path: root/cantos.js

var cantosData = [
    {
        "number": 1,
        "title": "Canto I",
        "subtitle": "The Prologue",
        "subtext": "Dante finds himself lost in a dark forest, representing spiritual confusion and sin in his mid age of 35. He attempts to climb a mountain toward the light but is blocked by three beasts: a leopard (lust), a lion (pride), and a she-wolf (avarice). These creatures force him back into the darkness, symbolizing how sin prevents salvation. The shade of Virgil appears to guide him through Hell and Purgatory, as Beatrice will later guide him through Paradise.",
        "themes": "Spiritual crisis; Sin; Divine intervention; Guidance; Hope; Despair; Redemption",
        "references": "Biblical: the valley of the shadow of death; the hill that Dante embarks and turns away from is a figure of hope in Psalms 24; the three beasts from Jeremiah 5:6.<p>Classical: Virgil as the great Roman poet and symbolically human reason and classical wisdom; the Aeneid.</p><p>Italian politics: the Veltro (Greyhound) prophecy possibly referring to a future saviour figure and geographical location: towns of Feltre and Montefeltro; The wolf representing avarice characterizes the corrupt culture of capitalist Florence.</p>",
        "characters": "Dante; The Three Beasts: Leopard, Lion, She-Wolf; Virgil; Beatrice (implied)"
    },
    {
        "number": 2,
        "title": "Canto II",
        "subtitle": "Virgil's Arrival and Mission",
        "subtext": "Dante feeling unworthy compared to Aeneas and Paul who made similar descents. Virgil reassures him by explaining how Beatrice came to Limbo, sent by the Virgin Mary through Saint Lucy, to ask Virgil to rescue Dante. With the three blessed women, and Virgil as the spiritual guide to Dante's aid, gives Dante courage to begin the journey through Hell.",
        "themes": "Divine grace; Intercession; Faith; Unworthiness; Divine calling; Salvation",
        "references": "Biblical: Saint Paul's rapture to the third heaven ('Chosen Vessel'); Saint Paul and Aeneas both granted vision of divine glory; Virgin Mary as divine grace; Saint Lucy as illuminating grace;<p>Classical: Aeneas's descent to the underworld in the Aeneid; Silvius as Aeneas's son;</p><p>Italian politics: Rome as divinely ordained seat of Empire and Papacy; 'Greater Peter's follower' referring to papal authority, the holy seat where Peter's successor sits.</p>",
        "characters": "Beatrice; Virgin Mary; Saint Lucy"
    },
    {
        "number": 3,
        "title": "Canto III",
        "subtitle": "The Gate of Hell and Uncommited",
        "subtext": "Dante and Virgil approach the gate of Hell with its famous inscription ending 'Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.' They pass through to find the vestibule filled with cowards who: lived without praise or blame, including one who made 'the great refusal.' These souls run naked, stung by wasps and hornets. At the river Acheron, the ferryman Charon initially refuses to transport the living Dante, but Virgil's divine authority compels him. An earthquake causes Dante to faint.",
        "themes": "Divine justice; Moral neutrality as sin; Spiritual cowardice",
        "references": "Biblical: Divine Trinity in gate inscription (Power Divine, Highest Wisdom, Primal Love); creation before eternal things;<p>Classical: Charon as ferryman of Acheron;</p><p>Italian politics: Pope Celestine V's abdication as 'the great refusal,' which led to Boniface VIII's rise and Dante's eventual exile.</p>",
        "characters": "Charon; Pope Celestine V"
    },
    {
        "number": 4,
        "title": "Canto IV",
        "subtitle": "The First Circle. Limbo. Pagans",
        "subtext": "Dante awakens in Limbo, the First Circle, where virtuous unbaptized souls dwell in sighs without torment. Virgil explains that Christ's Harrowing of Hell freed Old Testament patriarchs but left the virtuous pagans. Dante meets four great classical poets who welcome him as their sixth member. They visit a noble castle surrounded by seven walls, containing the greatest figures of antiquity - heroes, philosophers, and poets - who live in a perpetual state of noble sadness, desiring but never attaining the vision of God.",
        "themes": "Paganism; Virtue without faith; Intellect; Accomplishment; Divine revelation; Legacy; Compassion; Pity",
        "references": "Biblical: Christ's Harrowing of Hell; Abraham; Isaac; Jacob called Israel; Moses the lawgiver; King David; Rachel;<p>Classical: the seven walls as the seven liberal arts or four cardinal and three theological virtues; the castle as symbol of philosophy and human wisdom.</p>",
        "characters": "Homer; Horace; Ovid; Lucan; Electra; Hector; Aeneas; Caesar; Camilla; Penthesilea; the Latian King; Lavinia; Brutus; Cornelia; Marcia; Julia; Lucretia; Saladin; Aristotle; Plato; Socrates; Democritus; Thales; Diogenes; Empedocles; Zeno; Anaxagoras; Heraclitus; Dioscorides; Tullius; Orpheus; Seneca; Linus; Ptolemy; Euclid; Galen; Hippocrates; Avicenna; Averroes"
    },
    {
        "number": 5,
        "title": "Canto V",
        "subtitle": "The Second Circle. Lust. Paolo and Francesca",
        "subtext": "In the Second Circle, Minos judges incoming souls by wrapping his tail around himself to indicate their destined circle. Dante and Virgil enter the realm of the lustful, who are eternally swept about by a fierce whirlwind. Among the famous lovers, Dante speaks with Francesca da Rimini, who tells the tragic story of how she and her brother-in-law Paolo fell in love while reading about Lancelot and Guinevere, leading to their discovery and murder by her husband. Dante faints from pity at her tale.",
        "themes": "Lust; Salvation; Damnation; Tragedy; Romance; Temptation",
        "references": "Biblical: Caïna named after Cain for fratricides;<p>Classical: Minos as judge of the underworld; Semiramis and Ninus; Dido and Sichaeus; Cleopatra; Helen of Troy; Achilles; Paris; the Arthurian romance of Lancelot and Guinevere;</p><p>Italian politics: Francesca from Ravenna (daughter of Guido da Polenta); the political marriage between Rimini and Ravenna families.</p>",
        "characters": "Minos; Francesca da Rimini; Paolo Malatesta; Semiramis; Dido; Cleopatra; Helen; Achilles; Paris; Tristram"
