Cantos 1-4

Characters:

• Dante
  • you should think of him as both poet and pilgrim, two distinct roles; Dante the poet knows and understands things that Dante the pilgrim does not.
• Virgil:
  • Dante's guide and mentor through the Hell
  • Ancient Roman poet and personal hero for Dante the author and narrator
  • Denizen of Limbo
• Beatrice
  • Requested Virgil's help
  • Dante's beloved
• Circle 1 -- Limbo denizens
  • The Virtuous Pagans:
    • Poets: Virgil, Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan
    • Others: Aeneas, Plato, Aristotle, Caesar, Cicero, among others
  • Unbaptized infants
  • Those who came before the Birth of Christ

The Three Beasts:

• Each beast represents a category of sin
• Wolf = Incontinence
• Lion = Violence
  • against others (e.g. murder)
  • against self (e.g. suicide)
  • against God (e.g. blasphemy and homosexual acts)
• Leopard = Fraudulence

Venial vs. Mortal sin:

• Definitions
  • Venial means "forgivable",  and venial sins are considered minor in comparison to mortal sins. If a Christian  dies with venial sins on his soul or conscience, his soul goes to Purgatory, where it must be purged of the sin or sins before it can proceed to heaven.
  • Mortal, or deadly, sins condemn a soul to Hell if the Christina fails to confess the sin prior to death.
  • Scripture: I John 5:16-17
• 3 conditions must be met for a sin to be mortal:
  • It must be a grave matter
  • It must be willing and consensual
  • It must be committed with full knowledge of its gravity
• The Canonical Sinners in Dante's Hell are all guilty of Mortal Sin (with the exception those souls in Limbo)

Discussion Questions:

• What is the significance of the date on which Dante begins his journey?
• Discuss Dante's hesitation and his swoons.
• Why is Virgil an appropriate guide for Dante's tour of Hell?
• Consider the three beasts and the three women in Heaven concerned about Dante's fate.
• How do you make sense of the claim that Hell was built by "Justice," "Wisdom," and "Love"?
• What is the fate of the Neutrals? Does Dante's explanation make sense?
• What do you think of the fate of the souls in Limbo? Is it Just, Wise, and Loving?