Dante’s Divine Comedy: Inferno Canto 26: Thieves / Fraudulent Counselors.
Dante’s Inferno Circle 5
Transcript of Dante’s Inferno Circle 5
DANTE’S INFERNO
Fifth Circle of Hell: Wrath and Sullenness
WRATH AND
SULLENNESSTwo forms of a single sin: anger that is expressed (wrath) and anger that is repressed (sullenness)
PHLEGYAS
- son of Ares and was killed by Apollo- got turned into a demonic giant in the afterlife after burning down the Apollonian temple of Delhi; ferryman of the river Styx- was controlled by Dante and uses him to break into the City of Dis
RIVER STYX- a vast swamp encompassing the fifth circle of hell- filled with toxic, black liquid- the angry lie at the top, fighting with each other while the sullen eternally drown at the bottom
FILIPPO ARGENTI- a Black Guelph from a prominent family; wrathful politician- took all Dante’s property when Dante was asked to leave Florence- torn by the other sinners after his encounter with Dante
THE CITY OF DIS
- holds Hell’s deepest secrets and the worst violent and treacherous sinners- fallen angels guards its walls- contains the lower circles of Hell
BRIDE OF LUCIFER
- Beatrice became a bride of Lucifer after Dante fought his way to the City of Dis
THE CREATURES
DANTE SAW BEFORE
THE CITY OF DIS
FALLEN ANGELS- defends the entrance to the City of Dis- these angels joined Lucifer in his rebellion against God- ‘rained down from heaven’- Virgil failed to convince them to let them in because they demanded to know the reason why someone alive is entering their dominion
THE FURIES-the Erinyes, namely Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone, are creatures that are half-human, half-serpent-laughs at Dante and called for Medusa to turn him into stone; Virgil quickly covers his eyes
THE ANGEL
-secured entry for the poets and rebuked those who opposed them- opened the gates of the City of Dis
ERICHTHO
-a bloodthirsty witch who sent Virgil to bring back a spirit from the lowest circle of Hell so he can reveal future events in the civil war between Pompey and Caesar