    },
    {
        "number": 6,
        "title": "Canto VI",
        "subtitle": "The Third Circle. Gluttony. Ciacco",
        "subtext": "Dante awakens in the Third Circle where the gluttonous lie in filthy slush under eternal cold rain, hail, and snow. The three-headed dog Cerberus guards them, tearing at the sinners with its claws and teeth. Virgil appeases the beast by throwing mud into its mouths. Dante encounters Ciacco, a Florentine glutton, who prophesies the coming political upheavals in Florence between the Whites and Blacks, and tells of other notable Florentines now suffering in lower circles of Hell.",
        "themes": "Gluttony; Prophecy; Corruption; Political discord; Identity",
        "references": "Classical: Cerberus as three-headed guardian dog;<p>Italian politics: prophecy of Whites vs Blacks conflict in Florence; the 'rustic party' (Whites) driving out opponents; Boniface VIII's interference; mention of Farinata, Tegghiaio, Rusticucci, Mosca, Arrigo as fallen Florentine nobles.</p>",
        "characters": "Cerberus; Ciacco"
    },
    {
        "number": 7,
        "title": "Canto VII",
        "subtitle": "The Fourth Circle. Greed",
        "subtext": "Plutus guards the Fourth Circle with gibberish words and famously the phrase: 'Pape Satàn, pape Satàn aleppe', but Virgil silences him. Here the avaricious and prodigal are divided into two groups, eternally pushing great weights against each other in opposite directions, clashing and shouting accusations. Virgil explains Fortune as a divine minister who distributes worldly goods according to God's will. They then descend to the Fifth Circle, the marsh of Styx, where the wrathful fight on the surface while the sullen submerged beneath the water.",
        "themes": "Divine providence; Avarice; Prodigality; Fortune; Wrath; Sullen",
        "references": "Biblical: reference to Saint Michael's victory over rebellious angels;<p>Classical: Plutus as god of riches; Charybdis whirlpool; Fortune as classical goddess (Fortuna) transformed into a divine minister; River Styx;</p><p>Italian politics: criticism of greedy clergy ('clerks'); Pope and cardinals among the avaricious; the 'wolf' as symbol of greed affecting Florence.</p>",
        "characters": "Plutus"
    },
    {
        "number": 8,
        "title": "Canto VIII",
        "subtitle": "The Fifth Circle. Wrath. Filippo",
        "subtext": "Signal flames from a tower guide Phlegyas, the ferryman, to transport Dante and Virgil across the marsh of Styx. During the crossing, they encounter the wrathful Florentine Filippo Argenti, whom Dante treats with unique harshness. They reach the iron walls of Dis, the city of lower Hell, where fallen angels refuse Virgil entry and threaten to separate him from Dante. Despite Virgil's divine authority, the demons slam the gates shut, leaving Virgil momentarily confounded while promising that divine aid will come.",
        "themes": "Wrath; Pride; Personal vengeance; Defiance; Authority; Rescue",
        "references": "Biblical: reference to Christ's harrowing of Hell and breaking down Hell's gates;<p>Classical: Phlegyas as ferryman (punished for burning Apollo's temple); the city of Dis named after Pluto;</p><p>Italian politics: Filippo Argenti of the Adimari family.</p>",
        "characters": "Phlegyas; Filippo Argenti"
    },
    {
        "number": 9,
        "title": "Canto IX",
        "subtitle": "The Fifth Circle. City of Dis.",
        "subtext": "Virgil shows signs of worry as they face the closed gates of Dis. Three Furies appear on the city walls, calling for Medusa to turn Dante to stone. Virgil covers Dante's eyes for protection. A heavenly messenger arrives, walking on the marsh and opening the gates with a rod, rebuking the demons for their resistance to divine will. The messenger departs, and Dante and Virgil enter Dis to find a vast plain filled with red-hot tombs containing heretics. The city resembles a great cemetery with flaming tombs.",
        "themes": "Divine justice; Protection; Evil; Divine grace; Seiging",
        "references": "Biblical: heavenly messenger as divine authority; reference to Christ's victory over Hell's gates;<p>Classical: the three Furies (Megaera, Alecto, Tisiphone) as servants of Proserpine; Medusa the Gorgon who turns viewers to stone in Ovid's 'Metamorphoses'; reference to Hercules defeating Cerberus and dragging his chain along the underworld floor; Theseus escaping from the underworld;</p><p>Italian geography: comparison to cemeteries at Arles and Pola on the Istrian peninsula.</p>",
        "characters": "Megaera; Alecto; Tisiphone; The Heavenly Messenger (possibly Beatrice); Medusa (implicit)"
    },
    {
        "number": 10,
        "title": "Canto X",
        "subtitle": "The Sixth Circle. Heretics. Farinata and Cavalcante.",
        "subtext": "Dante and Virgil walk among the flaming tombs of heretics in the city of Dis. The great Ghibelline leader Farinata degli Uberti rises from his and engages Dante in political discussion, revealing his role in saving Florence from destruction after Montaperti. Cavalcante dei Cavalcanti also appears, desperately asking about his son Guido. When Dante's use of past tense suggests Guido may be dead, Cavalcante falls back in despair. Farinata predicts Dante's future exile and explains how the damned can see the future but not the present.",
        "themes": "Heresy; Intellect; Pride; Political rivalry; Love; Paternity; Exile",
        "references": "Biblical: resurrection and final judgment; valley of Jehoshaphat where the Last Judgement will take place;<p>Classical: Epicurus and denial of soul's immortality;</p><p>Italian politics: Farinata as Ghibelline leader; battle of Montaperti; Dante's family as Guelfs; Council of Empoli where Farinata saved Florence; Frederick II as emperor; Cardinal Ottaviano degli Ubaldini; Guido Cavalcanti's disdain possibly for Virgil; prophecy of Dante's exile within fifty months.</p>",
        "characters": "Farinata degli Uberti; Cavalcante dei Cavalcanti"

    },
    {
        "number": 11,
        "title": "Canto XI",
        "subtitle": "The Seventh Circle. The Plan Of Hell.",
