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Dante’s Inferno: Study Guide

General:

·        What is an allegory, and how does Dante’s poem fit the description?

·        What role did Beatrice play in Dante’s life and poem?

·        What is the rhyme scheme, and how is it reflective of the progress of the poem?

·        The Divina Commedia is a three part epic.  What are the other two parts, and how do they fit with the first?

Canto I

·        When does the poem begin?  There are at least two answers to this.

·        What is allegorical about the wood, the planet, the hill, and the three beasts?

·        Who appears as Dante’s guide?  What are several reasons for this choice?

·        What does Virgil represent on this journey?

·        What is meant by “second death of souls”?

·        What does Virgil tell him about the journey that lies ahead?

·        What explanation does Virgil give for being unable to accompany Dante on the third leg of the journey?

·        What are the three great gates that figure in this journey?  Why is the 3^rd one called “Peter’s Gate”?

Canto II

·        How does the line “O Muses” indicate that this is the real beginning of the poem?

·        How can we account for the fact that Dante mixes Christian theology with Greek mythology in this poem?

·        Who are the four women described in this canto, and what does each represent?

·        How is Aeneas cast here as a forerunner of Peter and of Paul?

·        How does Virgil answer him when Dante protests: “I am not Aeneas, I am not Paul”? What does Dante mean by this?

·        Who directly interceded for Dante?  With whom?

·        What is an epic simile (Homeric simile)?  Where is an example of one here?

Canto III

·        Spend some time carefully and thoroughly analyzing the inscription over the gate of Hell.  It is important on many levels.

·        How is one of the tortures of Hell the loss of intellect?  Since clearly the dead will speak to Dante, what exactly does this loss entail?

·        Who is punished here in the “vestibule” of Hell?  How?  Why does neither Heaven nor Hell want them?

·        Who was it that made the Great Denial?  When?  Why does Dante punish him here?

·        Here we see Charon the boatman—the first of the true mythological figures.  What is his reaction to Dante crossing?

·        Why do the damned cross over to their torture eagerly?  How is this allegorical?

·        What is meant by “Where what is willed must be”?  Why this oblique way of speaking?

·        Give two plausible explanations for Dante’s fainting at the end of this canto. One of these explanations is disproved by later events.

Canto IV

·        A sigh of “untormented sadness” greets Dante here.  Who is “suffering” in this level, and for what?

·        Virgil here describes the “harrowing of Hell.”  What was that, and how did it neatly solve one of Dante’s theological problems?

·        Dante makes out a radiant hemisphere pushing back the darkness.  What is this light symbolic of?  Why can it push back the darkness only just so far?

·        Dante and Virgil are welcomed by a most illustrious quartet.  Who are they, and how does their greeting say an awful lot about Dante’s (the poet’s) pride?

·        What might be symbolized by the citadel with its seven battlements and seven gates?  What is suggested by the “sweet brook” that surrounds it all?

·        There are many names listed here.  Are they simply random, or is there a reason for grouping them as they are?  How do they fit in with Catholic theology?

·        What theological problems are raised for you in this canto, and how and why do you agree or disagree with Dante here?

Canto V

·        Who is Minos, and what is his role here?

·        Again Virgil has to tell Minos, like Charon, that this is “willed where what is willed must be.”  Why?

·        Who, in general, is punished in this second circle, and how?

·        Dante tells us he was “swept by pity and confusion.”  What does that tell us about his current state of development?

·        What is ironic about Dante the traveler describing the two lovers as “mating doves”?

·        Carefully study Francesca’s account of her and Paolo’s torture.  Compare it to the historical record.

·        Francesca says that “the double grief of a lost bliss is to recall its happy hour in pain.”  Explain this.

·        Why is togetherness in Hell a torture?

·        At the end of this canto, for the second and last time, Dante faints.  Give one or two possible explanations for this.

Canto VI

·        Who is punished here, and in what manner?

·        Which of our senses, particularly, is assailed in this canto?  (Compare this to all the others).

·        What role is played by the mythological dog, Cerberus?

·        In what manner does the physically intact Dante interact here with the souls of the damned?

·        Ciacco the Hog gives indication of one of the “special” talents of the damned.  What does he do?  How is his prediction relevant to Dante?

·        Virgil tells Dante that Ciacco will not wake again until “the angel trumpet sounds the day on which the host shall come to judge all men.”  When is that?

·        Dante asks Virgil if, on that day, the damned will suffer more, less, or the same.  Virgil refers him to “your science”—Aristotle—for the answer.  What is the answer?

