Infernal Locations Trivia Quiz

Answer: Celestine V

Celestine V, born Pietro Angelerio (1215-1296), briefly served as Pope for five months in 1294. His election came two years after the death of the previous pope and shortly after the Cardinals received a letter from him suggesting that further delay would lead to divine punishment for them. Having largely led a ascetic, hermit-like life as an adult, Celestine was very unprepared for the political aspects of the Papacy. He would be the last Pope to resign voluntarily until Benedict XVI in 2013.

While Celestine is not mentioned by name in the "Inferno", it is commonly believed that this passage refers to him: "I looked, and I beheld the shade of him / Who made through cowardice the great refusal" (III, 59-60). Dante felt that Celestine's resignation provided an opportunity for the election of Boniface VIII (1294-1303)--who Dante bitterly opposed--as Pope.

Celestine was seen by Dante as an example of the Uncommitted, who did not clearly side with either good or evil. Included in this number were the neutral angels who did not side with either God nor Satan. Their punishment is to be not allowed peace as their constantly buffeted about by fierce winds. Dante seems particularly contemptuous of the Uncommitted, seeing them as not worthy of heaven or of Hell. By comparison, there are a few sinners in Hell for whom he shows grudging respect.

Answer: Quintus Horatius Flaccus

Now inside hell proper, the First Circle is designated for Virtuous Pagans, those who were good people, but not Christians. They suffer no physical torment, but only lack the hope of being reunited with God. (In "Purgatorio" and "Paradiso", Dante seems to bend his own rules by having a few non-Christians in places other than Hell. The First Circle is also the home of unbaptized infants/children which Dante mentions, but does not emphasize.

Virgil is normally a resident of the first circle as is the poet Horace. Unlike Celestine, Horace is mentioned by name. "That one is Homer, Poet sovereign; / He who comes next is Horace, the satirist; / The third is Ovid, and the last is Lucan." (IV, 88-90) The five poets who Dante would have considered the greatest in history elect Dante as one of their number.

Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65-8 BC) was a poet of the late Roman Republic/early Roman Empire. He was the author of several works, including the "Epistles", the "Epodes", and the "Satires". His poems would have been relatively familiar to the literate of the late middle ages.

Answer: Cleopatra VII Philopator

Cleopatra VII Philopator (69-30 BC) was the last Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt. During her reign, Egypt would come under Roman control. While certainly not her whole story, Cleopatra's love affairs with first Gaius Julius Caesar and later Marcus Antonius would have been well known to the people of her time and to Dante would have helped explain her placement in the second circle.

At one point Virgil is naming and pointing out several infamous lovers to Dante, mentioning "Then Cleopatra the voluptuous" (V, 63). Dante does not speak with Cleopatra, however, but with a noblewoman named Francesca da Rimini, a contemporary of his. One of the drawbacks that I notice with the "Comedy" is that Dante often focuses on people of his time, who may or may not be well-know now, rather than people of an earlier age who have continued to be well-known.

In Canto V, Dante seems to suggest that passion or love must be guided by reason. Passion taking control over love it is lust and a problem. Several of the souls in the second circle are buffeted about by the winds, never having rest, as their passion in life blocked them from finding peace. Compared to some of the other deadly sins, however, lust comes from an excess of passion rather than from passion expressing itself in a violent or malicious matter.

Answer: Ciacco of Florence

While a modern reader might associate gluttony with food and drink, Dante seems to expand the meaning of gluttony to include any dangerously excessive desire. In Canto VI, he considers that his home city of Florence itself is guilty of a gluttony for power.

In the poem, Ciacco introduces himself to Dante this way: "You citizens were wont to call me Ciacco; / For the pernicious sin of gluttony / I, as thou seest, am battered by this rain." The punishment for the gluttons is to wallow in a putrid muck. Just as Ciacco is guilty of gluttony, Dante sees their city of Florence as guilty of the same.

Historians don't know much about Ciacco who seems to have been a contemporary of Dante. Giovanni Boccaccio, in "The Decameron", refers to a Ciacco as the greediest person ever. Some scholars believe this is a reference to the "Inferno". The name Ciacco, meaning "hog", may be more symbolic than actual.

Answer: Plutus

This is the one question I needed to refer to a mythological figure rather than a historical person. Plutus begins Canto VII: " 'Pape Satan, Pape Satan, Aleppe!' / Thus Plutus with his clucking voice began" (1-2). Virgil is able to quickly shut Plutus down by informing him that Virgil is leading Dante on this journey by God's command.

In Greek mythology, Plutus was the god of wealth, and either the child of Demeter or Hades. He was seen as coming from underground and in later times would be confused with Hades. This makes sense when you consider one of the signs of wealth in ancient times would be gold or silver, both of with were usually dug up from the ground. Throughout the poem, several other mythological figures are included.

Interestingly, both those who are greedy or miserly and those who are profligate with wealthy are punished at this level as if the punishment is more simply for misusing wealth. Indeed both groups are punished by eternally moving towards each other along a road or in a sense towards that mean they did not achieve in life. Their sins while on earth and their actions after death have so twisted them as to be unrecognizable. Plutus is literally the only resident of the fourth circle who is mentioned by name.

Answer: Filippo Argenti

Filippo Argenti, member of an important family, was a contemporary of Dante's in 13th century Florence. Filippo and Dante seem to have some personal bitterness towards each other, but what either man did to start or continue the grievances is unclear. Boccaccio again mentions Filippo in "The Decameron". Other authors suggest that Filippo's seizing of some of Dante's property may have been the root of their ill-feelings.