        "subtext": "At the tomb of Pope Anastasius, Dante and Virgil pause to accustom themselves to the terrible stench rising from lower Hell. Virgil uses this interlude to explain the organization of the remaining circles: the Seventh Circle punishes violence (against neighbors, self, and God), the Eighth Circle punishes simple fraud, and the Ninth Circle punishes treacherous fraud. Virgil clarifies why fraud is considered worse than violence and explains Aristotelian ethics underlying Hell's structure.",
        "themes": "Violence; Fraud; Treachery; Contrapasso; Ethics",
        "references": "Biblical: Pope Anastasius II as heretic influenced by his friend Photinus; destruction of Sodom as sin against nature; Genesis on human labour and the critique of usury being profiting from money without labour or production (as sin against God and nature);<p>Classical: Aristotelian ethics and the three dispositions to avoid (incontinence, malice, bestiality); Physics of Aristotle on art imitating nature; </p><p>Geography: Cahors (city in southern France) known for money lending and usury;</p><p>Italian Poltics: Usury in 13th century Florence prevalent to Dante's distaste.</p>",
        "characters": "Anastasios (Pope Anastasius II)"
    },
    {
        "number": 12,
        "title": "Canto XII",
        "subtitle": "The Seventh Circle. Violence - against neighbours. Ring 1. Minotaur.",
        "subtext": "Dante and Virgil descend a steep, rocky slope guarded by the Minotaur, whom Virgil provokes with mention of Theseus. They reach the First Ring of the Seventh Circle, where the river Phlegethon boils with the blood of those who committed violence against others. Centaurs patrol the banks, shooting arrows at sinners who try to emerge too far from the blood. The centaur Nessus carries Dante across the river, pointing out various tyrants and murderers immersed to different depths according to their crimes and severity.",
        "themes": "Violence; Tyranny; Contrapasso; Divine justice; Humanity",
        "references": "Biblical: the earthquake at Christ's crucifixion that shattered Hell's structures;<p>Classical: the Minotaur as guardian; Theseus and Ariadne; the landslip compared to one near Trento on the Adige River; Centaurs as guardians; Chiron as 'most just' centaur; Nessus and his revenge on Hercules; Phlegethon as river of boiling blood;</p><p>Italian politics: Ezzelino da Romano as Ghibelline tyrant; Obizzo d'Este (famous for his tyrannical rule) allegedly murdered by illegitmate son and heir, Azzo; Guy de Montfort's murder of Henry (a cousin of Kind Edward I) in church amidst the election of a pope; various Italian tyrants and brigands like Rinier of Corneto and Rinier (The Mad) Pazzo.</p>",
        "characters": "Minotaur; Chiron; Nessus; Pholus; Alexander The Great; Dionysius; Ezzelino da Romano; Obizzo d'Este; Guy de Montfort; Attila; Pyrrhus; Sextus; Rinier of Corneto; Rinier Pazzo"
    },
    {
        "number": 13,
        "title": "Canto XIII",
        "subtitle": "The Seventh Circle. Violence - against self. Ring 2. Pier delle Vigne.",
        "subtext": "Dante and Virgil enter a dark, twisted forest where the Harpies nest (creatures with the bodies of birds and the faces of women). When Dante breaks a branch, it bleeds and speaks - the souls of suicides transformed into trees. Pier delle Vigne, Frederick II's chancellor, tells how he took his own life after being falsely accused and imprisoned. He explains how suicides become trees and will hang their own bodies on their branches at the Final Judgment. Two naked souls run through the forest pursued by black dogs - these are squanderers who destroyed their substance. One hides in a bush (Jacopo da Sant' Andrea) and is torn apart. An unnamed Florentine suicide speaks of how Florence changed patrons from Mars to John the Baptist.",
        "themes": "Suicide; Violence; Contrapasso; Divine justice",
        "references": "Biblical: Saint John the Baptist as Florence's patron to which Florence Baptistery is dedicated to; thorn tree alluding to the crucifixion;<p>Classical: Harpies from the Aeneid; Polydorus bleeding from broken branches; Attila's supposed destruction of Florence;</p><p>Italian politics: Pier delle Vigne as Frederick II's chancellor; the scandal of betraying Frederick and the branded disgrace; Lano from Siena at the battle of Pieve del Toppo; Florence's change of patron from Mars to Saint John the Baptist; the statue of Mars on the Old Bridge.</p>",
        "characters": "Pier delle Vigne; Arcolano da Squarcia di Riccolfo Maconi (Lano da Siena); Jacopo da Sant' Andrea"
    },
    {
        "number": 14,
        "title": "Canto XIV",
        "subtitle": "The Seventh Circle. Violence - against God. Ring 3. Capaneus.",
        "subtext": "Dante gathers the scattered leaves for Pier delle Vigne and enters the third ring of the Seventh Circle - a desert of burning sand where flakes of fire rain down eternally. Three groups suffer here: blasphemers 'lay supine', sodomites running endlessly, and usurers crouching, huddled and crying. Dante encounters Capaneus, a defiant blasphemer from the siege of Thebes. Virgil explains the geography of Hell's rivers and tells of the Old Man of Crete, a giant statue whose tears feed all of Hell's waterways except for Lethe, which flows in Purgatory.",
        "themes": "Blasphemy; Violence; Sodomy; Usury; Contrapasso; Divine justice",
        "references": "Classical: Capaneus as one of Seven Kings sieging Thebes; comparison to Cato crossing Libyan sands; Alexander campaign in India seeing fire fall like snow; Jupiter's thunderbolts and Mount Etna (Mongibello); Vulcan and the Cyclopes; the battle of Phlegra; the Old Man of Crete from Daniel's vision; Saturn's Golden Age; Jupiter (Zeus) hidden from Saturn (Cronus); the ages of gold, silver, and brass; Lethe as river of forgetfulness (in Purgatory).",
        "characters": "Capaneus; the Old Man of Crete"
    },
    {
        "number": 15,
        "title": "Canto XV",
        "subtitle": "The Seventh Circle. Violence - against Nature. Sodomy.",
