Dante’s Inferno Holbrook’s Highway to Hell No Speeding!

The Vestibule Souls of the Indifferent; the uncommitted Punishment: Proceed With Caution! The Vestibule Souls of the Indifferent; the uncommitted Punishment: Run through wasps & hornets while carrying a banner Soul here – Pontius Pilot for making the great refusal

River of Acheron: River of Woe Only the dead may pass across this river Charon (from Greek mythology) is the boat keeper of the Acheron The Doomed Souls Embarking to Cross the Acheron Gustave Doré

Homer and the Classic Poets Circle 1 Limbo Those who came before Christ The Unbaptized Homer and the Classic Poets Gustave Doré Punishment – No hope of seeing God Always Melancholy Souls Present – Homer, Socrates, Virgil, Plato, Aristotle, Ovid…

Judgment KING MINOS Decides the fate and punishment of the Dead Abandon All Hope, Judgment Ye Who Enter Here KING MINOS (formerly the ruler of Crete; a son of Zeus) Decides the fate and punishment of the Dead Wraps his tail around a sinner to tell him to which circle he will be going. Minos Gustave Doré

King Minos Minos William Blake

The Lustful Sins of Lust Circle 2 The Lustful Sins of Lust Punishment – Spin within a whirlwind for eternity Souls Here – Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Paolo & Francesca Whirlwind of Lovers by William Blake

The Lustful continued… The Souls of Paola and Francesca Gustave Doré (give the story here…)

The Gluttons Producers of nothing but garbage and offal Circle 3 The Gluttons Producers of nothing but garbage and offal Punishment – live in a mixture of stinking snow & freezing rain that forms a bile slush (basically a giant garbage dump) Souls - Ciacco the Hog, a citizen of Florence Guardian – Cerberus: 3-headed dog of hell, stands over the Gluttons slavering over them. Gluttony - 1 : excess in eating or drinking 2 : greedy or excessive indulgence

The Gluttons Cerberus Circle 3 Cerebus William Blake Cerberus presides over the third circle of Hell. He is prevented from devouring Virgil and Dante by Virgil who distracts the beast by feeding him handfuls of earth. Cerebus William Blake

The Gluttons: Circle 3 The Souls of the Gluttonous Gustave Doré

The Gluttons…continued (more art) The Gluttons Ciacco Gustave Doré

Hoarders & Wasters (Avaricious & Prodigal) Circle 4 Hoarders & Wasters (Avaricious & Prodigal) Those who are greedy & those who are recklessly extravagant. Punishment – roll stones at each other while screaming, “Why squander,” and “Why grasp.” Souls – You can’t recognize anyone here because their features were so dimmed from fighting. The Souls of the Avaricious Gustave Doré

Avaricious & Prodigal The Avaricious and the Prodigal Gustave Doré

The Wrathful & the Sullen Circle 5 The Wrathful & the Sullen People who are always sad, resentful, angry, etc. Punishment: The wrathful are immersed in the marsh of the Styx River while fighting each other Punishment for the Sullen – entombed under the mud of the Styx River Souls – Filippo Argenti, who rises from the mud and attacks the Virgil and Dante

Wrathful & Sullen continued… Virgil shows Dante the Souls of the Wrathful Gustave Doré Circle 5

Wrathful & Sullen (art) The Stygian Lake, with the Ireful Sinners Fighting William Blake

Wall of the City of Dis Guarded by the Furies and Rebellious Angels A heavenly messenger opens the gate to the city with a poof! The City of Dis and The Heretics Botticelli

Wall of City of Dis continued… Dante and Virgil have to run past a scary minotaur (a monster shaped half like a man and half like a bull) The Minotaur on the Shattered Cliff Gustave Doré

The Heretics Circle 6 Sin - a baptized member of the Roman Catholic Church who disavows a revealed truth Punishment – Confined to burning tombs Souls – … Guardians… The Heretics Botticelli

Violence Against Neighbors Circle 7 RING ONE Violence Against Neighbors Punishment – Immersed in River of blood according to the sinner’s degree of guilt Souls – Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun The Violent against their Neighbour Botticelli

