Circle 5: Cantos 7-9

Question 1

Circle 5:

Answer 1

Wrath & Sullenness

Question 2

‘They all yelled out:…

Answer 2

‘They all yelled out: “Get Filippo Argenti!”’

Question 3

‘under the veil of…’

Answer 3

‘under the veil of the strange verses’

Question 4

Dante sees wrathful souls battering and biting one another in the swampy waters of the Styx…

Answer 4

Dante sees wrathful souls battering and biting one another in the swampy waters of the Styx, the fifth circle of Hell, and he learns that the bubbles on the surface are cause by sullen spirits stuck in the muddy bottom of the marsh. The travelers cross the Styx in a swift vessel piloted by Phlegyas. When Filippo Argenti, an arrogant Florentine whom Dante knows and detests, rises up and threatens to grab the boat, Virgil shoves him back into the water, where he is slaughtered by his wrathful cohorts, much to Dante’s delight. The resentful boatman deposits Dante and Virgil at the entrance to Dis, the fortressed city of Lower Hell. Over a thousand fallen angels who guard the entrance refuse entry to the travelers, slamming the gate in Virgil’s face. Bloodcurdling Furies then appear above the walls and call on Medusa to come and turn Dante to stone. However, a messenger from Heaven arrives to squelch the resistance and open the gate, thus allowing Dante and Virgil to visit the circles of Lower Hell.

Question 5

Phlegyas

Answer 5

The infernal employee who transports Dante and Virgil in his boat across the Styx, circle of the wrathful and sullen, is appropriately known for his own impetuous (if understandable) behavior. In a fit of rage , Phlegyas set fire to the temple of Apollo because the god had raped his daughter. Apollo promptly slew him. Phlegyas, whose father was Mars (god of war), appears in Virgil’s underworld as an admonition against showing contempt for the gods.

Question 6

Filippo Argenti

Answer 6

Apart from what transpires in Inferno, we know little of the hotheaded character who quarrels with Dante, lays his hands on the boat (to capsize it?), and is finally torn to pieces by his wrathful cohorts.

Question 7

Fallen Angels

Answer 7

Dante’s fallen angels - they literally ‘rained down from heaven’ - defend the city of Dis (Lower Hell), just as they once resisted Christ’s arrival the Gate of Hell (Periphery of Hell). These angels joined Lucifer in his rebellion against God; cast our of Heaven, they laid the foundation for evil in the world. Once beautiful, they are now, like all things infernal, transformed into monstrous demons.

Question 8

Furies

Answer 8

Megaera (evil deeds), Tisiphone (evil words), and Allecto (evil thought). The Furies, in Virgil’s world, were a terrifying trio of ‘daughters of Night’ - bloodstained, with snakes in their hair and about their waists - who were often invoked to exact revenge on n behalf of offended mortals and gods.

Question 9

Medusa

Answer 9

Ovid tells how Minerva, offended that Neptune and Medusa made love in the goddess’s temple, punishes the beautiful girl by transforming her hair into snakes. Medusa, one of three sisters known as the Gorgons, thus becomes so frightened to behold that those who look at her turn to stone. The Geek hero Perseus, aided by a bronze shield in which he can see Medusa’s reflected image (rather than looking directly at her), kills her as she sleeps by cutting off her head. Pegasus, the winged horse, is born of Medusa’s blood.