        "subtext": "Dante and Virgil walk along the stone embankment protecting them from the fiery rain. They encounter a group of sodomites running beneath them on the burning sand. One recognizes Dante - it is Ser Brunetto Latini, Dante's former teacher and mentor. Brunetto prophesies Dante's future troubles and exile, warning him about the envious Florentines descended from Fiesole. He speaks of other clerics and scholars suffering the same punishment, including Priscian, Francesco d'Accorso, and Bishop Andrea de' Mozzi. Brunetto asks Dante to remember his book 'Il Tesoro' before running off like a winner in Verona's race for the green cloth.",
        "themes": "Homosexuality; Unnatural; Desire; Contrapasso; Divine justice; Mentorship; Prophecy; Exile; Corruption; Reverence; Condemnation",
        "references": "Classical: Paduan embankments; Priscian the great grammarian; comparison to an annual race on the first Sunday of Lent in Verona for the prize of a green cloth;<p>Italian politics: prophecy of Dante's exile; Florentines descended from Fiesole vs Romans; Francesco d'Accorso as professor at Bologna and Oxford; charges of homosexuality was commonly made to intellectuals at the time; Andrea de' Mozzi as Bishop of Florence then transferred to Vicenza by Pope Boniface VIII; clerical corruption; Brunetto's 'Il Tesoro' written in French.</p>",
        "characters": "Brunetto Latini; Priscian; Francesco d'Accorso; Andrea de' Mozzi"
    },
    {
        "number": 16,
        "title": "Canto XVI",
        "subtitle": "The Seventh Circle. Violence - against Nature. Sodomy continued.",
        "subtext": "Three distinguished Florentine sodomites approach in a circular formation, recognizing Dante by his Florentine dress. They are Guido Guerra, Tegghiaio Aldobrandi, and Jacopo Rusticucci - all once honoured citizens. They ask about Florence's current state, and Dante laments the city's corruption by 'upstarts and sudden fortunes'. The spirits approve his harsh judgment. As they reach a great waterfall, Virgil throws Dante's cord into the abyss as a signal, and the monstrous Geryon emerges.",
        "themes": "Corruption; Nobility; Honour; Contrapasso; Divine justice",
        "references": "Classical: Geryon;<p>Italian politics: Guido Guerra descended from good Gualdrada; Tegghiaio Aldobrandi who advised against Montaperti campaign; Iacopo Rusticucci's unhappy marriage; criticism of Florence's 'upstarts and sudden fortunes'; the cord possibly referring to the Franciscan Order, signifying chastity;</p><p>Geography: the waterfall compared to the Acquacheta (Montone river) and monastery of St. Benedict above Forlì.</p>",
        "characters": "Guido Guerra; Tegghiaio Aldobrandi; Jacopo Rusticucci; Guglielmo Borsiere; Geryon"
    },
    {
        "number": 17,
        "title": "Canto XVII",
        "subtitle": "The Seventh Circle. Violence - against Art. Usury. Geryon.",
        "subtext": "Geryon appears with a human face of righteousness but a serpent's body covered in intricate patterns, representing fraud. While Virgil negotiates with the beast, Dante observes the usurers sitting on the burning sand, each wearing a purse with their family coat of arms around their neck. He recognizes heraldic symbols of the Gianfigliazzi, Ubriachi, and Scrovegni families, and hears prophecy of the arrival of Giovanni Buiamonte. Dante then mounts Geryon behind Virgil for a flight down to the Eighth Circle to lower Hell, comparing his fear to that of Phaëthon and Icarus.",
        "themes": "Usury; Fear; Heraldry",
        "references": "Biblical: Geryon drawing parallels to Satan, both with deceptive appearances and fester in the lowest levels of Hell;<p>Classical: Geryon as mythical king transformed into a fraud monster; Geryon's nature compared to beaver hunting methods; Arachne the weaver transformed into a spider; Phaëthon losing control of sun's chariot; Icarus falling when wax melts; falcon returning tired to falconer as describing Geryon's departure;</p><p>Italian politics: usurer families identified by coat of arms - Gianfigliazzi (azure lion on gold), Ubriachi (white goose on red), Scrovegni (azure sow on white); Vitaliano as Paduan usurer; Giovanni Buiamonte as 'greatest Florentine usurer' still living; critique of noble families engaging in usury.</p>",
        "characters": "Geryon; Vitaliano of Padua; Giovanni Buiamonte"
    },
    {
        "number": 18,
        "title": "Canto XVIII",
        "subtitle": "The Eighth Circle - 'Malebolge'. Fraud. First and Second Bolgia. Pimps, Seducers and Flatterers.",
        "subtext": "Dante describes Malebolge (Evil Pockets), the Eighth Circle consisting of ten concentric ditches connected by stone bridges. In the first ditch, panders and seducers march in opposite directions, whipped by horned demons. Dante recognizes Venedico Caccianimico, who admits to pimping his sister Ghisola to the Marquis of Este. In the opposite stream walks Jason, who seduced and abandoned both Hypsipyle and Medea. In the second ditch, flatterers are immersed in excrement. Dante encounters Alessio Interminei of Lucca and sees Thais the harlot.",
        "themes": "Degeneracy; Seduction; Flattery; Contrapasso; Divine justice; Disgust; Manipulation",
        "references": "Classical: Jason and his seduction of Hypsipyle on Lemnos; Jason's theft of Golden Fleece and abandonment of Medea; Thais the prostitute from Terence's Eunuch;<p>Italian politics: comparison to Jubilee crowd management at St. Angelo bridge in Rome by Pope Boniface VIII; Venedico Caccianimico of Bologna pimping his sister to Marquis of Este; Alessio Interminei of Lucca as notorious flatterer; Bologna dialect 'Sipa' for 'Yes'.</p>",
        "characters": "Venedico Caccianimico; Jason; Alessio Interminei; Thais"
    },
    {
        "number": 19,
        "title": "Canto XIX",
        "subtitle": "The Eighth Circle. Third Bolgia. Simoniacs and Papal Corruption.",
        "subtext": "Dante invokes against Simon Magus and enters the third ditch where simoniacs are buried head-first in holes with their feet on fire. One soul burns more intensely - Pope Nicholas III, who mistakes Dante for Boniface VIII arriving early. Nicholas confesses his nepotism and predicts the arrival of Boniface, followed by the even more corrupt Clement V from France. Dante delivers a fierce condemnation of papal corruption, referencing the Donation of Constantine and the Whore of Babylon. Virgil carries Dante up from the ditch, pleased with his pupil's righteous anger.",
