Terms

Contrapasso Contrapasso is the correspondence between punishment and sin: the punishment describes what the condemned did in life, instead of punishing him from outside. The word appears only once in the poem, in the mouth of Bertran de Born, who carries his own severed... The Ignavi The Ignavi are those who lived without infamy and without praise, taking no side either for good or for evil. They stand in the vestibule of Hell, before the Acheron, running after a banner, naked and stung by flies and wasps. Heaven expels them so as not to... Limbo Limbo is the first circle, where without torment are those who did not sin but were not baptized, or were born before Christianity. There is no weeping, only sighs, and the punishment is to desire without hope. It is where Virgil dwells, where Dante meets... Dis Dis is the walled city that begins beyond the Styx and closes off the lower Hell; it is also the name by which Virgil calls Lucifer, who sits at the deepest point. It has mosques reddened by the eternal fire and gates guarded by more than a thousand fallen... Malebolge Malebolge is the eighth circle: ten concentric ditches of dark stone around a well, linked by bridges of rock that rise from the foot of the cliff. In each one a form of fraud is punished against those who did not especially trust: seduction, flattery,... Cocytus Cocytus is the lake of ice at the bottom of Hell, the ninth circle, where the traitors are held fast up to the point where shame appears, their teeth chattering like those of storks. It bears the name of a river of the world of the dead, which Virgil says is... Judecca Judecca is the last zone of Cocytus, named after Judas and destined, according to the common reading, for those who betrayed their benefactors. It is where Lucifer is, held in the ice from the middle of his chest downward, chewing Judas in the middle mouth... Terza rima Terza rima is the form in which the whole poem is written: stanzas of three lines in which the middle line rhymes with the first and third of the next stanza (ABA BCB CDC), in a chain that closes only at the last line. Keeping the rhyme in a translation... White and Black Guelphs Florence was divided between Guelphs, partisans of the pope, and Ghibellines, partisans of the emperor. In power, the Guelphs split into Whites, tied to the Cerchi family and defenders of popular participation, and Blacks, tied to the Donati family and closer... Simony Simony is the trade in sacred things, such as church offices, bought and sold for gold and silver; the name comes from Simon Magus, to whom the canto is addressed. In the third ditch of Malebolge the simoniacs are stuck head downward in holes of stone, with... Veltro The veltro is the greyhound that Virgil announces in Canto I as the deliverer who will make the she-wolf die: it will feed not on earth or metal, but on wisdom, love and virtue, and will be born "between felt and felt." It will save the humble Italy for which...