Violence Against Oneself (Suicides) Circle 7 Violence Against Oneself (Suicides) RING TWO Punishment – Souls encased in trees with Harpies pecking at them. Those who destroy their own bodies are denied Human Forms. Harpies are foul mythological creatures that are part woman & part bird. a foul malign creature in Greek mythology that is part woman and part bird 2 a : a predatory person : LEECH b : a shrewish woman Harpies in the Forest of the Suicides Gustave Doré

Violence Against God RING Circle 3 7 THREE TYPES: Blasphemers – stretched on burning sand Sodomites – running on burning sand Usurers – huddled on burning sand & sit with purses around their necks (kind of like a loan shark) Souls – Brunetto Latini, Dante’s former teacher blas·pheme 1 : to speak of or address with irreverence 2 : REVILE, ABUSE intransitive senses : to utter blasphemy sod·om·ite Pronunciation: -"mIt Function: noun one who practices sodomy usu·rer Pronunciation: 'yü-zh&r-&r, 'yüzh-r&r Function: noun one that lends money especially at an exorbitant rate The Blasphemer William Blake (British Museum)

Violence Against God Circle 7: Ring 3 Capaneus - one of the seven kings who besieged Thebes. He defied Jupiter and was killed by a thunderbolt. Dante describes him as lying proud and disdainful, apparently unaffected by the flames. Capaneus the Blasphemer   William Blake

Violence Against God, Nature, and Art RING 3 ART Circle 7 Brunetto Latini accosts Dante Gustave Doré

River Styx: The River of Hate Phlegyas ferries Dante and Virgil across the Styx Gustave Doré

The Fraudulent: Panderers & Seducers Bolgia 1 Circle 8 The Fraudulent: Panderers & Seducers Sin – Panderers (to provide gratification for others' desires ) & Seducers (to persuade to disobedience or disloyalty; sometimes has to do with sexual) Punishment – Whipped by devils

The Fraudulent: Flatterers Bolgia 2 Circle 8 The Fraudulent: Flatterers Punishment – Covered with filth Souls Present Jason and others Definition - to praise excessively especially from motives of self-interest Paramours and Flatterers Gustave Doré

The Fraudulent: Simonists Bolgia 3 Circle 8 Simonists are people who sell ecclesiastical favors (If you pay me money, I’ll make sure you get into heaven.) Punishment – Turned upside down with fire on their feet Souls present – Pope Nicholas III - Pope from 1277 - 1280. Dante views him as one who corrupted church office. The Simonists, by Gustave Doré

The Fraudulent: Fortune Tellers Bolgia 4 The Fraudulent: Fortune Tellers Circle 8 Punishment – Their heads are twisted and then turned backwards Souls Present – Tieresias (the blind prophet from Oedipus and Antigone) Dante names seven souls in all, one of them a woman, Manto, after whom Virgil's birthplace Mantua was named; one of the men is probably her father Tiresias. Virgil and Dante look down from the rock bridge above. The Necromancers and Augurs William Blake 

The Fraudulent: Corrupt Officials Bolgia 5 The Fraudulent: Corrupt Officials Circle 8 Punishment – Covered by boiling pitch (dirt/tar) and harassed by 10 sneaky demons This art scene is set in the fifth chasm of the eighth circle. Bonturo Dati's fellow magistrate is being carried by a demon and is about to be thrown into the boiling pitch before being attacked with hooks. The Devil Carrying the Lucchese Magistrate to the Boiling-Pitch Pool of Corrupt Officials William Blake

The Fraudulent: Hypocrites Circle 8 Bolgia 6 The Fraudulent: Hypocrites Definition - a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion Punishment – Clothed in leaden mantles (like a cloak) Souls Present – Caiaphas The Hypocrites Gustave Doré

The Fraudulent: Thieves Circle 8 Bolgia 7 The Fraudulent: Thieves Punishment – Trapped in a snake pit with their hands bound; then they change into snakes Souls Present – Vanni Fucci Thieves Gustave Doré

Thieves: Vanni Fucci Vanni Fucci had been bitten by a serpent, instantly transformed into ashes, and then, like the phoenix, reconstituted into his former shape. This was his punishment for robbing the treasury of San Jacopo in the Church of San Zeno, Pistoia, in 1293. Here Vanni Fucci blasphemes against God with an obscene gesture. The flames rain down on him from the dark cloud above and serpents renew their attacks on him. Vanni Fucci 'Making Figs' Against God William Blake 