        "themes": "Simony; Corruption; Prophecy; Nepotism; Avarice; Contrapasso; Divine justice",
        "references": "Biblical: Simon Magus trying to buy spiritual power from the Apostles; the Whore of Babylon from Revelation with seven heads and ten horns;<p>Classical: comparison to baptismal fonts in San Giovanni and Dante's anecdote of damaging one in order to save a child's life;</p><p>Italian politics: Pope Nicholas III of Orsini family; assassins and traitors were too buried alive head-first; prophecy of Boniface VIII's death and arrival in 1303; Clement V moving papacy to Avignon; the Donation of Constantine as source of papal temporal power; overarching criticism of papal avarice and nepotism.</p>",
        "characters": "Pope Nicholas III; Boniface VIII; Clement V; Simon Magus"
    },
    {
        "number": 20,
        "title": "Canto XX",
        "subtitle": "The Eighth Circle. Fourth Bolgia. Soothsayers. Mantua.",
        "subtext": "In the fourth ditch, Dante sees soothsayers and diviners walking slowly with their heads twisted backwards, forced to walk blind into the future they once claimed to foresee. Virgil rebukes Dante for showing pity, explaining that here pity is impiety. He identifies various classical and contemporary fortune-tellers, then digresses into a lengthy account of how Mantua was founded by the sorceress Manto, correcting his own earlier version from the Aeneid. Among the diviners are ancient figures like Amphiaraus and Tiresias, and more recent ones like Michael Scott and Guido Bonatti.",
        "themes": "Divination; Sorcery; Prophecy; Contrapasso; Divine justice",
        "references": "Classical: Amphiaraus swallowed by earth at Thebes; Tiresias changed from man to woman and back; Aruns living in caves near Carrara; Manto daughter of Tiresias; extensive geography of Lake Benaco (Garda) and founding of Mantua; Eurypylus as augur at Troy;<p>Italian politics: Michael Scott as astrologer to Frederick II; Guido Bonatti as astrologer and tiler; Asdente the cobbler-prophet of Parma; Casalodi fooled by Pinamonte in Mantua; various Italian cities and geographical references around Lake Garda.</p>",
        "characters": "Amphiaraus; Tiresias; Aruns; Manto; Eurypylus; Michael Scott; Guido Bonatti; Asdente"
    },
    {
        "number": 21,
        "title": "Canto XXI",
        "subtitle": "The Eighth Circle. Fifth Bolgia. Barratry.",
        "subtext": "Dante and Virgil reach the fifth ditch filled with boiling tar, like the Arsenal of Venice in winter. Corrupt officials (barrators) are immersed in the pitch, guarded by the Malebranche devils who hook and torment any who surface. A devil arrives carrying a magistrate from Lucca, mocking the city's corruption. Virgil negotiates with Malacoda, the chief devil, who lies about a broken bridge and assigns ten demons to escort them. The devils make obscene gestures and sounds as they prepare to march.",
        "themes": "Barratry; Deception; Authority; Greed; Evil; Contrapasso; Divine justice",
        "references": "Biblical: reference to Saint Zita patron saint of Lucca; the Sacred Countenance (Volto Santo) of Lucca is cried out by a demon;<p>Classical: comparison to Venice Arsenal's in winter where activity is slow, grueling and unproductive;</p><p>Italian politics: corruption in Lucca ('Santa Zita's town'); Bonturo as greatest barrator in Lucca still living; Elder (magistrate) from Lucca thrown into pitch; Dante taking part of a siege at Caprona; implicit criticism of municipal corruption throughout Italy.</p>",
        "characters": "Malacoda; ten Malebranche devils (Alichino, Calcabrina, Cagnazzo, Barbariccia, Libicocco, Draghignazzo, Ciriatto, Graffiacane, Farfarello, Rubicante), Martino Bottaio; Bonturo"
    },
    {
        "number": 22,
        "title": "Canto XXII",
        "subtitle": "The Eighth Circle. Fifth Bolgia continued. Corrupt Officals (Grafters).",
        "subtext": "Dante compares the military procession to various campaigns he witnessed. The demons patrol the pitch while barrators burn in the boiling tar, presenting similar to dolphins or bullfrogs in order to ease their pain. Graffiacane hooks one sinner - a Navarrese who served King Thibault. Under interrogation, he names other corrupt officials: Fra Gomita of Gallura and Don Michael Zanche from Sardinia. The Navarrese tricks the demons by offering to call up more sinners, then escapes by diving into the pitch. Alichino and Calcabrina fight each other and fall into the boiling pitch, leaving Dante and Virgil to escape the chaotic scene.",
        "themes": "Trickery; Corruption; Conflict; Contrapasso; Divine justice",
        "references": "Classical: dolphins warning of storms; frogs hiding from enemies;<p>Italian politics: Dante's participation in Campaldino; the Navarrese serving King Thibault II of Navarre; Friar Gomita's corruption under Judge Nino Visconti in Gallura; Don Michael Zanche as governing Logodoro district.</p>",
        "characters": "Ciampolo (Thibaut II servant); Fra Gomita of Gallura; Don Michael Zanche; Graffiacane; Alichino and Calcabrina; Barbariccia"
    },
    {
        "number": 23,
        "title": "Canto XXIII",
        "subtitle": "The Eighth Circle. Sixth Bolgia. Hypocrites.",
        "subtext": "Fleeing the angry demons, Virgil carries Dante down into the sixth ditch like a mother saving her child from a fire. Here they find hypocrites walking slowly in lead cloaks, appearing golden outside but weighing them down enormously. Dante meets two Merry Friars from Bologna - Catalano and Loderingo - who were brought to Florence as joint magistrates but proved corrupt. They point out Caiaphas, crucified naked on the ground, bearing the weight of all passing hypocrites trampling. Friar Catalano reveals that all the bridges over this ditch are broken from the earthquake at Christ's death.",
        "themes": "Hypocrisy; Spiritual progress; Crucifixion; Contrapasso; Divine justice",
