 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CANTO SUMMARIES |
|
|
|
Canto XI |
|
|
|
The poets pause before the seventh circle. A vault nearby reads, "I holp Pope Anastasius." Virgil wants to wait and grow used to the fumes before they continue. Here Virgil explains the structure of Hell a little more, detailing the circles and the punishments within.
As in Ethics, there are three conditions contrary to Heaven: incontinence, vice, and brute bestiality (in that order of severity). |
|
|
|
Canto XII |
|
|
|
Meet the Minotaur. Virgil taunts him to fury and they slip past the thrashing monster. Rocks are strewn about because Christ's descent into Limbo caused an earthquake in Hell. At the foot of the cliff is Phlegethon, a boiling stream of blood guarded by Centaurs with bows.
Chiron (chief Centaur) sends Nessus to guide them to the ford and carry Dante across. Nessus points out notables. Third Centaur is Pholus.
Alexander, Dionysius, Azzolino, and Obbizo d'Este are the Tyrants. One stands apart: Henry, son of Richard, Duke of Cornwall.
The blood grows shallower--the shades at one end are up to their eyebrows and at the other to their feet. The Centaur points out Pyrrhus and Sextus, Attila, and highwaymen. |
|
|
|
Canto XIII |
|
|
|
The poets enter a wood w/out a path. There is no green in the dead wood. Harpies nest in the trees, which house the souls of the Suicides. Harpies have the faces of women but the bodies of raptors (the bird, not the dinosaur) and steel claws. Dante is told to break off a twig. The bush is Pier delle Vigne, who was for many years the couselor to Emperor Frederick II. He was accused of betraying the emperor, but Dante doubted that, so he didn't place him with the traitors. Pier killed himself for grief.
The Suicides refused life and so are imprisoned in dead, sterile wood. At Judgment their bodies will not be returned to them but hung on the gnarled trees--they have no claim to what they have stolen.
Two Profligates run by, pursued by dark hounds and rent by them. The first is Lano de Siena, and the second Jacomo di Sant' Andrea. The bush Jacomo falls on is injured, and asks Dante to gather its pieces. |
|