Canto VII

·        Dante here begins to alter his plan of one sin per circle.  Why?

·        How might we explain Plutus’s line that begins this canto?

·        What is the punishment for the souls punished here, and how is it fitting?  How are the two sets of sinners mirror images of each other?

·        Dante wishes to see if he recognizes anyone here, but Virgil denies it is possible.  Why?

·        Why does Dante see so many of the clergy here, and what is Virgil’s comment on their number?

·        Study Virgil’s description of Dame Fortune here.  Is she to be taken as a goddess?  Christian or pagan?  And how does she compare to the reference to Fortune’s wheel made in Canto I?

·        How does Dante transform the mythological river Styx to suit his purposes here?

·        How are the wrathful and sullen different?

Canto VIII

·        How does the incident with Phlegyas prove that the Acheron crossing was not Dante’s reason for fainting in Canto III?

·        Dante says to the first soul that he meets, “May you weep and wail for all eternity.”  What transformation does this show in him?  How is this a sign of growing grace in him?

·        Virgil says to Dante, “Blessed be she who bore you.”  To what is this a reference?

·        Regarding one wraith, Dante makes a request that it be tortured all the more, and Virgil praises him for his request.   Why?

·        Red-hot iron mosques surround the city of Dis.  What’s the symbolism?

·        Virgil and Dante cannot breach the walls of Dis alone.  Why?

·        What happened  once before when the demons tried to keep a “Great One” from entering the gates of Hell?

Canto IX

·        Where does Virgil express his doubt, and how does that make Dante feel?

·        What question does Dante ask about traveling between circles, and how does Virgil answer him? 

·        Is there any historical basis to the answer?

·        What were the Furies in Greek mythology, and what do they represent in Hell?

·        What, symbolically, has Dante got to fear from Medusa?

·        Explain the reference to letting Theseus go too easily.

·        The angel of Heaven berates the damned for their insolence and rebellion.  What’s the point?

·        Exactly what kind of heresy is punished here?  Why are the flaming tombs appropriate for it?

·        Why are the lids of the tombs open?  Will they always be?

·        Note the direction they travel.  Can you make anything of it?

Canto X

·        What will happen to these tombs on Judgement Day?

·        What secret desire of Dante’s does Virgil seem to be aware of?

·        Contrast the attitudes of Farinata and of Cavalcanti as they greet Dante in Hell.  Why are these two men both in here?

·        Why does Virgil urge Dante to “mind how you speak to him [Farinata]”?

·        What, specifically, did Epicurus teach that got his followers into Hell?

·        What is “that art” referred to in lines 51, 77, and 81?

·        How does Cavalcanti misunderstand Dante?  Why did Cavalcanti think his son should be travelling through Hell?

·        What prophecy does Farinata make to Dante?

·        Explain the ability of the damned to foretell the future.  How will this ability become a curse on Judgement Day?  How does Cavalcanti illustrate the failure of their knowledge

Canto XI

·        As the poets stand at the edge of the seventh circle, which of their senses is most assaulted?

·        Explain, in detail, the plan Virgil lays out for the rest of Hell. (Huge question)

·        How is this plan related to Aristotle’s Ethics and Physics?

·        Dante asks Virgil to specifically explain how it is that usury is punished in Hell.  What is the answer?

·        Explain how Virgil’s astrological references tell what time it is.

Canto XII

·        Who is the mythological figure assigned to guard this round?  What is his history and origin?

·        Explain how Virgil could characterize the earthquake that shook all of Hell at Christ’s death as an instance of all the universe feeling love.

·        Why are centaurs assigned to guard the violent against neighbor?  What have they in common with the Minotaur?

·        Explain, specifically, the references to Chiron and Nessus.

·        What does Chiron notice about the way Dante moves through Hell?

·        Why does Chiron turn his chin to his right breast?

·        Who, of course, is punished here—and how?

Canto XIII

·        Why are suicides and wasters of substance punished together?

·        Describe their specific punishments and how they differ.

·        What role do the Harpies play in here?

·        What cruel thing does Virgil have Dante do, and how do they feel about it afterward?

·        Why, if Dante’s heart is hardening against sin, does he treat Pier della Vigne with compassion?

·        Explain, of course, the multi-layered symbolism of the trees and of what will happen to the suicides at the Last Judgement.

Canto XIV

·        Describe the geography of the burning plain.

·        Why are the souls in three different postures here, and what might that signify?