        "references": "Biblical: Caiaphas counseling that one man should die for the people; Annas and the Pharisees; the earthquake at Christ's crucifixion breaking Hell's bridges;<p>Classical: Aesop's fable of mouse and frog devoured by kite; comparison to Franciscan habits and German monk robes; Frederick II's supposed leaden torture garments;</p><p>Italian politics: mockery of the Frati Godenti religious order; the two Merry Friars (Catalano and Loderingo) as corrupt Bolognese magistrates in Florence; destruction of Ghibelline houses in Florence; their false peacemaking in 1266.</p>",
        "characters": "Catalano; Loderingo; Caiaphas; Annas"
    },
    {
        "number": 24,
        "title": "Canto XXIV",
        "subtitle": "The Eighth Circle. Seventh Bolgia. Thieves.",
        "subtext": "Dante describes a peasant waking to a snowy setting before cutting to reality with a similar Virgil in distress but swiftly returning to normal. They climb laboriously over the broken rocks to escape the sixth ditch, with Virgil encouraging Dante about future greater climbs. Reaching the seventh ditch, they see thieves tormented by serpents and lizards, undergoing constant, grotesque transformations between human form and ashes, or even fusing with the reptiles. Dante witnesses a sinner burst into flames and then reconstitute from ashes like the phoenix. This is Vanni Fucci of Pistoia, who confesses to stealing from the cathedral treasury and vengefully prophesies political disasters for Dante's White party.",
        "themes": "Theft; Transformation; Self; Identity; Prophecy; Vengeance; Contrapasso; Divine justice",
        "references": "Classical: the Phoenix dying and being reborn every 500 years;<p>Italian politics: Vanni Fucci as White Guelph of Pistoia; theft from church of San Zeno; prophecy of Whites' defeat - first expelled from Pistoia (May 1301), then from Florence by Blacks with Charles of Valois; Moroello Malaspina as 'vapor from Magra valley'.</p>",
        "characters": "Vanni Fucci; the Phoenix"

    },
    {
        "number": 25,
        "title": "Canto XXV",
        "subtitle": "The Eighth Circle. Seventh Bolgia continued.",
        "subtext": "Vanni Fucci makes an obscene gesture toward God and is immediately attacked by serpents. The centaur Cacus arrives seeking the 'ribald' but passes on. Three Florentine thieves approach, and Dante witnesses incredible transformations: Cianfa (as a six-footed serpent) merges with Agnello to form a single monstrous being, while a small serpent (Francesco Cavalcanti) exchanges forms completely with Buoso degli Abati. Dante boasts that his transformations surpass those described by Lucan and Ovid. Only Puccio Sciancato remains unchanged throughout these metamorphoses.",
        "themes": "Theft; Transformation; Self; Identity; Contrapasso; Divine justice",
        "references": "Biblical: making figs (obscene gesture) toward God;<p>Classical: Cacus as centaur-like who stole Hercules' cattle; Lucan's Sabellus and Nasidius transformations; Ovid's Cadmus into serpent and Arethusa into fountain; Dante's claim to surpass classical poets;</p><p>Italian politics: five Florentine noble thieves - Agnello Brunelleschi, Buoso degli Abati, Puccio Sciancato de' Galigai, Cianfa de' Donati, Francesco Cavalcanti; Gaville mourning Francesco's death and subsequent revenge; corruption among Florentine nobility.</p>",
        "characters": "Vanni Fucci; Cacus; Agnello Brunelleschi; Cianfa de' Donati; Buoso degli Abati; Francesco Cavalcanti; Puccio Sciancato de' Galigai"
    },
    {
        "number": 26,
        "title": "Canto XXVI",
        "subtitle": "The Eighth Circle. Eighth Bolgia. Intellectual Deceit. Ulysses.",
        "subtext": "Dante ironically celebrates Florence's fame spreading even through Hell, then prophesies the city's coming disasters. In the eighth ditch, evil counselors are wrapped in flames like fireflies in a valley. Dante sees a divided flame containing Ulysses and Diomedes, punished for the Trojan Horse, stealing the Palladium, and deceiving Deidamia. Ulysses tells of his final voyage: after leaving Circe, he sailed west beyond the Pillars of Hercules with a few loyal companions, reaching the Southern Hemisphere and sighting a great mountain before a whirlwind destroyed his ship.",
        "themes": "Intellect; Counsel; Contrapasso; Divine justice",
        "references": "Biblical: Book Of Kings; Old Testament prophets; Elijah and Elisha; Elijah's chariot of fire;<p>Classical: Ulysses and Diomedes as Greek heroes; the Trojan Horse; theft of the Palladium from Troy; Achilles hidden on Scyros with Deidamia; Circe the sorceress; Pillars of Hercules (Strait of Gibraltar); comparison to fireflies in summer valleys;</p><p>Italian politics: Black and White Guelf factional strife in Florence and Tuscan cities such as Prato; Dante's shame at five Florentine thieves.</p>",
        "characters": "Ulysses; Diomedes; Circe"
    },
    {
        "number": 27,
        "title": "Canto XXVII",
        "subtitle": "The Eighth Circle. Eighth Bolgia. Abuse of Intellect continued. Guido.",
        "subtext": "After Ulysses' flame departs, another approaches speaking in Lombard dialect, asking for news of Romagna. Dante provides a survey of Romagna's political situation circa 1300, describing various tyrants and their territories. The speaker reveals himself as Guido da Montefeltro, once a great military strategist who became a Franciscan friar in old age. Pope Boniface VIII sought his counsel for destroying the Colonna family stronghold at Palestrina, offering advance absolution. Guido advised 'promise much, perform little.' When Guido died, Saint Francis came for his soul, but a black Cherub claimed him, arguing that advance absolution without true repentance is invalid.",
        "themes": "Intellect; Counsel; Repentance; Hypocrisy; Contrition",
        "references": "Biblical: Saint Francis coming for Guido's soul; the black Cherubim as agents of damnation; repenting while intending to sin;<p>Classical: the Sicilian (Brazen) Bull of Phalaris; comparison to Constantine calling Sylvester from Soracte;</p><p>Italian politics: detailed survey of Romagna circa 1300 - Ravenna under Polenta eagles; Forlì under Ordelaffi green paws; Rimini under Malatesta mastiffs; Pope Boniface VIII's war against Colonna cardinals; the fall of Palestrina; criticism of papal temporal warfare against Christians while Holy Land was lost.</p>",
