from The InfernoDante

Canto 3: The Vestibule of Hell

I AM THE WAY INTO THE CITY OF WOE

I AM THE WAY TO A FORSAKEN PEOPLE

I AM THE WAY INTO ETERNAL SORROW

SACRED JUSTICE MOVED MY ARCHITECT.

I WAS RAISED HERE BY DIVINE OMNIPOTENCE.

PRIMORDIAL LOVE AND ULTIMATE INTELLECT.

ONLY THOSE ELEMENTS TIME CANNOT WEAR

WERE MADE BEFORE ME, AND BEYOND TIME STAND.

ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE.

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Analysis

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• The summary for Canto 3 alludes to the “Rebellion of Angels” which refers to Satan, originally called Lucifer, who was cast out of heaven after rebelling against God.

• Symbolic retribution: the law of symbolic retribution is based on the lex talionis, the law of retaliation whereby one transgresses against another is made to suffer in exactly the same way. This principle of “an eye for an eye” was first formulated in the Code of Hammurabi, a collection of 282 laws that regulated every aspect of Babylonian life, and was highly detailed and punitive.

Analysis

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• The inscription on the gate to Hell is carved in stone: this reinforces the harshness and permanence of the message.

• By taking Dante’s hand and leading him “with a gentle and encouraging smile,” Virgil shows a benevolent and protective attitude toward Dante.

• Dante employs anaphora, a rhetorical term for the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses, at the beginning of Canto 3

Analysis

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• Though Dante is credited for creating this canto purely based on his imagination, a theological justification for Dante's invention may be found in Apocalypse (Revelation) 3:16: "But because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth."

• It is important to note that Hell is a creation of God, not Satan.

Virgil’s Concept of Hellfrom The Aeneid, Book VI

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• Begins with the Trojan fleet landing on the shores of Italy.

• Aeneas goes to the Temple of Apollo, following his father’s instructions, to meet Sibyl, a priestess.

• Aeneas prays to Apollo to let the Trojans settle in Latium.

• Sibyl offers a caveat that more trials await in Italy: fighting on the scale of the Trojan War, a nemesis the caliber of the Greek warrior Achilles, and further interference from Juno.

Virgil’s Concept of Hellfrom The Aeneid, Book VI

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• Aeneas asks Sibyl for entrance into Dis (the city of the dead) so that he may visit his father; she tells him that he will first need a sign---to find a golden branch in a nearby forest.

• Sibyl instructs him that if the branch breaks off easily, he is meant to enter Dis.

• Upon entering the forest, Aeneas is frightened; after a prayer, however, two doves descend and guide him to the golden branch.

• The branch tears away easily; he brings the branch back to Sibyl, who leads him to the gates of Dis.

Virgil’s Concept of Hellfrom The Aeneid, Book VI

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• Just inside the gates runs the river Acheron; the ferryman Charon delivers the spirits of the dead across the river. Aeneas notices that all souls are not granted passage.

• These souls (which must remain on the bank), are, according to Sibyl, must remain there because they have not received a proper burial.

• Aeneas spots his once companion and helmsman, Palinurus, among these souls.

• Though Charon instructs them that no living souls may cross the bank, Sibyl shows Charon the golden branch, and Charon ferries them across.

Virgil’s Concept of Hellfrom The Aeneid, Book VI

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• Horrified, Aeneas hears the screams and wails of the souls on the other side.

• The souls of the recently deceased line up for the judgment of Minos.

• Nearby, Aeneas spots those in The Fields of Mourning, where those that died for love wander.

• Aeneas spots Dido, his past lover, wandering there, and explains to her that he did not leave her on his own free will.

• With regret and pity, Aeneas sees the shade of the dead queen turn away from him toward the shade of her husband, Sychaeus.

Virgil’s Concept of Hellfrom The Aeneid, Book VI

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• Aeaneas continues onwards to the field of war heroes, where he encounters the casualties of the Trojan War. The Greeks flee at the sight of him.

• Sibyl urges him onward to the fortress of Rhadamanthus, who doles out harsh judgment and punishment to the most evil of sinners.

• Finally, Aeneas and Sibyl come upon the Blessed Groves, where people are truly at peace; Aeneas sees his father.

• Anchises gives him a warm greeting and congratulates him on his difficult journey.

Virgil’s Concept of Hellfrom The Aeneid, Book VI

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• Anchises answers many of Aeneas’s questions regarding Dis; he explains that truly good souls can eventually reach the Field of Gladness.

• Anchises explains to Aeneas that his explication from his Italian lineage is the reason for his journey into the underworld.

• Anchises explains the future of theTrojan descendants: Romulus will found Rome, a Caesar will eventually come from the line of Ascanius, and Rome will reach a Golden Age of rule over the world.

Virgil’s Concept of Hellfrom The Aeneid, Book VI

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• Aeneas finally understands the significance of his journey to Italy; Anchises accompanies Aeneas out of Dis.

• Aeneas returns to his comrades on the beach; they cast off.

Analysis of Virgil’s Concept of Hellfrom The Aeneid, Book VI

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• This passage helps lift Virgil to the status of Christian prophet during the Middle Ages.

• Like Dante, Virgil’s Hell has many components and is secular, in which many punishments are doled out in regards to severity of the crime.

• Virgil portrays an afterlife in which people are judged according to the virtue of their lives on Earth, amidst a world that believed in temperamental gods that required sacrifice to be at peace and doled out arbitrary punishment.

Analysis of Virgil’s Concept of Hellfrom The Aeneid, Book VI

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• The presence of Orpheus (mythical Greek poet, “father of songs,” who descended into Hades and returned) in the Blessed Groves gives evidence to Orphism being fused together with future Christian and Western beliefs. Orphism deviated from Greek religion.

Analysis of Virgil’s Concept of Hellfrom The Aeneid, Book VI

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• Orphism’s core beliefs:• human souls are divine and immortal but doomed to

live (for a period) in a "grievous circle" of successive bodily lives through metempsychosis, or the transmigration of souls.

• an ascetic (pursuit of religious and spiritual goals) way of life which guarantees not only eventual release from the "grievous circle" but also communion with god(s) (together with secret initiation rites).

• postmortem punishment for certain transgressions committed during life.

Analysis of Virgil’s Concept of Hellfrom The Aeneid, Book VI

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• Rhadamanthus’s judgment of souls is similar to the Christian notion of judgment after death.

• Those that fail to repent their sins will suffer more after death.

• Virgil does not offer a similar version of heaven, unlike Dante; all souls go to Dis, just occupy a better place if good

• Virgil’s Dis fits with Christian theology because it states that souls who died before Christ go to purgatory (a form of Dis) instead of Heaven (only those that have accepted Christ as Savior.

Oh Yesby Charles Bukowski

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there are worse things than

being alone

but it often takes decades

to realize this

and most often

when you do

it's too late

and there's nothing worse

than

too late.