Canto XI
Circle six (The heretics)
We came to the edge of an enormous sink
Rimmed by a circle of great broken boulders.
Here we found ghastlier gangs. And here the stinkThrown up by the abyss so overpowered us
That we drew back, cowering behind the wall
of one of the great tombs; and standing thus,I saw an inscription in the stone, and read:
“I guard Anastasius, once Pope,
He whom Photinus led from the straight road.”“Before we travel on to that blind pit
We must delay until our sense grows used
To its foul breath, and then we will not mind it,”My Master said. And I then: “Let us find
Some compensation for the time of waiting.”
And he: “You shall see I have just that in mind.My son,” he began, “there are below this wall
Three smaller circles, each in its degree
Like those you are about to leave, and allAre crammed with God’s accurst. Accordingly,
That you may understand their sins at sight,
I will explain how each is prisoned, and why.Malice is the sin most hated by God.
And the aim of malice is to injure others
Whether by fraud or violence. But since fraudIs the vice of which man alone is capable,
God loathes it most. Therefore, fraudulent
Are placed below, and their torment is more painful.The first below are the violent. But as violence
Sins in three person, so is that circle formed
Of three descending rounds of crueler torments.Against God, self , and neighbour is violence shown.
Against their persons and their goods, I say,
As you shall hear set forth with open reason.Murder and mayhem are the violation
Of the person of one’s neighbour; and of his goods;
Harassment, plunder, arson, and extortion.Therefore, homicides, and those who strike
In malice – destroyers and plunderers – all lie
In that first round, and like suffers with like.A man may lay violent hands upon his own
Person and substance; so in that second round
Eternally in vain repentance moanThe suicides and all who gamble away
And waste the good and substance of their lives
And weep in that sweet time when they should be gay.Violence may be offered the deity
In the heart that blasphemes and refuses Him
And scorns the gifts of Nature, her beauty and bounty.Therefore, the smallest round brands with its mark
Both Sodom and Cahors, and all who rail
At God and His commands in their hearts’ dark.Fraud, which is a canker to every conscience,
May be practiced by man on those who trust him,
And on those who have reposed no confidence.The latter mode seems only to deny
The bond of love which all men have from Nature;
Therefore within the second circle lieSimoniacs, sycophants, and hypocrites,
Falsifiers, thieves, and sorcerers,
Grafters, pimps, and all such filthy cheats.The former mode of fraud not only denies
The bond of Nature, but the special trust
Added by bonds of friendship or blood-ties.Hence, at the centre point of all creation,
In the smallest circle, on which Dis is founded,
The traitors lie in endless expiation.”“Master,” I said, “the clarity of your mind
Impresses all you touch; I see quite clearly
The orders of this dark pit of the blind.But tell me: those who lie in the swamp’s bowels,
Those the wind blows about, those the rain beats,
And those who meet and clash with such mad howls –Why are they not punished in the rust-red city
If God’s wrath be upon them? And if it is not,
Why must they grieve through all eternity?”And he: “Why does your understanding stray
So far from its own habit? Or can it be
Your thoughts are turned along some other way?Have you forgotten that your Ethics states
The three main dispositions of the soul
That lead to those offenses Heaven hates –
Incontinence, malice, and bestiality?
And how incontinence offends God least
And earns least blame from Justice and Charity?Now if you weigh this doctrine and recall
Exactly who they are whose punishment
Lies in that upper Hell outside the wall,
You will understand at once why they are confined
Apart from these fierce wraiths, and why less anger
Beats down on them from the Eternal Mind.”“O sun which clears all mists from troubled sight,
Such joy attends your rising that I feel
As grateful to the dark as to the light.Go back a little further,” I said, “to where
You spoke of usury as an offense
Against God’s goodness. How is that made clear?”“Philosophy makes plain by many reason,”
He answered me, “to those who heed her teachings,
How all of Nature – her laws, her fruits, her seasons –
Springs from the Ultimate Intellect and Its art:
And if you read your Physics with due care,
You will note, not many pages from the start,That Art strives after her by imitation,
As the disciple imitates the master;
Art, as it were, is the Grandchild of Creation.By this, recalling the Old Testament
Near the beginning of Genesis, you will see
That in the will of Providence, man was meantTo labour and to prosper. But usurers,
By seeking their increase in other ways,
Scorn Nature in herself and her followers.But come, for it is my wish now to go on:
The wheel turns and the Wain lies over Caurus,
The Fish are quivering low in the horizon,And there beyond us runs the road we go
Down the dark scarp into the depths below.”
Summary
The poets descend further and come to a group of broken boulders, behind which they rest a bit so that they can become accustomed to the foul stink that rises from the lower circles. Dante sees a headstone with an inscription, “I guard Anastasius, once Pope, he whom Photinus led from the straight road.”
While resting for a moment, Virgil begins explaining the structure of Hell, especially that of lower Hell. Virgil explains that there are other, smaller circles, which comprise the last three circles beyond the wall that begins the sixth circle.
Circle VII, the next circle, is comprised of three smaller circles: one circle for Violence against Persons and their goods, another circle for Violence against Themselves (suicides), and the final circle for Violence against God, Art, and Nature. Virgil goes into detail about who resides in which circle and for what sins. It is growing late and they must leave for the descent into the next circle.
Analysis
Keeping to his religious theme, Dante again mentions the Harrowing of Hell. The rocks that the poets wait behind fell as a result of the earthquake on the day Christ died and came to Hell (the Harrowing) to retrieve a number of the virtuous pagans. Dante sees the headstone of Anastasius, the pope who gave communion to Photinus, and a deacon who was part of the Greek Church that denied Christ’s divine paternity. Dante was probably confused on the history, however, because Emperor Anastasius was the person that convinced Photinus to accept the heresy.
The geography of Hell is one of the most distinctive features of Inferno, and it is as meticulous as the structure of the poem. Virgil uses the waiting time, behind the boulders, to explain to Dante where the path they have been following will take them. This break in the action is a literary device that Dante uses to give a brief explanation of the structure of Hell.
The next circle, Circle VII, is divided into three smaller rounds that house sinners of violence, which are, symbolically, the sins of the lion.
The first round features sinners against neighbors, murderers, and the makers of war. Dante makes no distinction here between the punishment of those who commit acts of violence against people and those that commit acts of violence against property. Hence, the first round also houses those guilty of arson, plunder, and extortion.
The second round of Circle VII houses those who sinned against themselves with suicide. The third and final round houses those who committed the sin of violence against God, Art, and Nature.
People in the third round are the blasphemers, sexual deviants, and the usurers (money lenders). Dante held usurers in great contempt, believing that charging any interest on a loan was a great sin. Art in this usage means industry, and Dante believed that industry should be the sole means of man’s prosperity. To go against this plan was to go against God. Virgil says that Art is the Grandchild of God, meaning that Art is the child of Nature, and to act against Nature is a sin of violence against God.
Inferno by Dante Alighieri as translated by John Ciardi 