        "characters": "Guido da Montefeltro; Saint Francis of Assisi; Black Cherub"
    },
    {
        "number": 28,
        "title": "Canto XXVIII",
        "subtitle": "The Eighth Circle. Ninth Bolgia. Sowers of Discord.",
        "subtext": "In the ninth bolgia, Dante witnesses the horrific punishments of those who created schism and discord. Muhammad, split from chin to groin, leads this procession of the mutilated. Ali follows with his face cleft from chin to forelock. Pier da Medicina warns of future treachery against nobles of Fano, while Curio, who advised Caesar to cross the Rubicon, appears with his tongue cut out. Mosca, who instigated the Florentine civil wars, and Bertrand de Born, who set father against son, complete this gallery of division-makers.",
        "themes": "Discord; Schism; Division; Contrapasso; Divine justice;",
        "references": "Religion: Muhammad and Ali (Islamic schism between Sunni and Shia);<p>Classical: Hannibal's victory at Cannae; Robert Guiscard's Norman conquests; battles of Ceperano, Benevento, and Tagliacozzo; Curio's advice to Caesar at the Rubicon; comparison to Tydeus gnawing Menalippus's head;</p><p>Italian politics: Fra Dolcino's sect and siege in mountains; Pier da Medicina sowing discord between Ravenna and Rimini; Malatesta's treachery at Cattolica; Mosca's advice that led to Buondelmonte murder and Guelf-Ghibeline conflict in Florence; Bertrand de Born's influence on Henry II's sons; the beginning of Florentine civil wars from the Buondelmonte-Amidei feud.</p>",
        "characters": "Muhammad; Ali; Fra Dolcino; Pier da Medicina; Curio; Mosca; Bertrand de Born; Guido del Cassero; Angiolello; Malatesta"
    },
    {
        "number": 29,
        "title": "Canto XXIX",
        "subtitle": "The Eighth Circle. Ninth Bolgia continued. Tenth Bolgia. Falsifiers.",
        "subtext": "Dante lingers looking at the schismatics, searching for his kinsman Geri del Bello, who points threateningly at him before disappearing. Virgil explains that Geri's murder remains unavenged after thirty years. They descend to the tenth and final ditch of Malebolge, filled with falsifiers suffering from various diseases. The alchemists are afflicted with scab and leprosy. Dante meets Griffolino of Arezzo, who was burned for claiming he could fly (though condemned for alchemy), and Capocchio, a Florentine who was also burned as an alchemist and mocks the vanity of the Sienese spendthrift club.",
        "themes": "Falsification; Disease; Vanity; Alchemy; Contrapasso; Divine justice",
        "references": "Classical: comparison to Aegina's plague described by Ovid where all died except those restored from ants; diseased regions with malaria - Valdichiana, Maremma, Sardinia; Daedalus who could actually fly; <p>Italian politics: Geri del Bello as Dante's kinsman whose murder (by the Sachetti clan) went unavenged for thirty years; Griffolino burned at Siena on false heresy charges; Albert of Siena's gullibility; the Sienese spendthrift club including Caccia d'Asciano and Abbagliato; Capocchio as Florentine alchemist burned in Siena; Dante witnessing Capocchio painting the story of Christ's Passion on his fingernails and in an effort to get rid of the evidence is beaten for having destroyed such art.</p>",
        "characters": "Geri del Bello; Griffolino of Arezzo; Capocchio; Albert of Siena"
    },
    {
        "number": 30,
        "title": "Canto XXX",
        "subtitle": "The Eighth Circle. Tenth Bolgia continued.",
        "subtext": "Beginning with classical examples of madness (Athamas and Hecuba), Dante describes two rabid shades attacking others - Gianni Schicchi (who impersonated the dead Buoso Donati to forge a will) and Myrrha (who disguised herself to commit incest). Dante then meets Master Adam, a counterfeiter from Brescia who forged Florentine florins for the Counts of Romena. Swollen with dropsy, he dreams of cool streams while burning with thirst. A quarrel erupts between Master Adam and the liar Sinon of Troy, with mutual accusations and insults, until Virgil rebukes Dante for listening too eagerly to their base argument.",
        "themes": "Falsification; Counterfeiting; Perjury; Baseness; Accusation; Contrapasso; Divine justice",
        "references": "Classical: Juno's revenge on Thebes through Athamas's madness; Hecuba's transformation after Troy's fall; Gianni Schicchi's impersonation skills; Myrrha's incestuous disguise; the fall of Troy and Sinon's deception with the wooden horse; Narcissus and his reflection;<p>Italian politics: Master Adam counterfeiting florins for the Counts Guidi of Romena; the purity of Florentine gold coinage; Fonte Branda (either in Siena or near Romena); the Counts Guidi as Dante's former hosts; Giovanni Buiamonte as anticipated greatest usurer.</p>",
        "characters": "Gianni Schicchi; Myrrha; Master Adam; Sinon; Potiphar's wife"
    },
    {
        "number": 31,
        "title": "Canto XXXI",
        "subtitle": "Central Well of Inferno. Treason.",
        "subtext": "Dante and Virgil descend to the ninth and final circle. Dante and Virgil are no longer in the ditches of evil but on a wide, sloping bank that leads to a deep well. The guardians of this well are giants, figures of immense size and strength. The first giant, Nimrod, is a symbol of confusion and pride. He speaks gibberish, a punishment for his role in the Tower of Babel. The second, Ephialtes, is bound for his rebellion against Jove. Finally, the third, Antaeus, is unbound and is convinced by Virgil's flattery to lower them into the bottom of the pit.",
        "themes": "Pride; Rebellion; Giants; Contrapasso; Divine justice",
        "references": "Biblical: Nimrod, whose insane pride in building the Tower of Babel caused God to confuse human language;<p>Classical: the battle of Roncesvalles and the sound of Roland’s horn, used by Dante to describe the giant’s trumpet blast; the Cretan Minotaur; Ephialtes and his brother Briareus, giants who rebelled against Jove, now bound in chains; Antaeus, the giant who was killed by Hercules, and whose strength was renewed by touching the Earth; Scipio Africanus and Hannibal, Roman military figures mentioned by Virgil in a flattery to Antaeus to get him to assist them; the Leaning Tower of Carisenda in Bologna, used as a simile to describe Antaeus bending down to the poets; Virgil’s reference to the lance of Achilles which could both wound and heal, a metaphor for Dante's words.</p>",