·        Recount the story of Capaneus and see if you can find irony in his being here among the blasphemers.

·        What is the food Dante yearns for that only Virgil can feed him?

·        Explain the symbolism of the “Old Man of Crete.”  (Huge question!)

·        What is the river Lethe, and why will Dante not encounter it until he leaves Hell?

Canto XV

·        How is it that the poets are able to cross the burning plain?  Give at least one detail to show how wide it is.

·        Who is Brunetto Latino, why can he not stop to talk with Dante, and why must he walk at Dante’s hem?

·        What two predictions does Brunetto Latino make regarding Dante?

·        Dante tells him that he has heard one of these prophecies twice already.  When?

·        Who else is here with Latino, and what have they in common?

Canto XVI

·        Virgil tells Dante to treat these men with respect.  Where else has he given similar advice?

·        What is symbolic about the way the men walk in a circle?

·        What news do they ask of Florence?  What news does Dante give them?

·        Find the irony in “Amen could not have been pronounced between their start and their disappearance over the rim of sand.”

·        For what purpose does Dante give Virgil the cord about his waist?

·        What is the result of Virgil’s throwing it over the cliff?

Canto XVII

·        In what ways is Geryon symbolic of the sins that lie below?

·        Who does Dante see crouching at the edge of the pit?  What do they wear about their necks, and why do their eyes focus so intently?

·        Explain the mythological references to Geryon, Arachne, Phaeton, and Icarus.

·        Explain how Dante is torn between trust and terror as he rides the monster’s back.

Canto XVIII

·        Describe the overall geography of Malebolge.  What does “Malebolge” mean?

·        What two classes of sinners are punished together here?  How?

·        What other “pairs” of sins have been similarly punished elsewhere in Inferno?

·        The first sinner that Dante sees here seeks to “hide his face.”  How is this different from the upper levels of Hell?  Why?

·        What was the sin of Venedico Caccianemico?

·        What does Venedico say about Bologna that is a tremendous satirical “shot” against that city?

·        Who is the “great soul” that Virgil points out?  What other “great souls” such as his have we met elsewhere?

·        Passing beyond Jason, we come to the pit of the flatterers.  What is their sin and punishment?  How is it condign?

·        Who was Thais, and was her sin really that bad?  If not, why is she here?

Canto XIX

·        Explain, in detail, how the punishment of the simoniacs is fitting on several symbolic levels.

·        Notice how the corporeal Dante interacts here with the shade of Virgil.

·        Explain the references here to Nicholas III, Boniface VIII, and Clement V.

·        In what manner does Dante address Nicholas?  Why do you think he is this strong in his rebuke?

·        Pay especially careful attention to the numerous Biblical references in this Canto, notably Acts 1 & 8, Revelation 17, and II Maccabees 4.

·        Explain the connection between the conversion of Constantine and the beginning of the Church’s wealth.

Canto XX

·        How are the fortune-tellers punished?  Why is it fitting?

·        Name several of the diviners in here—notably Tiresias and Michael Scott.  Explain the reference to twined serpents in connection with Tireasias.

·        Virgil gives a long story to explain the naming of his city of Mantua after the witch Manto.  Why?

·        The story about Manto is just one of many lengthy digressions in the Inferno.  What is the purpose of these asides, and why does Dante not spend more time on the tortures?

·        Why are none of the OT prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah here?

·        What time is it when the poets leave this bolgia?

Canto XXI

·        What is the purpose of Dante’s epic metaphor about the Venetian arsenal?

·        Dante turns like one who “cannot wait to see the thing he dreads.”  Where else in Inferno have we read a similar statement?

·        Explain the ironic reference to Bonturo.

·        What are grafters, exactly, and how is their punishment fitting?

·        Explain Virgil’s reference to having been here once and come back safely.

·        Dante’s level of detail here, his naming of the demons, and his actual physical fear all different from earlier (and later) cantos.  Why?

·        Here we see a dramatic instance of the earthquake that rocked all of Hell.  How does the demon date it exactly, and what time is it now?

Canto XXII

·        What is the signal that sets the fiends marching, and how does Dante respond to it?  Is this intended as a humorous passage??

·        Who exactly were Friar Gomita and Don Michel Zanche? 

·        What is ironic about the grafter’s saying, “There I began to graft, and I account for it in this hot crevice”?

·        How does the captured wraith play a trick on the demons, and what is their reaction to it? 

