Canto III

1
Canto III

• The Gate of Hell
• The Opportunists

2

• I AM THE WAY INTO THE CITY OF WOE.
• I AM THE WAY TO A FORSAKEN PEOPLE.
• I AM THE WAY INTO ETERNAL SORROW.
• SACRED JUSTICE MOVED MY ARCHITECT.
• I WAS RAISED HERE BY DIVINE OMNIPOTENCE,
• PRIMORDIAL LOVE AND ULTIMATE INTELLECT.
• ONLY THOSE ELEMENTS TIME CANNOT WEAR
• WERE MADE BEFORE ME, AND BEYOND TIME I STAND.
• ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE.

3
Importance of Inscription

• Portrays Hell as a city, which defines much of
  the geography of the poem.
• Bound and contained by walls and contains a vast
  population of souls.

4
Importance of Inscription

• Portrays hell as a place of eternal woes, pains,
  and loss, situating it as the center of Gods
  strict punishment of sinners, a place which there
  is supposed to be no escape.
• The tradition of St. Augustines the city of God,
  written 5th century A.D.

5

• Augustine's City
• In the city of God, the forces of charity,
  kindness, and love hold people together.
• In the city of man, everyone is out for
  themselves and prey on one another .
• In the Infernos city of hell, the Opportunists
  live there because they are only out for
  themselves- relating to Augustines theory.
• God created hell for the sake of justice- desire
  to see sin punished and virtue rewarded
  consequences of sin.

6
Opportunists

• Neither good nor evil
• Only out for themselves
• These are the nearly soulless whose lives
  concluded neither blame nor praise, (32-33).
• Outcasts who took no sides in the Rebellion of
  Angels
• Mixed with that despicable corps of angels who
  were neither for God nor Satan, but only for
  themselves, (34-36).

7
Punishment

• I saw a banner there upon the mist.
• Circling and circling, it seemed to scorn all
  pause
• These wretches never born and never dead
• ran naked in a swarm of wasps and hornets
• that goaded them the more the more they fled
• And made their faces stream with blood gouts
• of pus and tears that dribbled to their feet
• to be swallowed there by loathsome worms and
  maggots (49-66).

8
Symbolic Retribution

• Meaningless of banner parallels their time on
  earth- pursued own interests now pursue a
  meaningless banner.
• Sin was a darkness- they are in darkness.
• Guilty conscience pursued them in life- hornets
  wasps pursue them in death and force them to take
  action.
• Actions morally filthy - run in filth.

9
Celestine V

• I recognized the shadow of that soul
• Who, in his cowardice, made the Great Denial
  (56-57)
• Reference to Celestine V
• Priest Benedetto told him his soul in danger,
  that no man could live without being in danger
• He withdrew from worldly affairs and renounced
  papacy
• Benedetto became Pope- Dantes biggeswt enemy