Canto XXXIV The Ninth & Final Circle of Hell

Summary of the Canto The poet reach the final round of the last circle of Cocytus, the ninth and final circle of Hell called, Judecca, and see the sinners there completely encased in the ice, in all sorts of strange and twisted positions. These are sinners who were treacherous to their masters, and since they cannot speak, the poets move on to see Satan, the master of this place.

Satan  Satan’s bat like wings are flapping, creating a cold wind that freezes the ice firmer.  Satan himself is represented as a giant, terrifying beast, weeping tears from his six eyes, which mix with the traitors' blood sickeningly.  Satan is bound in the ice to his mid-point and has three faces- a red one, a yellow one, and a black one. In each of his three mouths, he chews a sinner.  Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Christ, is the one in the middle and suffering most, and the other two are Brutus and Cassius, who betrayed Ceasar.

A Description  Dante calls circle 9, a frozen lake, Cocytus (from Greek, meaning "to lament"). One of the rivers in the classical underworld, Cocytus is described by Virgil as a dark, deep pool of water that encircles a forest and into which pours sand spewed from a torrid whirlpool.  The lake is frozen by the flapping wings of Lucifer, or Satan ; his tears replenish the lake, and are then frozen by his attempts to escape via the wings. Dante describes it as being the home of traitors and those who committed acts of complex fraud.

Satan As A Guide  Virgil tells Dante to hold on to him as he climbs Satan back, waiting for a moment when the wings are open so that they can have a save passage down.  Virgil climbs through a hole in the central rock. Dante is afraid that Virgil is going back to Hell, but both of these poets find themselves on their feet and standing on the other side of the world, having passed the mid-point of the Earth.  The poets make the long journey to the other side of the world where they are delivered through a round opening emerging in the other hemisphere just before dawn on Easter Sunday beneath a sky studded with stars.

The Frozen Marsh  Lucifer is at the center of the circle, his lower body trapped in ice.