The Fraudulent: Thieves Here, the two poets have crossed over the cliff into the seventh chasm of the eighth circle, where the Thieves are punished by serpents. The Thieves and the Serpents   William Blake

The Fraudulent: Evil Counselors Circle 8 Bolgia 8 The Fraudulent: Evil Counselors Punishment – Concealed in flames Souls Present – Ulysses, Diomed, Guido Evil Counselors Gustave Doré

Evil Counselors (art) Virgil and Dante are now in the eighth chasm of the eighth circle, where the punishment of Evil Counselors occurs. The figures are swathed in individual flames, likened by Dante to fireflies. Ulysses and Diomed are punished for deceiving the Trojans with the Wooden Horse. Ulysses and Diomed Swathed in the Same Flame   William Blake

The Fraudulent: Sowers of Discord Circle 8 Bolgia 9 The Fraudulent: Sowers of Discord Definition – (lack of agreement or harmony (as between persons, things, or ideas) b : active quarreling or conflict resulting from discord among persons or factions : Strife) Punishment – Physically torn apart, wounded, and mutilated The Sowers of Discord Gustave Doré

The Fraudulent: Counterfeiters & Alchemists Bolgia 10 Circle 8 The Fraudulent: Counterfeiters & Alchemists Punishment – diseased with all kinds of deformities Dante sees two pale and naked shadows rushing out biting like hungry swine. One, Gianni Schicchi, grabs Capocchio by the neck with his fangs. Capocchio, is probably the Florentine alchemist who was burned alive in Sienna in 1281. The other animal-headed figure on the left is Myrrha, daughter of King Cinyras of Cyprus with whom she had an incestuous relationship. The Pit of Disease: Gianni Schicchi and Myrrha by William Blake  

Giant’s Well (art) In antiquity Geryon was a monster with three heads, six arms and three bodies joined together at the waist; he was slain by Hercules. In the middle ages, however, Geryon was equated with fraud, with the face of a just man but the body of a reptile. Geryon Conveying Dante and Virgil Down Towards Malebolge   William Blake

Giant’s Well Geryon Gustave Doré Geryon: Giant on whose back Dante descends to lower hell; has a dragon-like form in accordance with Revelations 9: 9-20 The Giant’s Well leads to Circles 8 because Geryon represents Fraud.

Treachery: Traitors Against Kin (Family) Circle 9 Round ONE Treachery: Traitors Against Kin (Family) Punishment – Held in ICE with their heads bent forward The Circle of the Traitors: Dante's Foot Striking Bocca degli Abbati William Blake

Treachery: Against Country Circle 9 Round TWO Treachery: Against Country Punishment – Gripped by ICE while biting one another’s head Souls Present – Archbishop Ruggieri, Ugolino Ugolino Gustave Doré

Treachery: Against Guests & Hosts Circle 9 Round 3 Treachery: Against Guests & Hosts This means being a traitor to a guest in your home or to a person hosting you (like hospitality) Punishment – Held in ICE with head up, freezing their eyes Traitors Gustave Doré

Treachery: Against Lords & Benefactors Circle 9 Round 4 Treachery: Against Lords & Benefactors This means treachery to masters (like Brutus & Cassius) Punishment – Completely immersed in ICE, held by Lucifer Traitors Botticelli

Lucifer Lucifer William Blake Dante and Virgil are now in the ninth and last circle, that of the Traitors, and have reached the inner of four concentric rings where traitors are frozen in a kind of building, shining like straw in glass. At the centre stands Lucifer, frozen from the waist down, with three heads and bat-like wings, the flapping of which freezes the heart of Hell. In each mouth he chews on a sinner: Judas Iscariot, Brutus and Cassius. Lucifer William Blake

Lucifer (art) Lucifer, King of Hell, by Gustave Doré

Lucifer (art) Lucifer Botticelli

Lucifer (art) Dante, in the lowest circle of hell, witnesses a gigantic Lucifer who possesses three heads, the wings of a bat, and is covered with frozen, matted hair.  He weeps from all six eyes a grotesque mixture of tears, blood, and pus. artist unavailable

Lucifer (art) “We must depart from evil so extreme.” Dante Alighieri La Divina Commedia Lucifer Salvadore Dalí

Lucifer (art) Salvadore Dali as Lucifer by Jade Christian Green