Heaven, to keep its beauty, cast them out, but even Hell itself would not receive them, for fear the damned might glory over them. ”
42
And I. “Master, what torments do they suffer that force them to lament so bitterly?” He answered: “I will tell you in few words:
45
these wretches have no hope of truly dying, and this blind life they lead is so abject it makes them envy every other fate.
48
The world will not record their having been there; Heaven’s mercy and its justice turn from them. Let’s not discuss them; look and pass them by. ”
51
And so I looked and saw a kind of banner rushing ahead, whirling with aimless speed as though it would not ever take a stand;
54
52-69. In the Inferno divine retribution assumes the form of the contrapasso, i. e., the just punishment of sin, effected by a process either resembling or contrasting to the sin itself. In this canto the contrapasso opposes the sin of neutrality, or inactivity: The souls who in their early lives had no banner, no leader to follow, now run forever after one.
behind it an interminable train of souls pressed on, so many that I wondered how death could have undone so great a number.
57
When I had recognized a few of them, I saw the shade of the one who must have been the coward who had made the great refusal.
60
At once I understood, and I was sure this was that sect of evil souls who were hateful to God and to His enemies.
63
These wretches, who had never truly lived, went naked, and were stung and stung again by the hornets and the wasps that circled them
66
and made their faces run with blood in streaks; their blood, mixed with their tears, dripped to their feet, and disgusting maggots collected in the pus.
69
And when I looked beyond this crowd I saw a throng upon the shore of a wide river, which made me ask, “Master, I would like to know:
72
who are these people, and what law is this that makes those souls so eager for the crossing— as I can see, even in this dim light? ”
75
And he: “All this will be made plain to you as soon as we shall come to stop awhile upon the sorrowful shore of Acheron. ”
78
And I, with eyes cast down in shame, for fear that I perhaps had spoken out of turn, said nothing more until we reached the river.
81
And suddenly, coming toward us in a boat, a man of years whose ancient hair was white shouted at us, “Woe to you, perverted souls!
84
Give up all hope of ever seeing Heaven: I come to lead you to the other shore, into eternal darkness, ice, and fire.
87
60. The coward could be Pontius Pilate, who refused to pass sentence on Christ.
And you, the living soul, you over there, get away from all these people who are dead. ” But when he saw I did not move aside,
90
he said, “Another way, by other ports, not here, shall you pass to reach the other shore; a lighter skiff than this must carry you. ”
93
And my guide, “Charon, this is no time for anger! It is so willed, there where the power is for what is willed; that’s all you need to know. ”
96
These words brought silence to the woolly cheeks of the ancient steersman of the livid marsh, whose eyes were set in glowing wheels of fire.
99
But all those souls there, naked, in despair, changed color and their teeth began to chatter at the sound of his announcement of their doom.
102
They were cursing God, cursing their own parents, the human race, the time, the place, the seed of their beginning, and their day of birth.
105
Then all together, weeping bitterly, they packed themselves along the wicked shore that waits for every man who fears not God.
108
The devil, Charon, with eyes of glowing coals, summons them all together with a signal, and with an oar he strikes the laggard sinner.
111
As in autumn when the leaves begin to fall, one after the other (until the branch is witness to the spoils spread on the ground),
114
so did the evil seed of Adam’s Fall drop from that shore to the boat, one at a time, at the signal, like the falcon to its lure.
117
Away they go across the darkened waters, and before they reach the other side to land, a new throng starts collecting on this side.
120
“My son, ” the gentle master said to me, “all those who perish in the wrath of God assemble here from all parts of the earth;
123
they want to cross the river, they are eager; it is Divine Justice that spurs them on, turning the fear they have into desire.
126
A good soul never comes to make this crossing, so, if Charon grumbles at the sight of you, you see now what his words are really saying. ”
129
He finished speaking, and the grim terrain shook violently; and the fright it gave me even now in recollection makes me sweat.
132
Out of the tear-drenched land a wind arose which blasted forth into a reddish light, knocking my senses out of me completely,
135
and I fell as one falls tired into sleep.
CANTO IV
WAKING FROM HIS SWOON, the Pilgrim is led by Virgil to the First Circle of Hell, known as Limbo, where the sad shades of the virtuous non-Christians dwell. The souls here, including Virgil, suffer no physical torment, but they must live, in desire, without hope of seeing God. Virgil tells about Christ’s descent into Hell and His salvation of several Old Testament figures. The poets see a light glowing in the darkness, and as they proceed toward it, they are met by the four greatest (other than Virgil) pagan poets: Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan, who take the Pilgrim into their group. As they come closer to the light, the Pilgrim perceives a splendid castle, where the greatest non-Christian thinkers dwell together with other famous historical figures. Once within the castle, the Pilgrim sees, among others, Electra, Aeneas, Caesar, Saladin, Aristotle, Plato, Orpheus, Cicero, Avicenna, and Averroës. But soon they must leave; and the poets move from the radiance of the castle toward the fearful encompassing darkness.
