Canto I

“In the middle of the journey of our life” (1.1, 27)

The first of Dante’s epic conventions: in medias res “in the middle of things” is how many of the ancient and classical epics begin. Dante starts his Commedia literally guiding readers to view this work as an epic. (SJ)

“for the straight way was lost” (1.2, 27) … “when I abandoned the true / way” (1.11-12, 27)

Continuing from the previous note, Dante also points readers to view this text as a divine vision. The working of “straight way” in the first sentence lends itself to Christian allusions. Robert Durling’s third note, in his edited and translated version of Dante’s Inferno, cites the “straight way” mentioned here as “The course of a just man, leading to God” (34). On the Dartmouth Dante Project, not many of the commentators turn their attention to this phrase focusing instead on the dark wood Dante finds himself in. Charles Singleton mentions the “la diritta via”: [as] Prov. 2:13-14… (“who leave the straight paths to walk in ways of darkness, who delight in doing evil, rejoice in perversity”), and Prov. 4: 18-19…(“But the path of the just is like shining light, that grows in brilliance till perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; they know not on what they stumble.”)... [and] also II Pet. 2: 15…(“They have forsaken the right way and have gone astray.”) (Charles). Durling adds: “He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake” (New King James Bible, Psalm 23:3). However, Matthew 7:13-14 brings a new light to the “straight way”, Dante has lost. From Jesus’ famous “Sermon on the Mount”, He encourages His listeners to “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (New King James Bible, Matt. 7.13-14). This verse is relevant to Dante, first as a pilgrim, as he begins his journey through Hell, Purgatory, and eventually Paradise. He will encounter the “many” who have gone through the wide gate “that leads to destruction”; this will be difficult for him as is seen through his pity, his fear, and his physical fainting when conversing and viewing those who are in their destruction. This verse is also relevant to Dante in his real life and as a poet because he will see and relate the destruction the many are facing, and emphasize the need to find and return to the “narrow gate”--the straight way that has been lost. (SJ)

Con't Lines 1-2

Dante is on a journey through the afterlife. However, whose voice is narrating the poem? Dante or the pilgrim? There seems to be an autobiographical journey here. “In the middle of the journey of our life, I came to myself in a dark wood, for the straight way was lost” (Durling 27). Notice the use of our journey. This also depicts a journey in the past, rather, something that has already happened. Lawrence Baldassaro notes, “A Jungian archetypal analysis might see the pilgrim’s condition as suggestive of the individual’s struggle to come to grips with the dark side of his consciousness. But in terms of the poet’s medieval cultural context, the figure we encounter in the first canto of the Inferno is in a state of sin which threatens to cut him off forever from the possibility of salvation” (254). (BF)

"for the straight way was lost, / Ah, how hard a thing it is to say what that wood / was" (1.3-4, 27)

Dante is in the dark woods, not sure how he got there. The woods can a reference to "the Platonic idea matter and also to the forest of Arthurian romance" (Durling 34). He abandoned the "true way" path that he was supposed to be following. (BF)

“But to / treat of the good that I found there, I will tell of / the other things I saw” (1.7-9, 27)

From the three commentators in English, the “good” that Dante finds are “his conversion” (Tozier), “the wayfarer's rescue by Virgil” (Singleton), and “God's grace in allowing Dante to learn of His goodness even in his worst experiences” (Hollander). As both an epic and a divine vision, Hollander’s comment seems the most appropriate. Dante states his purpose, or at least one of the purposes, in penning this work: to show the good of what he will see–much like Milton will in the future with Paradise Lost to “justify the ways of God to man” (Milton 19). A verse not mentioned in relation to this line is Joseph’s speech to his brothers after being left for dead by them and rising through many difficulties to the the second-in-command in Egypt: “you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive” (New King James Version Bible, Genesis 50:20). Although the journey through Hell will be full of trials, difficulty, and fear, the purpose is good–to show God’s justice and save Dante’s soul. Like Joseph in the Old Testament, this Commedia can potentially bring Dante’s readers to salvation. (SJ)

"After I had a little rested my weary body, I took / my way again along that deserted slope, so that my / halted foot was always the lower" (1.28-30, 27)

There is a physical connection of the pilgrim’s body to his soul. Not only are the three beasts blocking Dante’s path, but his “halted foot” causes him to limp up the hill. “...it seems clear that the pilgrim’s physical impediment suggests the “wound of nature” that he shares with all humans and which makes everyone on “the journey of our life” susceptible to sin, thus impeding their return to the God from which they were alienated by the sin of the first parents” (Baldassaro 255).