Dante finds Filippo with many others wading through the River Styx in the fifth circle. While crossing the river in a boat, Dante exchanges some angry remarks with Filippo. There also seems to be anger between Filippo and others at this level: "They all were shouting, 'At Filippo Argenti!' / And that exasperate spirit Florentine /Turned round upon himself with his own teeth." (VIII, 61-63).

Some anger seems righteous. Virgil seems to approve of Dante's anger towards Filippo since it is supporting God's judgment against him. In the Styx, Filippo seems to be one of the actively angry (wrathful) fighting on the surface of the water. The passively angry (sullen) instead lie on the floor of the river bed.

Answer: Epicurus

It may seem strange to the modern reader that Epicurus was found in this circle of Hell rather than the fourth. To Dante, however, the public belief of Epicurus that the soul dies with the body would have been enough to suggest heresy, a greater sin and punished at a lower level. Epicurus's punishment is to be trapped in a flaming tomb. Virgil described it this way: "Their cemetery have upon this side / With Epicurus all his followers, / Who with the body mortal make the soul" (X, 13-15).

Epicurus (341-270 BC) was a Greek philosopher best known for his school of philosophy called Epicureanism. A key component of his belief was that death was not something to be feared since it ended both body and soul. The ideal life was one of a comfortable amount of pleasure. It would take later generations to equate this with a hedonistic amount of pleasure.

Dante would have viewed heresy as the individual willingly separating himself or herself from God. It has been suggested that those who are buried in the tombs, in Hell, are seen as even more dead than the dead. In Cantos X and Xi, Dante meets more than one kind of heretic.

Answer: Attila, King of the Huns

The seventh circle of Hell includes three subsections: violence against neighbors (murderers, etc.), violence against the self (suicide), violence against God, art, and nature. With this level, we have moved from an excess of passion to violent passions. Dante's definition of violence includes attacks on property, as well as attacks on people.

Attila (AD 406-453) was the legendary leader of the Huns and known for leading a group of several tribes, including the Huns, in a series of pillaging and conquering campaigns against many locations in Eurasia, including the crumbling Roman Empire. His actions included attacks on the city of Constantinople and Rome.

Attila, and some others similar to him, are immersed in Phlegethon, a river of boiling blood that flows through this level of Hell. Centaurs armed with bow and arrow are stationed to attack any soul that tries to rise too far out of the blood. Here Attila is mentioned: "Justice divine, upon this side, is goading / That Attila, who was a scourge on earth" (XII, 133-134). Attila and others are described as tyrants who were expert in bloodshed. It is perhaps appropriate that they are drowning in a river of blood.

Answer: Nicholas III

If the division of the seventh circle into three areas was confusing, the division of the eighth circle into ten "malebolge" (evil pouches) may be even more confusing. Briefly, the ten areas are: 1. Panderers and seducers, 2. Flatterers, 3. Simoniacs, 4. Sorcerers, 5. Barrators (public officials who sold public offices), 6. Hypocrites, 7. Thieves, 8. Counsellors of Fraud, 9. Sowers of Discord, 10. Falsifiers. This circle takes over one-third of the entire "Inferno" (Cantos XVIII to XXXI).

Nicholas III is found in the third area, guilty of simony or the sale of ecclesiastical offices. Nicholas predicts that Boniface VIII (who was still alive in the AD 1300 setting of this poem) will soon take his place here. Nicholas and the others guilty of simony are punished by flames burning the soles of their feet. The flames burning Nicholas being the largest suggests that Dante saw him as the worst offender. Nicholas is not quite named in the poem, but his position is rather clear: "If who I am thou carest so much to know, / That thou on that account hast crossed the bank, / Know that I vested was with the great mantle; / And truly was I son of the She-bear, / So eager to advance the cubs, that wealth / Above, and here myself, I pocketed." (XIX, 67-72)

Nicholas (1225-1280) served as Pope from 1277 until his death. He was known for his nepotism during his brief Papacy, elevating at least three family members to becoming Cardinals and others to important positions. Nicholas was also able to increase the relatively power of the Papacy in Italy.

Answer: Gaius Cassius Longinus

Gaius Cassius Longinus (86-42 BC) was a member of the Roman Senate and co-leader of the Senatorial plot to assassinate Gaius Julius Caesar. Previous he had been part of Crassus's invasion of the Parthian Empire and responsible for leading the remnants of the army after Crassus's death. Co-conspirator Marcus Junius Brutus was Cassius's brother-in-law.

Cassius holds an infamous position even in the lowest circle of Hell. Frozen in ice, Satan sits at the lowest level. Satan is portrayed as having three mouths that are used to eternally chew on Cassius, Brutus, and Judas Iscariot. The three receive such punishment for treason or treachery towards a temporal leader (Cassius and Brutus) or God (Judas). Even here, Cassius is contrasted slightly with the other two: "And the other, who so stalwart seems, is Cassius" (XXXIV, 66)

The Ninth Circle in general is used to punish the treacherous. In increasing evil are betrayal of family ties, community ties, guests, and lords. Iciness is a common feature of this level (rather than flame or heat) as these sinners were seem as removing themselves from the warmth of God's love. At the end of "Inferno", Dante and Virgil begin the ascent out of Hell towards purgatory.