·        What kinds of animals are used for the imagery of this canto?  Why is this appropriate?

Canto XXIII

·        What does Virgil mean when he says, “Were I a pane of leaded glass, I could not summon your outward look more instantly into myself than I do your inward thought”?

·        How does this attitude of Virgil’s contrast with his earlier behavior?

·        Who is punished in this round?  How are their lead cloaks significant?

·        What does Dante mean by, “Our company was changed at every movement of the hip”?

·        Why are the Jovial Friars in this circle?

·        What was Caiaphas’s sin, and how is his punishment deeply symbolic?

·        When Virgil asks about the bridge by which they might continue, the reply tells him the fiend lied to him.  Explain.

Canto XXIV

·        Explain the beautiful epic simile that begins this canto, and show how it is reflective of Dante and Virgil.

·        Explain Virgil’s injunction to Dante in lines 46-54.  In how many ways can we understand this?

·        With what are the sinners in this circle punished?  Why is it appropriate?  Explain in some detail.

·        What happens to one sinner that puts us in mind of the Phoenix?

·        One of the thieves here identifies himself as Vanni Fucci, but Dante is surprised.  What did Fucci steal, and what was the source of Dante’s misapprehension?

·        What is the dark prophecy that Fucci makes regarding Dante?

Canto XXV

·        Dante says that Fucci’s outrage against God is greater even than Capaneus’s.  Explain.

·        Why does the centaur Cacus suffer here among the thieves rather than higher, in the river of blood with the other centaurs?

·        As three wraiths come by, one of them cries, “Where is Cianfa.”  Why are they so concerned about each other’s whereabouts here?

·        Describe in detail the shape-shifting that goes on in this circle.

·        What reference is Dante making when he bids Ovid be silent and Lucan be still?

Canto XXVI

·        How does Dante lament Florence, and what is the wish that Prato had for the city that Dante dreams will one day come true?

·        Dante observes that “more than usually I curb the strain of my genius, lest it stray from Virtue’s course” (21-22).  Explain this line.

·        What is the condition of the evil counselors here—souls as flame or souls in flame?

·        Explain the references to Elisha, Eteocles, and Polynices.

·        What did Ulysses and Diomede do to land them in this bolgia?

·        Why does Virgil intercede to speak with these two souls?

·        How long a voyage does Ulysses describe after departing from Circe, and what did he ultimately see in the Southern hemisphere?  What happened to his ship

Canto XXVII

·        How is magic power here ascribed to Virgil?  What is the source of that legend?

·        This whole canto is devoted to a conversation with Guido de Montefeltro.  What does he ask about his home of Romagna, and what does Dante tell him?

·        Explain the reference to Maletesta and to Maletestina.  Do you think we will see them later?  Do they belong in Hell?

·        Guido curses Boniface VIII for leading him into evil counsel.  Be able to tell his story in your own words!  Focus on how Guido repented late in life and was dragged back by Boniface.

·        Who is the Prince of the new Pharisees, and what is the reference to?

·        What were the two keys held by Celestine, and where have we met him before?

·        Explain the deep theology behind the lines: “Since then he has been mine, for one who does not repent cannot be absolved; nor can we admit the possibility of repenting a thing at the same time it is willed, for the two acts are contradictory (113-117).”

·        Minos coiled his tail about eight times and said, “This one is for the thievish fire.”  Why “thievish”

Canto XXVIII

·        What are the three types of discord punished in this bolgia?

·        What is the punishment?

·        Who are Mahomet and Ali, and what is symbolic about their particular punishments?

·        When did Islam begin as a religion?  When were the crusades?  Is this relevant?

·        Explain the reference to Fra Dolcino checking his groceries.

·        What prophecy does Pier da Medicina make about Maletesto and Maletestina?

·        Remember Mosca from VI, 77?  What’s he doing now?

·        Why is Bertrand de Born the most memorable character of this round?  Did you look up the story of Absalom and Achitophel in II Samuel 15-17?  How is Bertrand’s crime similar

Canto XXIX

·        According to Virgil, what time is it?

·        Dante wishes to stay behind to speak to Geri de Bello, but Virgil tells him the shade won’t wish to speak to him.  Why?

·        What is ironic about Dante’s use of the words “cloister” and “brethren” in 40-41?

·        Take note of the mythological reference to the Aeginians and the Myrmidons.  Be able to explain it.

·        Why is there no particular punishment in this fosse?

·        Why are Cappochio and Griffolino locked together and digging at themselves with bloody fingernails? 

