1. Post Reading Discussion
The Divine Comedy
Post Reading Discussion

2. Canto’s 1, 3, 5
The Divine Comedy

3. Canto 1, 3, 5: Identifying Facts
What is Dante’s state of mind at the beginning of the poem?
Afraid, desperate
How does Virgil offer to help Dante? Why is Virgil unable to take Dante directly to the Light of God?
Leading him through Hell; he wasn’t baptized
What is the sin of the first group of condemned souls that Dante meets?
Lived for themselves; expedient

4. Canto 1, 3, 5: Identifying Facts
Who is Charon? According to Virgil, why does Charon refuse to allow Dante to cross Acheron?
Demon who ferries the damned souls
Dante is still living
What is Minos’s role in the 2nd circle of Hell? How does he perform this duty?
Judge who delivers each sinner’s sentence
Coiling his tail around his body for each level
What types of sinners does Dante see in the 2nd circle? What is their eternal punishment?
Guilty of sexual sins
Flung about like violent winds

5. Canto 1, 3, 5: Interpreting Meaning
How does Dante feel when he learns Virgil’s identity in Canto 1? Why is Virgil important to Dante as a poet?
Honored and blessed
Dante admires his work, Aeneid
In Canto 3, Virgil tells Dante that the fallen people are those “who have lost the good of intellect.” What does this mean?
Intellect (reason) is a guide to virtuous living; it’s useless after death
In what ways does hopelessness torment the spirits of the damned in Canto 3?
Cannot hope to escape torment thru death
In despair they curse God and everything God gave them for their own good

6. Canto 1, 3, 5: Interpreting Meaning
In Canto 5, why do you suppose Dante uses such a sympathetic image (doves) for the lovers?
Feels great compassion
By including details about Paola and Francesca’s reading, what attitude do you think Dante is expressing toward courtly love poetry?
Considers it beautiful, yet dangerously seductive

7. Canto 1, 3, 5 Written Response
Do you think those who refuse to stand up for principle, who act only for their own survival, deserve to suffer such a hideous fate?
How do you define faith and reason? Which is more valued in today’s world? Which do you think should be more highly valued? Explain your reasons.

8. Canto’s 33, 34
The Divine Comedy

9. Canto 33, 34: Identifying Facts
What souls are punished in the 9th circle? What sins have they committed?
Fraudulent, treacherous
Betrayal
How does Ugolino’s grim story make Ugolino feel? What does he then do to express his feelings?
Vengeful
Resumes his gnawing
What sinners are punished in the lowest, last circle? How are they punished?
Betrayed their masters
Frozen wholly in ice
What does Satan look like? What is he doing?
3 different colored faces, 6 bat-wings, shaggy pelt
Weeping and beating his wings as he chews on the sinners

10. Canto 33, 34: Interpreting Meaning
Describe Ugolino’s evil dream and explain how it parts “the veil of the future” – that is, forcasts coming events.
Ruggieri’s hunting dogs turn on his friends. He will turn on Ugolino and his sons
Why does Dante not keep his promise to Friar Alberigo?
His crime was so heinous that he was unworthy of Dante’s mercy
Why does Dante regard Judas, Brutus, and Cassius as the worst sinners of all? How does Judas’s sin differ from that of Brutus and Cassius?
Betrayed their masters
Christ
In what way could Satan’s three faces be explained as symbols?
Parody of the Trinity

11. Canto 33, 34: Written Responses
As horrible as Ugolino’s revenge is, do you think it is justified, in view of Ruggieri’s crime against him? If so, does that mean that revenge is justifiable in princple?
Do you agree with Dante that being entirely frozen in solid ice would be the worst punishment of all? Can you think of a worse punishment?

12. Canto’s 1, 3, 5, 33, 34
The Divine Comedy

13. Reading Check Who leads Dante out of the Dark Wood of Error?
Virgil
Who is Charon and what is his function?
Brutal ferryman who conveys the damned to their eternal fate
How many levels are there in Hell? 9
For what sins are Cleopatra, Achilles, and Tristan being punished?
Sexual passion
What led Paola and Francesca to give in to their desire for each other?
Reading the tale of Lancelot & Guinevere

14. Reading Check
What does Dante do after hearing the tale of Paolo and Francesca?
Faints
After having been starved to death, what grim food does Count Ugolino feed on in Hell?
The head and neck of Ruggieri, his murderer
By whom is Friar Alberigo’s still living, physical body occupied?
Demon
What causes the icy wind in Hell?
Satan’s beating wings
Who does Satan chew on, and why?
Judas, because he betrayed Christ

15. Writing Assignment
By his placement of different sinners in Hell, Dante ranks human sins from the least to the most serious. What sins do people today regard as the least serious? As the most serious? Why do you think so?