“but not so that I did not fear the sight of a / lion that appeared to me. / He appeared to be coming against me with his head high and with raging hunger” (1.44-48, 29)

Durling does not comment much on the lion Dante encounters alongside the leopard and she-wolf. He explains, “Commentators do not agree on the significance of this and the other beats–lion and she-wolf–that drive back the pilgrim…various possibilities have been suggested; the most likely corresponds with the triple division of Hell into sins of disordered appetite (she-wolf), violence (lion), and fraud (leopard)” (36). Robert Hollander has commented lengthily on the division of Hell with the three beasts mentioned, and he adds: “It should also be noted that a number of still other modern interpreters have proposed various political identities for the three beasts, perhaps the most popular being (4) the leopard as Dante's Florentine enemies, the lion as the royal house of France, the she-wolf as the forces of the papacy” (Robert). St. Peter warns his readers to “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (New King James Version Bible, 2 Peter 5:8). At the most basic level, the beasts that Dante encounters at the onset of his journey through hell represent an evil against him and his soul. The lion here could be a representation of the devil himself; the lion representing the plans Satan has for mankind: pride and destruction. He describes the lion with “his head high” which points to Satan’s pride; the devil’s greatest sin was his pride in thinking he could defeat God and rule Heaven:

“For you [Lucifer] have said in your heart:

‘I will ascend into heaven,

I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;

I will also sit on the mount of the congregation

On the farthest sides of the north;

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,

I will be like the Most High’ (New King James Version Bible, Isaiah 14:13-14)

Dante continues to describe the lion as “coming against” him “with a raging hunger” pointing to St. Peter’s description of the devil who seeks “whom he may devour”. Although the lion could easily represent the violent division of Hell, the beast could also represent St. Peter’s warning of the intentions of the devil. Dante, at the beginning of Inferno, was not “sober” or “vigilant”–he has found himself in danger of a raging lion in a dark wood away from the straight way. (SJ)

“When I saw him in the great wilderness” (1.64, 29)

“For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief” (New King James Version Bible, Hebrews 3:16-19). Dante here compares the journey he is about to embark on to the Israelites who wandered in the wilderness for 40 years after their exodus of Egypt: “And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not” (New King James Version Bible, Deuteronomy 8:2). The “wilderness” in scripture is a representation of a period of sin or temptation. In order to rest in the Promised Land, or in Dante’s case Paradise, he must come to obey and believe in God. Dante has already told readers he has “abandoned the true way”, so he is, like the Isaelities, wandering in the wilderness of sin or temptation. Also like the Israelities, he will have a guide through the “great wilderness”. Virgil, like Moses, will lead Dante through the Inferno and Purgatory, but will be unable to stay in Paradise. Moses, likewise, was unable to enter the Promised Land “because you trespassed against Me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin, because you did not hallow Me in the midst of the children of Israel. Yet you shall see the land before you, though you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving to the children of Israel”” (New King James Version Bible, Deuteronomy 32:51-52). The Israelities are not the only people Dante’s journey is compared to; Jesus also was led to the wilderness. “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (New King James Version Bible, Matthew 4:1). Jesus does not give in to the temptation of the Devil, and, like Milton will show later in Paradise Regained, will make a way to return to Paradise. In the same way, Dante must go through this journey to enter Paradise. He must wander the wilderness of Inferno and Purgatory to enter into Paradise. (SJ)

“Miserere–on me” (1.64-65, 29)

Durling notes that the Latin word “miserere” –have mercy used here “derives immediately from the Psalms (especially Psalm 52)... the most penitential Psalm” (37) where David is asking God to have mercy on him after his affair with Bathseba. Hollander comments an interesting interpretation that Dante himself begins in the first line of this Canticle the interweaving of Christian vision and Pagan epic: “this first utterance made by the protagonist involves a double citation, the first biblical, the second classical, Aeneas's speech to his mother, Venus (Aen. I.327-330)” (Robert). This furthers the mixing of Christian and Pagan allusions that will fill the Commedia. (SJ)

“the delightful mountain that is / origin and cause of all joy” (1.77-78)

