Where it’s not really nICE to see you! The 9th Circle of HELL!!! Where it’s not really nICE to see you!

A Brief Summary… The 9th Circle of Hell, according to Dante, is the lowest part of hell where Satan resides. It is not like the fiery red hot world that we all sort of picture it to be. On the contrary, it is extremely cold and dark, with sinners twisted into monstrous positions and frozen in solid ice, which is kept frozen eternally by Satan's gigantic wings, which he constantly flaps in an attempt to escape. This place would most definitely send a SHIVER down your spine.

A Brief Summary… This layer of hell is for the worst sinners on earth…traitors. The once beautiful, now hideous ex-angel Satan has three heads, the middle one chews on Judas of Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus and sold him for thirty pieces of silver. The other two heads chew on Brutus and Cassius, who betrayed and murdered Julius Caesar.

Set of lines: “In every mouth he worked a broken sinner between his rake-like teeth. Thus he kept three in eternal pain at his eternal dinner. For the one in front the biting seemed to play no part at all compared to the ripping; at times the whole of his back was flayed away. ‘That soul that suffers most,’ explained my guide, ‘is Judas Iscariot, he who kicks his legs on the fiery chin and has his head inside. Of the other two, who have their heads thrust forward, the one who dangles down from the black face is Brutus: note how he writhes without a word. And there, with the huge and sinewy arms, is the soul, of Cassius,-But the night is coming on and we must go, for we have seen the whole” (Dante’s Inferno Canto XXXIV lines 54-68). Question: What other ancient piece of literature or art contains similar content to these lines?

Literary Analysis pp. 685 Why is an allusion to the Titans an appropriate detail in Satan’s characterization? Explain.

Themes in World Masterpieces pp. 688 There are many famous historical literary views on the underworld; the Odyssey’s Odysseus tells us about the hero’s journey to the Greek underworld, In Plato’s Apology Socraties says that death may be a state of nothingness or a journey where you meet all that have died before you, but Dante’s version is the only one that has a clear structure. So how would you summarize Dante’s ninth circle of Hell in one or two sentences?

Review Questions pp. 690 3a. Who are the three people in Satan’s mouth? 3b. What sin do all three have in common? 3c. Why do you think Dante chooses to situate the punishment for such a sin in a frozen lake? 5a. How do you think Dante’s views of the lost inhabitants of Hell changed since the beginning of the Inferno? 5b. What message about tolerance for sin might Dante the poet be expressing through his character’s emotional evolution?

Review Questions pp. 691 7a. In lines 105-135 of Canto XXXIV, Dante the poet has Virgil explain where the two travelers are standing, Why does Dante the character need this explanation? 7b. Why does the reader need this explanation?