people 2 Flashcards
pilgrim
the Dante that is going on the journey and reacting in real-time
poet
the Dante that is writing the poem and looking back on his experiences and his journey
Virgil
Dante’s guide through the Inferno and Purgatorio, the Roman poet that wrote the Aeneid
Vanni Fucci
a notorious thief and murderer from Pistoria (near Florence) who is struck, turned to ash, and reformed in the image of a Phoenix. tells Dante about his future exile to spite him.
Ovid
the lead poet of Metamorphoses but he believes that the self can change without altering the soul or person; Dante sets himself up as Ovid’s successor in a prideful way
Sandow Birk
an American visual artist from L.A. who made the Inferno into a puppet show, later movie, that modernized Dante and used many current political images and figures
Ulysses
found in the eighth bolgia as counselors of fraud; Dante makes up some story about Ulysses death as he manipulates old men to go out to sea with him, and as they come across the mountain of Purgatory a whirlwind kills them all
Diomedes
found in the eighth bolgia as a counselor of fraud for his crimes in the Trojan War
Guido da Montefeltro
a mercenary captain, near the end of his life he joins a monsteraru to make amends for his sins, but Pope Boniface VIII asks him for advice and he gives it, and dies there, only to go to hell for not being a real convert.
Jean-Paul Satre
the theorist who put forth the concept of “bad faith” in which humans under social pressure live inauthentically, therefore miring themselves in self-deception like Guido
Archbishop Ruggieri
the man who betrayed Ugolino and therefore has his head being knawed upon him in the ninth circle
Ugolino della Gherardesca
a savvy political manipulator who was imprisoned by Ruggieri along with his sons. After his sons die, it is left ambiguous as to whether or not he ate them.
Ugolino’s sons
they are locked up with Ugolino despite having committed no crime, they beg to be eaten by Ugolino (which is possibly metaphorical) after asking him for comfort and receiving none, beg to be killed, and die
Lucifer
almost entirely absent from the poem, has great wings and three heads, he has no action aside from beating his wings and having Dante and Virgul climb down his back. Possibly has the idea that the real evil is not willful but thoughtless.
Judas
headfirst in Lucifer’s central mouth
Brutus
in one of Lucifer’s side mouths, punished by Dante for assassinating Caesar and putting an end to the empire as Dante loved empires
Cassius
in one of Lucifer’s side mouths, punished by Dante for assassinating Caesar and putting an end to the empire as Dante loved empires
sinners vs. penitents
sinners cannot be forgiven, but penitents show contrition and with reconciliation and penance can be redeemed and sent to heaven. sinners have sins, penitents have vices.
Cato
the guardian of the gates of Purgatory, a pagan, and killed himself. Dante may have sympathized with him as he is the embodiment of self-sacrifice and personal freedom that Dante feels he is also as he did not perjure himself to return from exile
Marcia
Cato’s wife, Virgil tries to bribe Cato into letting them pass by saying he’ll bring a message back to his beloved wife back in Limbo, but Cato refuses and says he does not care about her any longer for she is damned
Buonconte da Montefeltro
Guido’s son and a violent man who died in the opposite side of a battle Dante was involved in, shed a tear and said “Mary” before death and was therefore redeemed
Marco Lombardo
a man who Dante asks where all the evil in the world comes from, and he replies that it comes from people, not nature or the heavens, for without free will there is no hope of redemption
La Pia
a woman in Purgatory who shows Dante kindness, is said to be murdered by her husband as he wanted to marry someone else
