Canto 7 Location: Circle Four Plutus “guards” the entrance into the fourth level. Again Dante retools a character from Greek myth (Pluto) Pagan god of wealth Pagan god of the underworld Avarice “Papa Satan, Papa, Satan, aleppy.” Plutus’ rage foreshadows the rage that inhabits this circle Gibberish serves as either warning or communication to Satan or the travelers Virgil rebukes him and he collapses into a heap This is Virgil’s third rebuke!

Canto 7 Location: Circle Four Hoarders vs. Wasters Each side holds objectives that are the antithesis of the other’s Dante is unable to make out any individual identities External dimness symbolizes no light of God within and indiscernible lives “lived” Communal rage (common sin) Punishment Each group pushes a boulder in a semi-circle toward the other group “Why waste?!” “Why squander?!” Both groups hold popes and clergy (first explicit mention)

Canto 7 Location: Shared by Circles Four and Five Landmarks Gloomy stream of darkest purple Leads to a black spring that bubbles from a crevice All rivers feed into the Acheron Spring feeds the marsh Styx Dame Fortune “Posted as high minister” by God Beatific (in ultimate bliss) Based on the reading (line 75), what does Dante believe of determinism? “Her changes change her changes endlessly”

Canto 7 Location: Circle Five The Wrathful Muddy and naked atop the marsh Beat and tear and bite at each other The Sullen Beneath the marsh Their chant, a perversion of a hymn, bubbles up Read their hymn starting on line 121

Canto 8 Location: Circle Five The Signal Towers Call and answer with a flame Phlegyas The boatman of the Styx Exhibits the rage that surrounds him Virgil rebukes a fourth “guardian” Pagan son of Mars; killed by Apollo (an act of wrath) Styx Marsh where the three main rivers of the underworld meet Pagan Titan; personification of hatred; goddess of the underworld; corrosive river which flowed from the underworld and marked the boundary

Canto 8 Location: Circle Five Filippo Argenti A rival/enemy in real life Arrogant Florentine citizen Fictional Dante recognizes him Emerges from the waters of the wrathful Dante’s Character Shift Shows Argenti no pity Berates Argenti Wishes further ill on Argenti Watches with relish as Argenti is chewed by himself and torn apart by others (blech!) Remember, Dante begins this journey himself impure Virgil Bestows Dante with a kiss, an act which will not be repeated “Blessed is the womb that bore thee” (these words were spoken to Christ in Luke 11:27)

Canto 8 Location: Circle Six Dis Another name for Satan and Pluto The division between the “mellower suburbs” of Hell and the inner city torments Parallels The Citadel of Reason (antithesis) Features flaming mosques, a direct attack by Dante of Islam, which he deigns to be a perversion of Christianity The Fallen Angels Of the same ilk as those in Limbo punished for moral indifference Virgil is powerless against these guardians of Dis’ sealed gate reason has no power against ultimate evil Brimming with rage More than a thousand guard against entrance

Canto 9 Location: Circle Six Dis The gate of Dis divides circles five and six Iron bars symbolize the cold hard sins of violence and fraud, the overarching sins of the second division of Hell First reference to hellfire in the poem The Three Furies The handmaidens of Pluto’s wife, Hecate (Persephone) THREE snake-haired demons, remorseless punishers of the criminal Megaera, Tisiphone, Alecto Here Dante mixes myth with HIS fiction and has them call Medusa They refer to Theseus’ ill attempt to rescue Persephone and wish to teach Dante and Virgil a lesson

Canto 9 Location: Circle Six Medusa/Gorgon Does not actually appear Meeting her vision turns one into stone Snakes for hair Messenger of Grace Called by Virgil, arrives from Heaven Parallels Christ’s harrowing of Hell Parallels Moses’ Red Sea parting Scatters the Fallen Angels Direct address Line 58

Canto 10 Location: Circle Six Heretics Lie in iron, lidless sepulchers (tombs) heated by Hellfire Violence against God is the willful position that the soul does not outlive the body What differentiates them from the pagans? Their choice is willful; they ignore the very discernible light of God Dante’s list of sins follows a pagan classification Farinata degli Uberti Guido Cavalcanti Famous pleasure-loving skeptic Here Dante learns that shades can not see the present Predicts for Dante his exile Emperor Frederick II “the Cardinal”

Canto 11 Location: Circle Six Pile of Rubble Remnants of a cliff Dislodged by a great earthquake caused by Christ’s death Three remaining circles All punish malice Violence (Seven) Fraud 1 (Eight) Fraud 2 (Nine) What is Virgils’ dis in the City of Dis? Fetid Stench The pair pause to acclimate to the odor arising from the lower levels Provides Dante, the author, a chance to allow Virgil to outline the coming layers

Circle 7 The Violent and Bestial Ditch 1: Murderers and war-makers Ditch 2: Suicides and self-destroyers Ditch 3: Blasphemers, usurers, and perverts 1. Regarding circle eight, why are sins of fraud regarded as being worse than sins of violence?

Circle 7 The Violent and Bestial Ditch 1: Murderers and war-makers Ditch 2: Suicides and self-destroyers Ditch 3: Blasphemers, usurers, and perverts 2. Here, “art” means human industry. Why is usury a sin against art? Why is considered worse than murder and suicide?

Circle 7 The Violent and Bestial Ditch 1: Murderers and war-makers Ditch 2: Suicides and self-destroyers Ditch 3: Blasphemers, usurers, and perverts 3. The Inferno was written over 600 years ago. Why is the categorization of Hell still a relevant topic? Is the continent of Africa any richer in Dante’s classifications than America?