        "characters": "Nimrod; Ephialtes; Antaeus"
    },
    {
        "number": 32,
        "title": "Canto XXXII",
        "subtitle": "The Ninth Circle. Treachery. Caina and Antenorra. Bocca.",
        "subtext": "Dante and Virgil descend to the ninth and final circle, finding themselves on the frozen lake of Cocytus. Here traitors are imprisoned in ice according to their betrayals. In Caïna are those who betrayed kindred, including the feuding Alberti brothers. Moving to Antenora, Dante encounters Bocca degli Abati, the traitor of Montaperti, who reluctantly reveals other traitors including Buoso da Duera and the Beccheria. The canto ends with the discovery of Count Ugolino gnawing on Archbishop Roger's skull.",
        "themes": "Betrayal; Treachery; Disdain; Contrapasso; Divine justice",
        "references": "Biblical: Cain (Caïna);<p>Classical: Dante's mention of Amphion's walls of Thebes; comparison of the traitors' chattering teeth to the croaking of frogs in summer; allusion to King Arthur's traitorous son Mordred who was pierced by his father's lance, a punishment mirroring the traitors' frozen state; the ferocious act of Tydeus gnawing on the head of his enemy Menalippus, used to illustrate the brutal scene between Ugolino and Ruggieri;</p><p>Italian politics: the Alberti brothers (Alessandro and Napoleone) who murdered each other over their inheritance in the Bisenzio valley; Camicion de' Pazzi, a kinsman from the Valdarno who murdered another kinsman, and prophesies the arrival of Carlino de' Pazzi; Bocca degli Abati, a Florentine traitor who cut off the standard-bearer's hand at the Battle of Montaperti, leading to a Guelf defeat; Tesauro dei Beccheria, a Pisan abbot beheaded in Florence for treachery; Gianni del Soldanieri, who sided with the Florentine plebeians against the noble class; Tribaldello, who betrayed his city of Faenza.</p>",
        "characters": "Alessandro degli Alberti; Napoleone degli Alberti; Bocca degli Abati; Camicion de' Pazzi; Count Ugolino; Archbishop Ruggieri"
    },
    {
        "number": 33,
        "title": "Canto XXXIII",
        "subtitle": "The Ninth Circle. Antenorra continued. Ptolomaea. Ugolino.",
        "subtext": "Count Ugolino tells the harrowing story of how Archbishop Roger imprisoned him with his sons and grandsons in the Tower of Famine, where they slowly starved to death. Dante, moved to a vengeful fury by the tale, delivers a powerful curse against the city of Pisa. Ptolomaea, where those who betrayed guests and friends are frozen with only their faces above the ice, their tears crystallizing instantly to form icy visors that increase their suffering. He encounters Friar Alberigo, who reveals that some souls fall to Hell while their bodies still live on earth, possessed by demons. Alberigo points out Branca d'Oria leading Dante to express a final, bitter condemnation of the Genoese. Dante refuses to clear the ice from Alberigo's eyes, considering it courtesy to show no mercy to such a traitor.",
        "themes": "Betrayal; Suffering; Hospitality; Cruelty; Starvation; Cannibalism; Disdain; Contrapasso; Divine justice",
        "references": "Biblical: Atropos (Fate), Ptolomaea (from Maccabees);<p>Classical: Thebes as symbol of cursed city whose whose cruelty to its own people is compared to Pisa's actions against Ugolino and his children; Atropos, one of the three Fates who cuts the thread of life, mentioned in reference to souls being sent to Hell before death;</p><p>Italian Politics: Count Ugolino's dream of himself and his children being hunted as wolves by the Pisan Ghibelline families (Lanfranchi, Gualandi, and Sismondi) and Archbishop Ruggieri; Pisa's cruelty in starving Ugolino and his young children (Gaddo, Brigata, and Hugh); Friar Alberigo of Faenza, who treacherously murdered his relatives at a banquet, leading to the phrase 'a date for a fig' (getting more than one bargained for); Branca d'Oria, a Genoese noble who murdered his father-in-law, Michael Zanche, a reference to his betrayal as a guest and host.</p>",
        "characters": "Count Ugolino; Archbishop Ruggieri; Friar Alberigo; Branca d'Oria; Gaddo; Hugh; Brigata"
    },
    {
        "number": 34,
        "title": "Canto XXXIV",
        "subtitle": "The Ninth Circle. Judecca. Centre of Hell. Satan. Climb Out Of Hell.",
        "subtext": "Dante and Virgil reach Judecca, the deepest and most treacherous region of Hell, reserved for traitors to their lords and benefactors. Here, the sinners are completely submerged in the frozen lake of Cocytus, contorted into various positions. They move on to the frozen center of Hell where Satan, the three-faced giant with giant bat-like wings that create the freezing winds of Cocytus, is trapped in ice. In his three mouths he eternally devours the greatest traitors: Judas Iscariot in the central mouth, and Brutus and Cassius in the side mouths. The poets climb down Satan's body, pass through the center of the earth ascending through a narrow, dark path to the surface, and emerge on the opposite side to see the stars of the southern hemisphere, completing their journey through Hell.",
        "themes": "Ultimate Evil; Betrayal; Redemption; Journey; Rebirth; Hope",
        "references": "Biblical: the Latin hymn 'Vexilla Regis prodeunt Inferni' (The banners of the King of Hell advance) is a parody of a hymn for the Holy Cross, used to announce the presence of Lucifer; Judas Iscariot as the ultimate traitor; the description of Lucifer's bat-like wings is a symbol of a fallen angel;<p>Classical: Dis as Satan; Brutus and Cassius, the traitors who murdered Julius Caesar, who Dante saw as a divinely-ordained emperor; Virgil's mention of the Earth's center of gravity and the explanation of the reversal of the hemispheres after passing the midpoint of the globe; the reference to the land of the southern hemisphere as having fled from Lucifer when he fell from heaven creating Hell and Mount Purgatory.</p>",
        "characters": "Lucifer; Judas Iscariot; Brutus; Cassius"
    }
];