The Inferno: Pass Among the Fallen People (The Vestibule of Hell) Feraco Myth to Science Fiction + SDAIE 3 November 2014

Canto III: Data File Settings: The Gate of Hell, the Vestibule of Hell, and Acheron Figures: Charon, Pope Celestine V (unidentified) Allusions: Acheron + Charon (The Aeneid) Punishable Sin: Opportunism Summary: Dante and Virgil pass the Gate of Hell and are immediately battered by horrific cries of suffering. They witness the punishment of the Opportunists – those who refused to choose between good and evil, deciding instead to shift sides in an effort to stay on top. The travelers move past them and head to Acheron, where Charon tries to refuse them; as Virgil forces Charon to do their bidding, Dante faints, overcome with fear.

The Gate 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 I stand. Abandon all hope ye who enter here.

Holy Trinity Although most realize that Hell, by virtue of belonging to the same system as Heaven, has divine origins, Dante takes care to explicitly identify the Holy Trinity as Hell’s source. The Father represents Power; the Son, Wisdom and Intellect; and the Holy Spirit stands for Love. Note that Hell contains those who spurned each.

Neither Cold Nor Hot Dante and Virgil encounter their first sufferers, and it’s from this point that the logic behind the poet’s system of justice becomes clear. They find those who have been denied entrance to every other realm of the afterlife – the “fence-sitters, wafflers, opportunists, and neutrals” – as well as fallen angels who refused to side with God. While this place is invented by Dante, Raffa finds some Biblical inspiration in a passage from the Book of Revelations to justify its creation: “But because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth.” (3:16)

Feeding an Endless Sea of… The sufferers chase a banner that floats just out of reach in the Vestibule’s filthy air. As they run in endless circles, they’re set up by wasps and hornets; the insects sting them constantly, and the blood and matter that constantly flows from their bodies feeds an endless sea of worms and maggots beneath their feet. This is definitely gross, but it’s meant to be – it’s so jarringly different that it throws every expectation we could possibly have for what lies ahead out of kilter, and fills us with dread. (This, in turn, is reminiscent of Gilgamesh’s approach towards the Cedar Forest: we abandon all hope after seeing this.) In your books, check Ciardi’s explanation of the “symbolic retribution” this area contains – it’s pretty detailed, but highly useful.

Pope Celestine V Dante only recognizes one sinner here, which is somewhat unusual – he identifies tons of people as he descends, and names them specifically. Here, the sinner – the one who makes the “Great Denial” – is never named. Most assume he’s Pope Celestine V, and I’m not surprised if you haven’t heard of him. Raffa: “His refusal to perform the duties required of the pope (he abdicated five months after his election in July 1294) allowed Benedetto Caetani to become Pope Boniface VIII, the man who proved to be Dante's most reviled theological, political, and personal enemy.”

Acheron After moving past the Opportunists, Dante and Virgil reach Acheron, the first of Hell’s great rivers (remember each one!). Virgil used it in The Aeneid – although it should be noted that specific bodies of water weren’t as important to Virgil as they are to Dante. In The Inferno, Acheron serves as a border wall, a boundary separating the Opportunists from those who belong in Hell itself; Charon, Hell’s Ferryman, takes them across, and no mortals are to enter Hell. This would seem to pose a problem for our intrepid poet…

Charon Dante fleshes out Charon’s physical description more than Virgil did in The Aeneid, but the old man basically behaves the same way in both texts. In both texts, the solution is the same: The protagonist’s guide (in this case, Virgil himself) presents the “proper credentials” (divine will) in order to convince Charon to take them across. Unlike Aeneas, Dante panics and faints – and we, like he, wake up on the other side of Acheron…