The Divine Comedy — Dante Alighieri
THE OBLIQATIOKS OF DAKTS TO YIBQIL. Ixyii hjM " Inferno/' not servilelj following Ids master, but, like a great artist, reproducing his beauties where they would best fit into his own work, ^neas does not enter Tartarus. '' Bespicit Mneas subito, et sub rupe sinistra Moenia lata yidet, triplici circumdata muro, Qusa rapidus flammis ambit torrentibus amnis, Tartareus Fhlegethon, torquetque sonantia saxa.
Porta adversa, ingens, solidoque adamante columnsB, Vis ut nulla virum, non ipsi exscindere bello CcBlicolsB yaleant ; stat ferrea turris ad auras, Tisiphoneque sedens palla succincta omenta, Yestibulum exsomnis servat noctesque diesque. nine exaudiri gemitus, et sseva sonare Verbera ; turn stridor ferri, tractseque catenae. Lines 548—58.
This magnificent passage sounds like the keynote to the whole of Dante's " Inferno," but special imitations of almost every line can be traced. On the borders of the lake, formed by the waters of Styx, Dante places his City of Dis, the approach to which is thus described : — ^' * Even now its minarets, master ! I exclaim, ' I see above the valley rising higher. Vermeil, as though they issued out of flame.
And he explained to me : ' The eternal fire That glows within makes them look ruddy here. As in this deep of hell thou seest each spire. Meanwhile within the deep-cut moat we steer That trenches round that land disconsolate. As if of iron wrought the walls appear. "HeU," Canto VIII., linee 70—8. Here the demons refuse all admittance, and even Virgil cannot control their resistance, which is only overcome by an angel messenger of the Divine Power.
The tower is guarded, not by Tisiphone, but by all the Furies : — " Because I wholly had withdrawn my eyes Towards the high turret, with its crest aglow, When all at once I saw erect arise The three infernal Furies, tinged with blood. Canto IX., lines 35—8.
Ixviii THE OBLIGATIONS OF DANTE TO VIRGIL. The awful effect produced in Virgil's closing lines by the sounds of the unseen horrors is keenly felt by Dante, and frequently reproduced. An example can be taken from his descent on Qerion into the eighth circle : — *' Because both flames I see and screams I hear, At which all trembling in my seat I cower. Till then unheard there strike upon my ear. As through great pains we sank and circled on, Cries that on every side approached us near." Canto XVII., lines 122—126. The Sibyl gives ^neas a brief description of the events of the prison-house. Eheulamanthus judges the spirits as they come before him : —
Castigatque auditque dolos, subigitque fateri, Qusd quis apud superos, fnrto leetatus inani, DistuHt in seram commissa piacula mortem." Lines 667—9. Dante allots the task to Minos alone, and in words which I have already quoted gives the same idea of extorted confession and instant punishment. The guilty souls are handed over to Tisiphone : — '' Tum demum horrisono stridentes cardine sacrsB Panduntur portse.*' Lines 573, 4. Strangely enough, Dante transfers this description, imitated also by Milton in his well-known lines : — ** On a sudden open fly. With impetuous recoil and jarring sound, The infernal doors, and on their hinges grate Harsh thunder, that the lowest bottom shook Of Erebus." "Paradise Lost," Book 11., line 879 foil. Dante, I remark, transfers the description to the gate of Purgatory : — " And when there swung upon its hinges there The portals of that entrance consecrate, Which were of sounding metal, strong and clear, Creakt not so loud the famed Tarpeian G-ate." " Purgatory," Canto IX., line 183 foil.
THE OBLIGATIONS OF DANTE TO VIRGIL. Ixlx When the gates are opened you see the Fury on the threshold, Hydra yet fiercer within, and beyond the black depths of Tartarus, stretching twice as far to the centre as from earth to the light of Heaven. Of the doomed within the Sibyl mentions by name only a few of the Titan race, whom Dante places as the guardians of his lowest circle.
Having described briefly two out of the many punishments, she dismisses in a rapid summary the classes of criminals who sufEer : — ** Hie quibus invisi fratres, dum vita manebat, Pulsatusve parens, et fraus innexa clienti, Aut qui divitiis soli incubuere repertis, Nee partem posuere suis, qusB maxuma turba est ; Quique ob adulterium csBsi, quique arma secuti Lnpia, nee veriti dominorum fallere dextras,' Indus! paenam exspectant.'' Lines 608—14.
As Mr. Conington points out, we have here seven classes of criminals — (1) those who have violated duty to their brothers, (2) to their parents, (3) to their clients, (4) to their kindred generally, through avarice, (5) to their married fellowcitizens, (6) to their country, and (7) to their masters. It will not be doubted that in Dante's elaborate classification of criminals all these find a place.
Oaina, the first of the four divisions into which the lowest circle is divided, takes its name from Cain, who slew his brother, and here are punished those, quibus invisi fratres, pulsatusve parens.