124-126. It is perhaps a part of the punishment that the souls of all the damned are eager for their punishment to begin; those who were so willing to sin on earth, are in hell damned with a willingness to receive their just retribution.
A heavy clap of thunder! I awoke from the deep sleep that drugged my mind—startled, the way one is when shaken out of sleep.
3
I turned my rested eyes from side to side, already on my feet and, staring hard, I tried my best to find out where I was,
6
and this is what I saw: I found myself upon the brink of grief’s abysmal valley that collects the thunderings of endless cries.
9
So dark and deep and nebulous it was, try as I might to force my sight below, I could not see the shape of anything.
12
“Let us descend into the sightless world, ” began the poet (his face was deathly pale): “I will go first, and you will follow me. ”
15
And I, aware of his changed color, said: “But how can I go on if you are frightened? You are my constant strength when I lose heart. ”
18
And he to me: “The anguish of the souls that are down here paints my face with pity— which you have wrongly taken to be fear.
21
Let us go, the long road urges us. ” He entered then, leading the way for me down to the first circle of the abyss.
24
Down there, to judge only by what I heard, there were no wails but just the sounds of sighs rising and trembling through the timeless air,
27
the
sounds of sighs of untormented grief burdening these groups, diverse and teeming, made up of men and women and of infants.
30
Then the good master said, “You do not ask what sort of souls are these you see around you. Now you should know before we go on farther,
33
they have not sinned. But their great worth alone was not enough, for they did not know Baptism, which is the gateway to the faith you follow,
36
and if they came before the birth of Christ, they did not worship God the way one should; I myself am a member of this group.
39
For this defect, and for no other guilt, we here are lost. In this alone we suffer: cut off from hope, we live on in desire. ”
42
The words I heard weighed heavy on my heart; to think that souls as virtuous as these were suspended in that limbo, and forever!
45
“Tell me, my teacher, tell me, O my master, ” I began (wishing to have confirmed by him the teachings of unerring Christian doctrine),
48
“did any ever leave here, through his merit or with another’s help, and go to bliss?” And he, who understood my hidden question,
51
answered: “I was a novice in this place when I saw a mighty lord descend to us who wore the sign of victory as his crown.
54
He took from us the shade of our first parent, of Abel, his good son, of Noah, too, and of obedient Moses, who made the laws;
57
Abram, the Patriarch, David the King, Israel with his father and his children, with Rachel, whom he worked so hard to win;
60
and many more he chose for blessedness; and you should know, before these souls were taken, no human soul had ever reached salvation. ”
63
We did not stop our journey while he spoke, but continued on our way along the woods— I say the woods, for souls were thick as trees.
66
We had not gone too far from where I woke when I made out a fire up ahead, a hemisphere of light that lit the dark.
69
We were still at some distance from that place, but close enough for me vaguely to see that honorable souls possessed that spot.
72
“O glory of the sciences and arts, who are these souls enjoying special honor, dwelling apart from all the others here? ”
75
And he to me: “The honored name they bear that still resounds above in your own world wins Heaven’s favor for them in this place. ”
78
And as he spoke I heard a voice announce: “Now let us honor our illustrious poet, his shade that left is now returned to us. ”
81
And when the voice was silent and all was quiet I saw four mighty shades approaching us, their faces showing neither joy nor sorrow.
84
69. The “hemisphere of light” emanates from a “splendid castle” (106), the dwelling place of the virtuous men of wisdom in Limbo. The light is the illumination of human intellect, which those who dwell in the castle had in such high measure on earth.
Then my good master started to explain: “Observe the one who comes with sword in hand, leading the three as if he were their master.
87
It is the shade of Homer, sovereign poet, and coming second, Horace, the satirist; Ovid is the third, and last comes Lucan.
90
Since they all share one name with me, the name you heard resounding in that single voice, they honor me and do well doing so. ”
93
So I saw gathered there the noble school of the master singer of sublimest verse, who soars above all others like the eagle.
96
And after they had talked awhile together, they turned and with a gesture welcomed me, and at that sign I saw my master smile.
99
Greater honor still they deigned to grant me: they welcomed me as one of their own group, so that I numbered sixth among such minds.
102
We walked together toward the shining light, discussing things that here are best kept silent, as there they were most fitting for discussion.
105
We reached the boundaries of a splendid castle that seven times was circled by high walls defended by a sweetly flowing stream.
108
86-88. Because his name was inseparably linked with the Trojan War, Homer is portrayed by Dante as a sword-bearing poet, one who sang of arms and martial heroes.
106-111. The allegorical construction of the castle is open to question. It may represent natural philosophy unilluminated by divine wisdom, in which case the seven walls serving to protect the castle would be the seven moral and speculative virtues (prudence, justice, fortitude, temperance, intellect, science, and knowledge); and the seven gates that provide access to the castle would be the seven liberal arts that formed the medieval school curriculum (music, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy—the quadrivium; and grammar, logic, and rhetoric—the trivium). The symbolic value of the stream also remains uncertain; it could signify eloquence, a “stream” that the eloquent Virgil and Dante should have no trouble crossing—and indeed, they “walked right over it as on hard ground” (109).
