 Beatrice - Beatrice aids Dante’s journey by asking an angel to find Virgil and bid him
guide Dante through Hell. She has a limited role in Inferno but becomes more prominent
in Purgatorio and Paradiso. In fact, Dante’s entire imaginary journey throughout the afterlife
aims, in part, to find Beatrice, whom he has lost on Earth because of her early death. Critics
generally view Beatrice as an allegorical representation of spiritual love.

Charon - A figure that Dante appropriates from Greek mythology, Charon is an old man
who ferries souls across the river Acheron to Hell.

Paolo And Francesca Da Rimini - A pair of lovers condemned to the Second Circle of
Hell for an adulterous love affair that they began after reading the story of Lancelot and
Guinevere.

Lucifer - The prince of Hell, also referred to as Dis. Lucifer resides at the bottom of the
Ninth Circle of Hell, beneath the Earth’s surface, with his body jutting through the planet’s
center. An enormous giant, he has three faces but does not speak; his three mouths are busy
chewing three of history’s greatest traitors: Judas, the betrayer of Christ, and Cassius and Brutus,
the betrayers of Julius Caesar.

Minos - The king of Crete in Greek mythology, Minos is portrayed by Dante as a giant
beast who stands at the Second Circle of Hell, deciding where the souls of sinners shall be sent
for torment. Upon hearing a given sinner’s confession, Minos curls his tail around himself a
specific number of times to represent the circle of Hell to which the soul should be consigned.

Pope Boniface VIII - A notoriously corrupt pope who reigned from 1294 to 1303,
Boniface made a concerted attempt to increase the political might of the Catholic Church and
was thus a political enemy of Dante, who advocated a separation of church and state.

Farinata - A Ghibelline political leader from Dante’s era who resides among the
Heretics in the Sixth Circle of Hell. Farinata is doomed to continue his intense obsession with
Florentine politics, which he is now helpless to affect.

Phlegyas - The boatman who rows Dante and Virgil across the river Styx.

Filippo Argenti - A Black Guelph, a political enemy of Dante who is now in the Fifth
Circle of Hell. Argenti resides among the Wrathful in the river Styx.

Nessus - The Centaur (half man and half horse) who carries Dante through the First Ring
of the Seventh Circle of Hell.

Pier Della Vigna - A former advisor to Emperor Frederick II, della Vigna committed
suicide when he fell into disfavor at the court. He now must spend eternity in the form of a tree.

Geryon - The massive serpentine monster that transports Dante and Virgil from the
Seventh to the Eighth Circle of Hell.

Malacoda - The leader of the Malabranche, the demons who guard the Fifth Pouch of the
Eighth Circle of Hell. Malacoda (his name means “evil tail”) intentionally furnishes Virgil and
Dante with erroneous directions.
 Vanni Fucci - A thief punished in the Seventh Pouch of the Eighth Circle of Hell who
prophesies the defeat of the White Guelphs. A defiant soul, Fucci curses God and aims an
obscene gesture at Him before Dante journeys on.

Ulysses - The great hero of the Homeric epics the Iliad and the Odyssey. Ulysses was a
bold and cunning man who is now imprisoned in the Eighth Pouch of the Eighth Circle of Hell
among those guilty of Spiritual Theft.

Guido Da Montefeltro - An advisor to Pope Boniface VIII, da Montefeltro was

promised anticipatory absolution—forgiveness for a sin given prior to the perpetration of the sin
itself. Da Montefeltro now suffers in Hell, since absolution cannot be gained without repentance
and it is impossible to repent a sin before committing it.

Antaeus - The giant who transports Dante and Virgil from the Eighth to the Ninth Circle
of Hell.

Count Ugolino - A traitor condemned to the Second Ring of the Ninth Circle of Hell.
Ugolino gnaws on the head of another damned traitor, Archbishop Ruggieri. When Ruggieri
imprisoned Ugolino and his sons, denying them food, Ugolino was driven to eat the corpses of
his starved sons.

Fra Alberigo And Branca D’Oria - Sinners condemned to the Third Ring of the Ninth
Circle of Hell. Fra Alberigo and Branca d’Oria are unlike the other sinners Dante encounters:
their crimes were deemed to be so great that devils snatched their souls from their living bodies;
thus, their souls reside in Hell while their bodies live on, now guided and possessed by demons.