·        For what sin were they consigned to this level?

·        Griffolino was killed for a crime different from the sin which got him into hell.  What?

Canto XXX

·        Epic similes are made of references to King Athamas and Queen Hecuba.  Explain who they were.

·        Gianni Schicci runs up and, fastening his teeth into Cappochio’s neck, makes off with him.  Myrrha threatens to do the same to Griffolino.  Who were these two, and why would they drag away another shade?

·        Master Adam suffers here for the sin of counterfeiting.  What is his punishment, and for how many sins does he suffer?

·        Adam says that, but for one thing, he would have pursued Guido, Alessandro, or their brother to the far reaches of hell.  What is that one thing?

·        What memory, in particular, tortures Master Adam?

·        Finally we come to the two chief bearers of false witness, Sinon and Potiphar’s wife.  Explain what they did.

·        Master Adam and Sinon fall to arguing—about what?

·        Virgil urges Dante to hurry on and not to listen to Adam and Sinon.  Why?

Canto XXXI

·        Dante makes reference here to the magic sword of Achilles, that could both wound and heal.  What has just happened to him that makes the reference relevant?

·        Why does Nimrod babble incoherently?

·        Why is one of them bound with chains and the other standing free?

·        Adduce at least two pieces of evidence to indicate how tall these giants are.

·        What does Ephialtes do that terrifies Dante more than anything thus far?

·        Who was Antaeus in life, and what offer of Virgil’s does he accept in exchange for placing the poets in Cocytus?

Canto XXXII

·        How is it that Cocytus bears the weight of all hell?  How is this symbolic?

·        Dante calls on the Muses for a second time since Canto II.  Why?

·        The ice is really thick.  How thick is it?

·        How many sinners in Caina are identified?  Explain at least two of them.

·        Suddenly Dante kicks the head of a sinner, and we find ourselves in Antenora.  Who is this sinner, and what is he being punished for?

·        Dante treats this sinner more cruelly than any he has yet encountered.  What does he do?

·        Buoso da Duera, in addressing this sinner, makes a dreadful pun.  What?

·        On his way past the circle of Antenora, Dante encounters two souls frozen so together that the one gnaws the head of the other.  Identify them. (see 33)

Canto XXXIII

·        Explain the many ways that the pairing of Ugolino and Ruggieri is reminiscent of the pairing of Francesca and Paolo.  Very important!!

·        Ugolino tells Dante that he will know already certain historical facts.  What?

·        Explain the dream that Ugolino had just before waking on the “last” day.  What are the wolves?

·        As he dies of starvation, Ugolino receives three signs of God’s grace.  What are they, and what do they symbolize?

·        How is the eternal punishment of these two fitting for each?

·        In line 91, Dante says, “We passed on further,” into Ptolomea.  What circle is this, and whence does its name derive?

·        Dante is very surprised to see Friar Alberigo here already.  Explain how it is the Alberigo is down here.

·        What does his placement here tell us about Dante’s attitude toward repentance and redemption?

·        Explain the phrase “Friar Alberigo’s bad fruit.”

·        What crime did Branca D’Oria commit, along with his nephew?  Where is his victim, Michael Zanche, now?

·        Dante says he did not keep the promise he had made to Alberigo, for to be rude to him was courtesy.  What was that promise, and how is it courteous (to whom) to be rude?

Canto XXXIV

·        What is the terrible irony of the first line of Canto XXXIV?

·        Why does Dante speak to none of the sinners in this round of Judecca?

·        What idea does Dante give us of the size of Satan?

·        Explain the complex symbolism of Satan’s three faces.  Very important!

·        Who are the three sinners that Satan works over in his three mouths?

·        Up until now, Dante has paused to talk at length to a variety of sinners, but now that he gets to the bottom round of hell and to the worst sinners of all time, he says not a word to them.  Explain.

·        As Dante mounts Virgil’s back for the climb out of hell, the poet begins to climb down, and then suddenly turns around and begins to climb up again.  Explain this (quite correct) reversal.

·        What is quite incorrect about Virgil’s breath coming “shrill”?

·        When Dante and Virgil began their climb upon Satan, it was the evening of Holy Saturday, and yet when the look once more upon the stars it is the morning of Easter Sunday.  Explain how they suddenly gained twelve hours.

·        The poet’s see a little stream, which we learn is the river Lethe, coming down from Purgatory.  Explain the symbolism of its coming down into hell from above.

·        Why “stars” as the last word of Inferno?