Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Who are the characters in Canto 3 of Dante's Inferno?

After
Virgil and Dante enter through the gate of Hell, Dante is greatly perturbed by a hideous
cacophony of screams, moans, and shrill, faint voices. He asks Virgil where these terrifying
voices are coming from. Virgil says that these are the shades of those sinners who have
"lost their intellect." This circle of Hell is occupied by those who failed to choose
between good and evil, the "coward angels" who stubbornly refused to take sides in the
eternal battle between God and Satan. One of these unfortunate characters is Pope Celestine V,
whose abdication paved the way for Dante's personal and political enemy, Boniface VIII, to sit
on the papal throne.

InIII, we're also introduced to the grotesque figure of
Charon, who has the unenviable job of ferrying dead souls across the river Acheron. When he sees
Dante and Virgil, he refuses to take them across. After all, Dante isn't yet dead. But Virgil
soon persuades him otherwise, and Charon reluctantly takes them on board, allowing Dante and
Virgil to continue on their epic journey. 

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