L ' I N F E R N O

DANTE IS AFRAID, SEEING ‘HOW HE HID THE MEANING OF HIS OPENING WORDS WITH THEIR SEQUEL,
WORDS DIFFERING FROM THEIR INITIAL THOUGHT’ [INF C9 10-15].
HE WALKS AROUND A LITTLE AND RETURNS TO VIRGIL.
DANTE:
INF C9 16-18 / DANTE INF C9 16-18 / KLINE
In questo fondo de la trista conca Do any of those whose only punishment
discende mai alcun del primo grado, is deprivation of hope, ever descend, into the
che sol per pena ha la speranza cionca? depths of this sad chasm, from the first circle?
VIRGIL:
INF C9 19-21 / DANTE INF C9 19-21 / KLINE
Questa question fec' io; e quei «Di rado I asked this question, and he answered me:
incontra», mi rispuose, «che di noi It rarely happens, that any of us
faccia il cammino alcun per qual io vado. make the journey that I go on.
INF C9 22-24 / DANTE
Ver è ch'altra fïata qua giù fui, It is true that I was down here, once before,
congiurato da quella Eritón cruda conjured to do so by that fierce sorceress Erichtho,
che richiamava l'ombre a' corpi sui. who recalled spirits to their corpses.
ERICHTHO: THESSALIAN SORCERESS MENTIONED BY LUCAN (PHARSALIA 6 507-826), WHERE SHE SUMMONS UP THE SPIRIT OF
A DEAD SOLDIER FOR SEXTUS POMPEIUS BEFORE THE BATTLE OF PHARSALIA. DANTE’S REFERENCE IS TO SOME FURTHER
UNKNOWN TRADITION ABOUT HER PRESENCE IN THE LOWEST REGIONS OF HELL, THE GIUDECCA (JUDECCA).
DANTE notes:
INF C9 23 / DANTE INF C9 23 / KLINE
congiurato da quella Eritón cruda conjured to do so by that fierce sorceress Erichtho,
VIRGIL:
INF C9 25-27 / DANTE INF C9 25-27 / KLINE
Di poco era di me la carne nuda, My flesh had only been stripped from me a while
ch'ella mi fece intrar dentr' a quel muro, when she forced me to enter inside that wall,
per trarne un spirto del cerchio di Giuda. to bring a spirit out of the circle of Judas.
INF C9 28-30 / DANTE
Quell' è 'l più basso loco e 'l più oscuro, That is the deepest place, and the darkest,
e 'l più lontan dal ciel che tutto gira: and the furthest from that Heaven that surrounds
ben so 'l cammin; però ti fa sicuro. all things: I know the way well: so be reassured.
INF C9 31-33 / DANTE
Questa palude che 'l gran puzzo spira This marsh, that breathes its foul stench,
cigne dintorno la città dolente, circles the woeful city round about,
u' non potemo intrare omai sanz' ira». where we also cannot enter now without anger.
INF C9 34-45 / KLINE
And he said more that I do not remember, because my eyes had been drawn to the high tower, with the glowing
crest, where, in an instant, three hellish Furies, stained with blood, had risen, that had the limbs and aspects of
women, covered with a tangle of green hydras, their hideous foreheads bound with little adders, and horned vipers.
VIRGIL CATCHES SIGHT OF POLYHYMNIA, URANIA AND CLIO MOVING TO FORM A TRIO IN THE MIDDLE, OR
AT THE END, OF THE BATTLEMENT.
THEY WEAR THEIR USUAL DRESS TO IMPERSONATE THE FURIES. THEY DO NOT HAVE [INF C9 34-42, 49-51]
‘HIDEOUS FOREHEADS BOUND WITH LITTLE ADDERS AND HORNED VIPERS’. NOR ARE THEY
BLOODSTAINED AND TEARING AT THEMSELVES WITH CLAWS’.
VIRGIL: & DANTE:
INF C9 43-45 / DANTE INF C9 43-45 / KLINE
E quei, che ben conobbe le meschine And Virgil, who knew the handmaids of the queen
de la regina de l'etterno pianto, of eternal sadness well, said to me:
Guarda, mi disse, le feroci Erine. See, the fierce Erinyes: the Furies.
ERINYES: EUMENIDES OR KINDLY ONES, A EUPHEMISM FOR THE ERINYES, THE THREE SISTERS, THE FURIES, WHO LIVE IN
EREBUS. THEY PUNISH CRIMES BY HOUNDING THE WRONGDOER & ACTING AS THE UNREMITTING CONSCIENCE. FOR DANTE
THEY SYMBOLISE REMORSE. THE RECOLLECTION OF PAST SINS IS A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF DESPAIR, DELAYING PENITENCE &
TURNING THE SOUL BACK TO WRONGDOING.
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