The rocks that the poets wait behind fell as a result of the earthquake on the day Christ died and came to Hell the Harrowing to retrieve a number of the virtuous pagans.
Dante sees the headstone of Anastasius, the pope who gave communion to Photinus, and a deacon who was part of the Greek Church that denied Christ's divine paternity.
Dante was probably confused on the history, however, because Emperor Anastasius was the person that convinced Photinus to accept the heresy. The geography of Hell is one of the most distinctive features of Inferno , and it is as meticulous as the structure of the poem. Virgil uses the waiting time, behind the boulders, to explain to Dante where the path they have been following will take them.
This break in the action is a literary device that Dante uses to give a brief explanation of the structure of Hell. The next circle, Circle VII, is divided into three smaller rounds that house sinners of violence, which are, symbolically, the sins of the lion. The first round features sinners against neighbors, murderers, and the makers of war. Dante makes no distinction here between the punishment of those who commit acts of violence against people and those that commit acts of violence against property.
Hence, the first round also houses those guilty of arson, plunder, and extortion. The second round of Circle VII houses those who sinned against themselves with suicide. Pholus, whom Virgil describes as "full of rage" Inf. Nessus, selected to carry Dante across the river in hell, was killed by Hercules --with a poisoned arrow--for his attempted rape of the hero's beautiful wife, Deianira, after Hercules had entrusted the Centaur to carry her across a river Nessus avenged his own death: he gave his blood-soaked shirt to Deianira as a "love-charm," which she--not knowing the shirt was poisoned--later gave to Hercules when she doubted his love [ Inf.
Chiron, the leader of the Centaurs, enjoyed a more favorable reputation as the wise tutor of both Hercules and Achilles Inf. Harpies, as Dante-narrator recalls Inf. Newly arrived on the Strophades islands in the Ionian sea , Aeneas and his crew slaughter cattle and goats, and they prepare the meat for a sumptuous feast.
Twice the horrid Harpies--who inhabit this island after being driven from their previous feeding location--spoil the banquet by falling upon the food and fouling the area with repugnant excretions. The Trojans meet a third attack with their weapons and succeed in driving away the Harpies. However, Celaeno--a Harpy with the gift of prophecy--in turn drives away the Trojans when she announces that they will not accomplish their mission in Italy without suffering such terrible hunger that they are forced to eat their tables Aen.
The Trojans in fact realize that their journey is over when they eat the bread--that is, the "table"--upon which they have heaped other food gathered from the Italian countryside Aen. With a first-rate legal education and ample rhetorical talent, Pier rose quickly through the ranks of public service in the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily, from scribe and notary to judge and official spokesman for the imperial court of Frederick II.
But his powers appear to have exceeded even these titles, as Pier claims to have had final say over Frederick's decisions Inf. While evidence of corruption casts some doubt on Pier's account of faithful service to the emperor, it is generally believed that he was indeed falsely accused of betraying Frederick's trust by envious colleagues and political enemies Inf.
In this way, Pier's story recalls that of Boethius , author of the Consolation of Philosophy, a well known book in the Middle Ages and a favorite of Dante's recounting the fall from power of another talented individual falsely accused of betraying his emperor. Medieval commentators relate that Frederick, believing the charges against Pier perhaps for plotting with the pope against the emperor , had him imprisoned and blinded.
Unable to accept this wretched fate, Pier brutally took his life by smashing his head against the wall perhaps of a church or possibly by leaping from a high window just as the emperor was passing below in the street.
Pier's name-- Vigna means "vineyard"--undoubtedly made him an even more attractive candidate for Dante's suicide-trees. As an added part of the contrapasso for the suicides, the souls will not be reunited with their bodies at the Last Judgment but will instead hang their retrieved corpses on the trees Inf. Still, it is striking that Dante selects a pagan character to represent one of the few specifically religious sins punished in hell.
Dante's portrayal of Capaneus in Inferno Capaneus' arrogant defiance of the gods is a running theme in the Thebaid, though Statius' description of the warrior's courage in the scenes leading up to his death reveals elements of Capaneus' nobility as well as his contempt for the gods. For instance, Capaneus refuses to follow his comrades in a deceitful military operation against the Theban forces under the cover of darkness, insisting instead on fighting fair and square out in the open.
Nevertheless, Capaneus' boundless contempt ultimately leads to his demise when he climbs atop the walls protecting the city and directly challenges the gods: "come now, Jupiter, and strive with all your flames against me!
Or are you braver at frightening timid maidens with your thunder, and razing the towers of your father-in-law Cadmus? Recalling the similar arrogance displayed by the Giants at Phlegra and their subsequent defeat , the deity gathers his terrifying weapons and strikes Capaneus with a thunderbolt.
His hair and helmet aflame, Capaneus feels the fatal fire burning within and falls from the walls to the ground below. He finally lies outstretched, his lifeless body as immense as that of a giant. This is the image inspiring Dante's depiction of Capaneus as a large figure appearing in the defeated pose of the blasphemers, flat on their backs Inf.
Although the poet imagines Brunetto in hell, Dante-character and Brunetto show great affection and respect for one another during their encounter in Inferno Brunetto c. Such was Brunetto's reputation that chroniclers of the time praised him as the "initiator and master in refining the Florentines. We understand from this episode that Brunetto played a major--if informal--part in Dante's education, most likely as a mentor through his example of using erudition and intelligence in the service of the city.
Apart from the reputed frequency of sexual relations among males in this time and place, there is no independent documentation to explain Brunetto's appearance in Dante's poem among the sodomites. Brunetto was married with three--perhaps four--children. Many modern readers are puzzled by aspects of the structure and classification of sin in the Inferno ; and, indeed, the fact that Dante needs to seek clarification from Virgil on certain points suggests that the poet was aware that much of what Virgil says would have also been difficult for his readers to understand.
We need to be careful not to give Virgil the last word on sin — after all, if Dante were able to say all he had to say about sin in the course of a hundred lines or so, much of the remainder of the Inferno would be redundant. But the problems we may encounter as modern readers in understanding the arrangement and classification of sin in the Inferno XI help us to understand what Dante believed sin to be.
Dante wonders why it is that sins such as lust should be punished outside the City of Dis 70— Here, the distinction that is being made is a psychological one: an incontinent sinner does not fully embrace his or her sin, but is simply unable to prevent him- or herself from committing it.
The sins of violence are organised into a hierarchy: sins of violence against others are held to be less grave than sins of violence against oneself; violence against God is the most serious of all the sins of violence.
Why might this be? One indication might be found in the Bible. In Matthew And the second is like it: "Love your neighbour as yourself. The difficulty for us lies first in understanding why Dante considered these to be sins at all, then in understanding why he believed they were linked, and finally in explaining why Dante thought that they were so serious. We shall therefore pay special attention to these sins.
Usury is perhaps the most complicated case, and Virgil explains it to Dante at some length.
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