DANTE'S INFERNO

Introduction

Inferno opens on the evening of Good Friday in the year 1300. Traveling through a dark forest, Dante Alighieri loses his way and now wanders fearfully through this dangerous place. The sun shines down on a mountain above him, and he tries to climb up to it but finds his way blocked by three beasts — a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf. Terrified and helpless, Dante returns to the dark forest. Here he encounters the ghost of Virgil, the great Roman poet, who has come to guide Dante back to his path, to the top of the mountain. Virgil says that their path will take them through Hell and that they will eventually reach Heaven, where Dante’s beloved Beatrice awaits. He adds that it was Beatrice, along with two other holy women, who, seeing Dante lost in the forest, sent Virgil to guide him. Besides, Dante, who is still alive and not a spirit, wouldn't be free to go through Hell alone; for this reason, Virgil's job will be to convince the guardians of the circles to let Dante through.

Virgil leads Dante through the gate of Hell, marked by the haunting inscription, "Abandon all hope, you who enter here". They enter the edge region of Hell, the Ante-Inferno, where the souls who in life could not commit to either good or evil now must run in a futile chase after a blank flag, day after day, while wasps bite them and worms suck their blood. Dante witnesses their suffering with repugnance and pity. 

Then a ferryman called Charon then takes him and his guide across the river Acheron, the real border of Hell. Hell is made up of 9 concentric circles, meaning one circle inside the other. Each circle has different punishments that are based on the sin that a person commits. As Dante and Virgil move through the circles towards the center, the punishments get worse. The people who are sent to the inner circles have committed the worst sins. The First Circle of Hell, Limbo, provides space for pagans, including Virgil and many of the other great writers and poets of antiquity. They are punished for having died without knowing Christ. The Ninth Circle, on the other hand, is the final and innermost one, reserved for the worst kinds of sinners and where Satan resides.

 

Answer:

1) What danger does Dante initially face while trying to reach the mountain foothill?

2) Why wouldn't Dante be able to make the journey to Hell on his own?

3) What can you infer from the inscription of the gate to Hell "Abandon all hope, you who enter here"?

4) Why do you think the souls of the Ante-Inferno must follow a white flag as punishment?

5)  What is your take about the pagan souls who must remain in Limbo for eternity? Do you think it is fair?

6) Look at the picture above. What circle of Hell is located at the center of the Earth? How might it look like?

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Video task - Click on the image and watch the video about Dante's journey through Inferno. Take notes and then, fill out the chart below. Some parts have already been completed as an example: