Circle 9 Dante’s Inferno

Circle 9 Dante finds himself at the bottom of a well on a frozen lake We are now in the 9th circle of Hell This is the 4th body of water in Hell called Cocytus and it is completely frozen That’s right…no FIRE!!! Metaphor – The heart of a traitor is the coldest heart of all

Circle 9 Each sinner is frozen in the ice according to their guilt This is Dante’s symbol of the final guilt The treacheries committed were that of denying love (which is to deny God because God is love) and denying human warmth Worst are in the center which is farthest from God’s warmth

Lake Cocytus Cocytus means to lament Sin – Treason Treason is defined as the crime of betrayal Divided into 4 rounds with each round representing a different type of betrayal Round 1 – Caina Round 2 - Antenora Round 3 - Ptolomea Round 4 - Judecca

Caina – Treason against family Named after Cain from the Biblical story of Cain and Abel Cain kills Abel out of jealousy because God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and not his This is where Guido (from the story of Paulo and Francesca in circle 2) would be Dante's attention is here drawn to two brothers, the ghibelline Napoleone and the guelph Alessandro, who murdered one another because of a dispute over their inheritance Punishment is to have their heads and necks out of the frozen lake but everything else is frozen

Antenora – Treason to Country Named after Antenor → the Trojan that betrayed his city to the Greeks → treachery to country Have only their head out of the ice….no neck As they are walking, Dante accidentally kicks the head of Bocca Degli Abbati and then treats him really savagely This is in contrast to his response earlier when he swooned because he felt bad for the sinners This is to show that Dante now understands that you must be punished for your wrong doings

Bocca degli Abati Political Traitor Makes allusion to Motaperti – place of the legendary battle between the Guelphs and Ghibellines Bocca refuses to give up the identity of others involved in his traitorous act As his name alludes to, Bocca eventually tells Dante who it is after Dante begins pulling out chunks of his hair Bocca was a Guelph who pretended to fight on the side of the Ghibellines and betrayed the Ghibellines at a key moment in the battle Bocca turned over the flag bearer and to further shame the Ghibellines, they cut of the flag bearers hands, which caused the Ghibellines to panic and then were easily defeated by the Guelphs

Antenora - Ugolino and Non-Friend Dante and Virgil continue walking and see a man chewing on another man’s head (Archbishop Ruggieri degli Ubaldini) 32.124-32; 33.76-8 The sinner chewing on his friends head sees Dante and tells him his story This story and Ugolino chewing on Archbishop’s head are Dante’s final depiction of the capacity for cruelty that mankind has

Count Ugolino Ugolino manes no effort to exonerate himself, he merely continues to blame Non-Friend for killing his sons. Ugolino betrays Pisa – which is why he is in this circle Ugolino wanted to make himself look better tin the eyes of a powerful Guelph so he storms the castle – he was unsuccessful and imprisoned and then exiled He tried again, failed and was then elected as the political head of Pisa His grandson was appointed head of the people He abused the money and power he had and was eventually betrayed by Non-Friend Other critics believe it was because he switched political sides (grew up in a Ghibelline family but turned Guelph

Ptolomea – Treason to friends or guests Named after Aptolomaeus of Maccabees Murdered his father in law at a banquet Punishment: They have only half their face out of the ice Their tears freeze over their eyes and creates ice visors over their eyes They are not allowed the comfort of tears

Ptolomea Why is the third round so bad??? Because a person can fall to the torments of this circle before actually dying Dante thought the betrayal of friends and those who offer hospitality were so bad that after committing the act, the soul of the offender would descend immediately to Hell and a demon would inhabit the body Dante meets Fra Alberigo

Fra Alberigo Guelph Fra is still alive on earth in 1300 (which is the year Dante tkes his journey) The souls descend immediately and their bodies are possessed by demons Was a friar who wanted to make peace but a close relative (Manfred) was cruel and wanted more power so he plotted against Alberigo and eventually punched him Alberigo pretended to forget about the fight, he planned a banquet for Manfred and his son and then had them killed during dessert ☹

Judecca – Treason against masters Named after Judas Iscariot – the man who betrayed Jesus Punishment: They live completely sealed in the ice, they are twisted and distorted, and it is impossible to speak to them Dante believes this to be the worst sin of all because he sees it as symbolic of betraying the Ultimate Master: God Off in the distance you see Satan

Symbolic Punishment The frozen sinners are meant to reflect that the sinners were so cold hearted that they could betray someone Because they were so cold hearted, they don’t deserve to experience warmth in death at all

Satan

Satan Satan is the greatest traitor of all and he is right in the center of Cocytus Cast from Heaven for rebelling against God

Satan’s Description Lucifer has 3 faces – the mouths drip with a mixture of blood, saliva, tears, and pus Red - Hatred Black – Ignorance Yellowish/white – Impotence (powerless) Lucifer has 6 wings, a pair beneath each face Like bat wings “Rake like teeth”

Who is Satan eating??? Judas Iscariot – Betrayer of Jesus Being eaten by the red, middle face of Hatred The upper half of his body is in Satan’s mouth, while his legs dangle outside Marcus Brutus – Helped plot the assassination of Julius Caesar (who was his friend) Being eaten by the black face of Ignorance Bottom half of his body is in Satan’s mouth Cassius – Led the conspirators who assassinated Caesar, his ruler, for power Being eaten by the yellowish/white face of impotence

The Exit Virgil announces that their journey of Hell is complete Climbing down Satan's hairy back, Virgil leads Dante through a crack in the ice and out the other side. The literal struggle of climbing down Satan without falling is reflective of the struggle human beings face while trying to live their lives without falling into evil

Exiting Hell When they hit the center of the earth, they start climbing up to the Mountain of Purgatory They emerge from Hell the day before Easter Religious Symbolism Reflective of how Jesus over came Hell when he rose on Easter He is not comparing himself to Jesus, he is saying that it is possible to overcome evil