Durling notes that “The mountain is designated as the origin of happiness following Aristotle’s analysis of causation, in which the final cause…is also the first cause” (37). However, this could also be seen as Dante mixing Christian and Pagan influences. Most commentators take this mountain to be from Aristotle, but it could also represent important mountains from the Bible. One example could be Mount Sinai where the Israelites, through Moses, received the 10 Commandments (Exodus 19 and 20). The prophet Jeremiah says of God, “Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart” (New King James Version Bible, Jeremiah 15:16). Jeremiah sees God’s words, His commandments, as the origin of joy and rejoicing. It could also represent Mount Nebo where Moses was allowed to view the Promised Land, but could not enter. “Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, across from Jericho; view the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel as a possession” (New King James Version Bible, Deuteronomy 32:49). In the same way, Dante is not allowed to go straight up to the mountain because of the beasts. He must wander (see note 5) first before entering Paradise. Similar to Aristotle's mountain of causation, Dante and Moses see their first and final cause (the mountain or the Promised Land) but cannot attain it. (SJ)

“she has a nature so evil and cruel that her / greedy desire is never satisfied…many are the animals with whom she mates, and / there will be more still, until the greyhound shall / come who will make her die in pain” (1.97-102, 31)

Durling notes the continued ambiguity of the she-wolf and the greyhound mentioned in this canto. Virgil, Durling comments, “makes clear that…she is a terrible external power” (38). He adds the use of “mates” here hearkens back to the Old Testament “for whom unfaithfulness to Jehovah is “fornication”” (38). The first note for the greyhound explains that he “refers to the second coming of Christ” (38). Taking all of these notes into account has led me to the book of Revelations and the “Scarlet Woman” from chapter 17:

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.”

So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written:

MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT,

THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS

AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS

OF THE EARTH.

I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. (New King James Version Bible, Revelations 17:1-6).

This description fits almost exactly the explanation that Virgil gives Dante. The harlot of Revelation, like the she-wolf, has terrible external power. She controls many nations and kings of earth through her fornication. The apostle John is taken to see her judgment, like Virgil alludes to here, because she has heaped up abominations, blasphemy, filthiness, and fornication. The “animals with whom she mates” are the “kings of earth” and “inhabitants of the earth” that the harlot consorts with from Revelation. Later in Revelation 17, a reference to the greyhound is made: “These [kings in league with the harlot] will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful” (New King James Version Bible, Revelations 17:14). Jesus will defeat the harlot like the greyhound will make the she-wolf die in pain. (SJ)

“Thus for your good I think and judge that you / shall follow me, and I shall be your guide, and I will / lead you from here though an eternal place” (1.112-114, 33).

Virgil here represents, for Dante, the Holy Spirit as a guide through Inferno and Purgatory. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (New King James Version Bible, John 14:26). Like the Holy Spirit who was sent to the disciples after Jesus ascended, Virgil has been sent to Dante in Beatrice’s name; Virgil teaches Dante as they travel; and Vigril brings back to Dante information that he should remember. (SJ)

Throughout the entire Inferno, Dante often has classical and contemporary figures placed within each circle of hell. This is Dante’s way of saying that every group of people have sinned, no matter the religion or time, and in this way of thinking, he also includes historical context such as Christian ideas throughout the entire Inferno. As Dante starts his journey through hell, we see numerous different sins and the punishments for those who have committed it, but we also notice the critical thinking of Dante. (KD)

Canto I

Ln 31: “and behold, almost at the beginning of the steep, a leopard, light and very swift, covered with spotted fur”.

Dante finds himself lost in a dark wood and finds himself trying to climb a mountain. He then encounters three beasts, a leopard, lion, and wolf, who block his way of going up this mountain. They symbolize three kinds of sins, incontinence, violence/bestiality, and fraud/malice. I analyzed this as before someone can truly be saved and enter heaven, they must be cleaned of these three most important sins. Also seen here is the idea of the Christian afterlife. Barolini explains that “Dante has a place in the history of the imagining of the Christian afterlife, a place that can be traced and debated. Dante’s signature moves in the forging of his afterlife are the mixing of classical with Christian sources and of high with low culture” (Barolini, 1.14). These three beasts who block Dante’s path know that he is not ready for the journey to Purgatory because he has yet to be placed in hell, the hardest journey of all. They are the guardians to what is good, yet they are seen as bad. (KD)

In Greek mythology, as the 12 Olympian resided within Mount Olympus, the nine muses, daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus, resided at the foot of the mountain. No humans were allowed to enter Olympus but there also was no one guarding it either. However, entering hell in Greek mythology was a different story. Hermes, the messenger of the gods, would lead the dead to the river Styx where Charon transported them across the river. Here is where we see some real security because on the bank of the river, the soul would encounter Cerberus, the three headed dog who guarded the Underworld. (KD)