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