L ' I N F E R N O

CHARON & SOULS
DANTE AND VIRGIL EMERGE ONTO THE → L → . . BEFORE THEM IS ACHERON.
CHARON STANDS AT CENTRE STAGE. HE HAS COME THROUGH THE BACK CURTAIN AND CROSSED THE
RIVER ON HIS (INVISIBLE) BOAT. LIGHT (LIGHTNING?) PICKS HIM OUT.
CHARON MYTHICAL AGE : AGED
PLACE./.LANGUAGE ETC
GREECE.
DESCRIPTION
VIRGIL DESCRIBES HIM:
AENEID 6 298-304 / VIRGIL AENEID 6 298-304 / KLINE
portitor has horrendus aquas et flumina seruat A grim ferryman watches over the rivers and streams,
terribili squalore Charon, cui plurima mento Charon, dreadful in his squalor, with a mass of unkempt
canities inculta iacet, stant lumina flamma, white hair straggling from his chin: flames glow in his eyes,
sordidus ex umeris nodo dependet amictus. a dirty garment hangs, knotted from his shoulders.
ipse ratem conto subigit uelisque ministrat He poles the boat and trims the sails himself,
et ferruginea subuectat corpora cumba, and ferries the dead in his dark skiff,
iam senior, sed cruda deo uiridisque senectus old now, but a god’s old age is fresh and green.
CHARON MAY BE UNKEMPT, BUT SHOULD BE MUCH MORE ORDINARY THAN VIRGIL’S / DANTE’S DESCRIPTION.
HE WOULD PROBABLY USE A POLE RATHER THAN AN OAR, BUT [INF C3 110] WOULD HAVE TO BE CHANGED.
LEAVE THE POLE TO PHLEGYAS [INF C8 13-] AND GIVE CHARON A SCULL TO USE OVER THE STERN OF HIS BOAT
(WHICH WE DON’T ACTUALLY SEE).
CHARON SHOUTS.
CHARON:
INF C3 82-84 / DANTE INF C3 82-84 / KLINE
Ed ecco verso noi venir per nave And see, an old man, with white hoary locks,
un vecchio, bianco per antico pelo, came towards us in a boat, shouting:
gridando: «Guai a voi, anime prave! Woe to you, wicked spirits!
CHARON (΄KARƏN): THE FERRYMAN OF THE RIVER ACHERON IN THE UNDERWORLD. THE OTHER RIVERS OF THE
UNDERWORLD WERE THE COCYTUS, A TRIBUTARY OF THE ACHERON, WITH ITS TRIBUTARY THE PHLEGETHON; THE LETHE &
THE STYX.
DANTE notes:
INF C3 84 / DANTE INF C3 84 / KLINE
gridando: Guai a voi, anime prave! Woe to you, wicked spirits!
THE POETS WALK SLOWLY TOWARDS HIM. CHARON SHOUTS AT THE INVISIBLE SPIRITS./.SPIRITS AROUND
VIRGIL AND DANTE. THE AUDIENCE HAS GOOD REASON TO BELIEVE IT IS ALSO BEING ADDRESSED.
CHARON:
INF C3 85-87 / DANTE INF C3 85-87 / KLINE
Non isperate mai veder lo cielo: Never hope to see heaven: I come to carry you
i' vegno per menarvi a l'altra riva to the other shore, into eternal darkness,
ne le tenebre etterne, in caldo e 'n gelo. into fire and ice.
CHARON POINTS AT DANTE.
CHARON:
INF C3 88-90 / DANTE INF C3 88-90 / KLINE
E tu che se' costì, anima viva, And you, who are there, a living spirit,
pàrtiti da cotesti che son morti». depart from those who are dead.
Ma poi che vide ch'io non mi partiva, But when he saw that I did not depart,
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