We walked right over it as on hard ground; through seven gates I passed with those wise spirits, and then we reached a meadow fresh in bloom.
111
There people were whose eyes were calm and grave, whose bearing told of great authority; seldom they spoke and always quietly.
114
Then moving to one side we reached a place spread out and luminous, higher than before, allowing us to view all who were there.
117
And right before us on the lustrous green the mighty shades were pointed out to me (my heart felt glory when I looked at them).
120
There was Electra standing with a group, among whom I saw Hector and Aeneas, and Caesar, falcon-eyed and fully armed.
123
112-144. The inhabitants of the great castle are important pagan philosophers and poets, as well as famous writers. Three of the shades named (Saladin, Avicenna, Averroës) lived only one hundred or two hundred years before Dante. Modern readers might wonder at the inclusion of medieval non-Christians among the virtuous pagans of antiquity, but the three just mentioned were among the non-Christians respected, particularly during the Middle Ages.
121. Electra was the daughter of Atlas, the mother of Dardanus, and the founder of Troy; thus, her followers include all members of the Trojan race. She should not be confused with Electra, daughter of Agamemnon, the character in plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.
122. Among Electra’s descendants are Hector, the eldest son of Priam, king of Troy, and Aeneas (cf. Canto I, 73-75; and Canto II, 13-24).
123. Julius Caesar proclaimed himself the first emperor of Rome after defeating numerous opponents in civil conflicts.
I saw Camilla and Penthesilea; across the way I saw the Latian King, with Lavinia, his daughter, by his side.
126
I saw the Brutus who drove out the Tarquin; Lucretia, Julia, Marcia, and Cornelia; off, by himself, I noticed Saladin,
129
and when I raised my eyes a little higher I saw the master sage of those who know, sitting with his philosophic family.
132
All gaze at him, all pay their homage to him; and there I saw both Socrates and Plato, each closer to his side than any other;
135
Democritus, who said the world was chance, Diogenes, Thales, Anaxagoras, Empedocles, Zeno, and Heraclitus;
138
124-126. For Camilla see Canto I, note on line 107. Penthesilea was the glamorous queen of the Amazons who aided the Trojans against the Greeks and was slain by Achilles during the conflict. King Latinus commanded the central region of the Italian peninsula, the site where Aeneas founded Rome. He gave Lavinia to the Trojan conqueror in marriage.
127-1
29. Outraged by the murder of his brother and the rape (and subsequent suicide) of his sister (Lucretia), Lucius Brutus incited the Roman populace to expel the Tarquins, the perpetrators of the offenses. This accomplished, he was elected first consul and consequently became the founder of the Roman Republic. The four women were famous Roman wives and mothers. Lucretia was the wife of Collatinus; Julia the daughter of Julius Caesar and wife of Pompey; Marcia the second wife of Cato of Utica (in the Convivio Dante makes her the symbol of the noble soul); and Cornelia the daughter of Scipio Africanus Major and mother of the Gracchi, the tribunes Tiberius and Caius. A distinguished soldier, Saladin became sultan of Egypt in 1174. Medieval opinion of Saladin was favorable; he was lauded for his generosity and his magnanimity.
131. To Dante, Aristotle represented the summit of human reason, that point which man could reach on his own without the benefit of Christian revelation.
137. Diogenes was the Cynic philosopher who believed that the only good lies in virtue secured through self-control and abstinence. Anaxagoras was a Greek philosopher of the Ionian school (500-428 B.C.). Among his famous students were Pericles and Euripides. Thales (ca. 635-ca. 545 B.C.), an early Greek philosopher born at Miletus, founded the Ionian school of philosophy and in his main doctrine maintained that water is the elemental principle of all things.
I saw the one who classified our herbs: Dioscorides I mean. And I saw Orpheus, Tully, Linus, Seneca the moralist,
141
Euclid the geometer, and Ptolemy, Hippocrates, Galen, Avicenna, and Averroës, who made the Commentary.
144
I cannot tell about them all in full; my theme is long and urges me ahead, often I must omit things I have seen.
147
The company of six becomes just two; my wise guide leads me by another way out of the quiet into tempestuous air.
150
I come into a place where no light is.
140. Dioscorides was a Greek natural scientist and physician of the first century A.D. Orpheus was a mythical Greek poet and musician whose lyrical talent was such that it moved rocks and trees and tamed wild beasts.
141. Tully was Marcus Tullius Cicero, celebrated Roman orator, writer, and philosopher (106—43 B.C.). Linus was a mythical Greek poet and musician who is credited with inventing the dirge. Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 B.C. -A.D. 65) followed the philosophy of the Stoics in his moral treatises. Dante calls him “the moralist” to distinguish him from Seneca the tragedian, who was thought (erroneously) during the Middle Ages to be another person.