Sixth Circle
Area:
Nether Hell, Sins of Violence, City of Dis, where the Heretics dwell
Located In Canto: X-XI
Icons:
-Farinata degli Uberti, who rises from the waist up out of a burning tomb
during Dante’s encounter, recognizes Dante by his language, and happens to be
Florentine leader of the Ghibellines—an enemy of the Guelphs, Dante’s ancestor’s
political party. Farinata and his wife were both posthumously charged with
heresy, excommunicated, their bodies were removed from a grave to be burned. The
politics of Farinata motivated wars and countless vendettas, which would lead
to the political divide in Florence and eventually Dante’s exile.
-Cavalcante de’ Cavalcanti, who lifts his head
from the tomb during the encounter with Dante and Virgil, was a member of the
powerfully rich Guelph family, and reflects an obsession with the fate of his
son during the dialogue with Dante.
Events:
-In the sixth circle, Dante and Virgil wander to a kind of
graveyard, filled with the fiery tombs that hold the Heretics.
-Dante is stopped by a voice calling from one of the tombs. It is
a political leader of Dante’s time, Farinata, addressing Dante as a Tuscan,
based on his regional accent.
- Another soul, Cavalcante de’ Cavalcanti, the father of one of
Dante’s friends Guido, rises his head from a grave and interrupts conversation
between Farinata and Dante in order to find out information about his son’s
whereabouts.
-Dante’s reply leads Cavalcanti to assume his son is dead, so he
sinks back down into his tomb in despair.
-The conversation between Dante and Farinata continues with a
discussion on their opposing politics of Florence.
-This particular part of the conversation leads to Farinata’s
prediction of Dante’s exile.
-Virgil retrieves Dante to proceed through the Sixth
Circle.
-Still in the Sixth Circle, the two are at the edge of the
Seventh Circle of Hell when an overpowering stench rises and forces Virgil and
Dante to stop and sit at the tomb of Pope Anastasius.
-Virgil takes the opportunity to explain to Dante about the last
three circles of hell about how they’re subdivided.
- Dante inquires about these divisions, and Virgil reminds Dante
of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and the respective organization of sins of
incontinence, malice, and insane brutality, where God is least offended by the
disposition of incontinence.
-Virgil explains more theological issues of sins to
Dante.
-The two travelers now make their progress
towards the Seventh Circle of Hell, which contains the three subdivided rings.
Punishment/Contrapasso:
-Heretics-locked in burning stone coffins, the damned souls inability to see
the present and only the future
Allusions, Devices, Metaphors, Similes:
Guido Cavalcanti; Epicurus, Frederick II, Florentine Politics (1300s),
Guelphs and Ghibellines, Hyperopia
Area:
Nether Hell, Sins of Violence, City of Dis, where the Heretics dwell
Located In Canto: X-XI
Icons:
-Farinata degli Uberti, who rises from the waist up out of a burning tomb
during Dante’s encounter, recognizes Dante by his language, and happens to be
Florentine leader of the Ghibellines—an enemy of the Guelphs, Dante’s ancestor’s
political party. Farinata and his wife were both posthumously charged with
heresy, excommunicated, their bodies were removed from a grave to be burned. The
politics of Farinata motivated wars and countless vendettas, which would lead
to the political divide in Florence and eventually Dante’s exile.
-Cavalcante de’ Cavalcanti, who lifts his head
from the tomb during the encounter with Dante and Virgil, was a member of the
powerfully rich Guelph family, and reflects an obsession with the fate of his
son during the dialogue with Dante.
Events:
-In the sixth circle, Dante and Virgil wander to a kind of
graveyard, filled with the fiery tombs that hold the Heretics.
-Dante is stopped by a voice calling from one of the tombs. It is
a political leader of Dante’s time, Farinata, addressing Dante as a Tuscan,
based on his regional accent.
- Another soul, Cavalcante de’ Cavalcanti, the father of one of
Dante’s friends Guido, rises his head from a grave and interrupts conversation
between Farinata and Dante in order to find out information about his son’s
whereabouts.
-Dante’s reply leads Cavalcanti to assume his son is dead, so he
sinks back down into his tomb in despair.
-The conversation between Dante and Farinata continues with a
discussion on their opposing politics of Florence.
-This particular part of the conversation leads to Farinata’s
prediction of Dante’s exile.
-Virgil retrieves Dante to proceed through the Sixth
Circle.
-Still in the Sixth Circle, the two are at the edge of the
Seventh Circle of Hell when an overpowering stench rises and forces Virgil and
Dante to stop and sit at the tomb of Pope Anastasius.
-Virgil takes the opportunity to explain to Dante about the last
three circles of hell about how they’re subdivided.
- Dante inquires about these divisions, and Virgil reminds Dante
of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics and the respective organization of sins of
incontinence, malice, and insane brutality, where God is least offended by the
disposition of incontinence.
-Virgil explains more theological issues of sins to
Dante.
-The two travelers now make their progress
towards the Seventh Circle of Hell, which contains the three subdivided rings.
Punishment/Contrapasso:
-Heretics-locked in burning stone coffins, the damned souls inability to see
the present and only the future
Allusions, Devices, Metaphors, Similes:
Guido Cavalcanti; Epicurus, Frederick II, Florentine Politics (1300s),
Guelphs and Ghibellines, Hyperopia