The third class, the evil counsellors, are punished in the eighth pit of Malebolge, with Ulysses and Diomed. (See Canto XXVI.) The fourth class, the avaricious, together with the prodigal, hold their grotesque jousts in the fourth circle : — " Since all the gold beneath the moon possest, Or ever owned by those worn souls of yore, Could not make one of them one moment rest. Canto VII., lines 64—6. The fifth class are tossed on the wind in the second circle, quique ob adulterium csBsi : —
THE OBLIQATIOKS OF DAKTS TO YIBQIL. Ixyii hjM " Inferno/' not servilelj following Ids master, but, like a great artist, reproducing his beauties where they would best fit into his own work, ^neas does not enter Tartarus. '' Bespicit Mneas subito, et sub rupe sinistra Moenia lata yidet, triplici circumdata muro, Qusa rapidus flammis ambit torrentibus amnis, Tartareus Fhlegethon, torquetque sonantia saxa. Porta adversa, ingens, solidoque adamante columnsB, Vis ut nulla virum, non ipsi exscindere bello CcBlicolsB yaleant ; stat ferrea turris ad auras, Tisiphoneque sedens palla succincta omenta, Yestibulum exsomnis servat noctesque diesque. nine exaudiri gemitus, et sseva sonare Verbera ; turn stridor ferri, tractseque catenae." Lines 548—58. This magnificent passage sounds like the keynote to the whole of Dante's " Inferno," but special imitations of almost every line can be traced. On the borders of the lake, formed by the waters of Styx, Dante places his City of Dis, the approach to which is thus described : — ^' * Even now its minarets, master !' I exclaim, ' I see above the valley rising higher. Vermeil, as though they issued out of flame.' And he explained to me : ' The eternal fire That glows within makes them look ruddy here. As in this deep of hell you seest each spire.' Meanwhile within the deep-cut moat we steer That trenches round that land disconsolate. As if of iron wrought the walls appear." "HeU," Canto VIII., linee 70—8. Here the demons refuse all admittance, and even Virgil cannot control their resistance, which is only overcome by an angel messenger of the Divine Power. The tower is guarded, not by Tisiphone, but by all the Furies : — " Because I wholly had withdrawn my eyes Towards the high turret, with its crest aglow, When all at once I saw erect arise The three infernal Furies, tinged with blood." Canto IX., lines 35—8.
Ixviii THE OBLIGATIONS OF DANTE TO VIRGIL. The awful effect produced in Virgil's closing lines by the sounds of the unseen horrors is keenly felt by Dante, and frequently reproduced. An example can be taken from his descent on Qerion into the eighth circle : — *' Because both flames I see and screams I hear, At which all trembling in my seat I cower. Till then unheard there strike upon my ear. As through great pains we sank and circled on, Cries that on every side approached us near." Canto XVII., lines 122—126. The Sibyl gives ^neas a brief description of the events of the prison-house. Eheulamanthus judges the spirits as they come before him : —
Castigatque auditque dolos, subigitque fateri, Qusd quis apud superos, fnrto leetatus inani, DistuHt in seram commissa piacula mortem." Lines 667—9. Dante allots the task to Minos alone, and in words which I have already quoted gives the same idea of extorted confession and instant punishment. The guilty souls are handed over to Tisiphone : — '' Tum demum horrisono stridentes cardine sacrsB Panduntur portse.*' Lines 573, 4. Strangely enough, Dante transfers this description, imitated also by Milton in his well-known lines : — ** On a sudden open fly. With impetuous recoil and jarring sound, The infernal doors, and on their hinges grate Harsh thunder, that the lowest bottom shook Of Erebus." "Paradise Lost," Book 11., line 879 foil. Dante, I remark, transfers the description to the gate of Purgatory : — " And when there swung upon its hinges there The portals of that entrance consecrate, Which were of sounding metal, strong and clear, Creakt not so loud the famed Tarpeian G-ate." " Purgatory," Canto IX., line 183 foil.
THE OBLIGATIONS OF DANTE TO VIRGIL. Ixlx When the gates are opened you see the Fury on the threshold, Hydra yet fiercer within, and beyond the black depths of Tartarus, stretching twice as far to the centre as from earth to the light of Heaven. Of the doomed within the Sibyl mentions by name only a few of the Titan race, whom Dante places as the guardians of his lowest circle.
Having described briefly two out of the many punishments, she dismisses in a rapid summary the classes of criminals who sufEer : — ** Hie quibus invisi fratres, dum vita manebat, Pulsatusve parens, et fraus innexa clienti, Aut qui divitiis soli incubuere repertis, Nee partem posuere suis, qusB maxuma turba est ; Quique ob adulterium csBsi, quique arma secuti Lnpia, nee veriti dominorum fallere dextras,' Indus! paenam exspectant.'' Lines 608—14.
As Mr. Conington points out, we have here seven classes of criminals — (1) those who have violated duty to their brothers, (2) to their parents, (3) to their clients, (4) to their kindred generally, through avarice, (5) to their married fellowcitizens, (6) to their country, and (7) to their masters. It will not be doubted that in Dante's elaborate classification of criminals all these find a place.
Oaina, the first of the four divisions into which the lowest circle is divided, takes its name from Cain, who slew his brother, and here are punished those, quibus invisi fratres, pulsatusve parens.
The third class, the evil counsellors, are punished in the eighth pit of Malebolge, with Ulysses and Diomed. (See Canto XXVI.) The fourth class, the avaricious, together with the prodigal, hold their grotesque jousts in the fourth circle : — " Since all the gold beneath the moon possest, Or ever owned by those worn souls of yore, Could not make one of them one moment rest. Canto VII., lines 64—6. The fifth class are tossed on the wind in the second circle, quique ob adulterium csBsi : —
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