We left Virgil and Dante on the banks of the Styx Marsh looking at the Angry and Wrathful people stuck in the muddy water. They see some lights in the distance and Virgil explains it’s a signal. Sure enough a boat comes to pick them up. Phlegyas is the boatman.
Bow never drove
Arrow through air so quickly as then came
Skimming across the water a little skiff
Guided by a single boatman at the helm:
“Now, evil soul,” he cried out, “you are caught!”
“Phlegyas, Phlegyas – you roar in vain this time,”
My lord responded, “You’ll have us in your boat
Only as long as it takes to cross the fen.”
Like one convinced that he has been the butt
Of gross deception, and bursting to complain,
Phlegyas held his wrath. We boarded the boat,
Phlegyas – a demigod in Greek mythology. He was the son of Ares and Chryse daughter of Almus. He was always making war with his neighbors. He was killed by Helios and turned into a demoniac giant as punishment for burning the Apollonian Temple of Delphi in retribution for Apollo having killed his daughter, Coronis.
In the dead channel one rose abeam
Coated with mud, and addressed me: “Who are you,
To come here before your time?”
This poor soul is Filippo Argenti. He was one of Dante’s enemies . He was from a magnate Florentine family and someone Dante knew in real life. He once slapped Dante and, when Dante was exiled, Filippo’s brother took all of Dante’s possessions. The Argenti family opposed Dante’s return from exile. Dante suddenly recognizes Filippos’ ghost.
And I to him, “In weeping
And sorrow remain, cursed soul – for I have seen
Through all that filth: I know you!” He started gripping
With both hands at the boat. My master stood
And thrust him back off, saying, “Back to safekeeping
Among the other dogs.” And then my guide
Embraced my neck and kissed me on the face
And said, “Indignant soul, blessed indeed
Is she who bore you. Arrogant in his vice
Was that one when he lived. No goodness whatever
Adorning his memory, his shade is furious.
In the world above, how many a self-deceiver
Now counting himself a mighty king will sprawl
Swinelike amid the mire when life is over,
Leaving behind a name that men revile.”
And I said, “Master truly I should like
To see that spirit pickled in this swill,
Before we’ve made our way across the lake.”
…
After a little, I saw him endure
Fierce mangling by the people in the mud –
A sight I give God thanks and praises for:
“Come get Filippo Argenti!” they all cried,
And crazed with rage the Florentine spirit bit
At his own body. Let no more be said
Of him
Virgil and Dante have left the sins of incontinence and are now in lower Hell in the fifth circle where all sins are done out of malice and evil. It isn’t a matter of lack of self control but of deliberate and wicked intent. As you can see, Dante, the pilgrim, has lost his pity for the sinners. From here on, Dante will no longer be sympathetic with the sinners.
New cries of lamentation reached my ear,
And I leaned forward to peer intently out
My kindly master said, “A city draws near
Whose name is Dis, of solemn citizenry
And mighty garrison.” I: “Already clear
Are mosques – I see them there within the valley
Baked red as though just taken from the fire.”
And he, “It is fire blazing eternally
Inside of them that makes them so appear
Within this nether Hell.” We had progressed
Into the deep-dug moats that circle near
The walls of that bleak city, which seemed cast
of solid iron; we journeyed on, to complete
An immense circuit before we reached at last
A place where the boatman shouted, “Now get out!
Here is the entrance.” Above the gates I saw
More than a thousand of those whom Heaven had spat
Like rain, all raging: “Who is this, who’d go
Without death through the kingdom of the dead?”
As Virgil and Dante get to the gates of the City of Dis, the fallen angels want to argue and stop them from coming in the gates.
Before much time,
The demons scrambled back, where we would go –
And then I saw our adversaries slam
The portals of the entrance in the face
Of my master, who remained outside and came
Back to me walking slowly, with downcast eyes
…
“Someone is coming to open the city to us.”
Canto IX
Virgil has tried to talk to the fallen angels but they have refused entrance. and So he goes to Dante, the pilgrim, and tells him they have to wait for assistance. Dante can tell Virgil is worried, concerned. He speaks but it seems he is giving word to his thoughts rather than communicating. He has to stop himself.
This brief monologue, articulated as four sets of alternating feelings, is a masterpiece of the Commedia’s art of ‘speaking’ [Commentary, Inferno IX, p. 227] – DigitalDante.columbia.edu
Virgil goes on to tell a story of how he was here once before. A witch named Erichtho summoned him from the dead not long after he died. He was to draw a spirit from the “circle of Judas”. He tells Dante that he certainly remembers the way. But instead of reassuring Dante, he has created more fear.
The poet Lucan’s Pharsalia (VI, 507-830) relates a story about Erichtho sending a soul to the bottom of the Inferno to retrieve another soul who would foretell the victor of the Battle of Pharsalia, which took place on 9 August 48 B.C.E. In this battle, the forces of Julius Caesar defeated the forces of Pompey. – David Bruce
While waiting, Dante and Virgil look up on the tower in front of them to see a hellish sight.
My eyes were on the tower we stood beneath,
For at its glowing top three hellish Furies
Suddenly appeared: like women, but with a wreath
Of bright green hydras girdled about their bodies,
Bloodstained, with squirming vipers in a crown
Fringing their savage temples. “The fierce Erinyes,”
He said, who knew those handmaids of the queen
Of eternal sorrows: “Megaera on the left;
Alecto howls on the right; and in between,
Tisiphone.” Each one was clawing her breast,
And each was beating herself – and screamed so loud
I pressed against him, flinching at the blast.
“O let Medusa come,” the Furies bayed
As they looked down, “to make him stone! We grieve
Not avenging the assault of Theseus!” He said,
“Turn your back; close your eyes: should Gorgon arrive
And show herself, then if you looked at her –
There would be no returning back above.”
Erinyes (pronounced Aaron-ee-yes) – Erinyes, the Furies, in Greek Mythology, were three goddesses of vengeance and retribution who punished men for crimes against the natural order. They were particularly concerned with homicide, unfilial conduct (murdering and betraying family members), offenses against the gods, and perjury. These three goddesses are Alecto (anger), Megaera (jealousy), and Tisiphone (avenger). Each of the Furies has a different role or a different crime that she hated the most, and this was illustrated by her name. They seem to be daughters of dark earth. The Furies were also what is called chthonic, which means that they are related to the earth and the Underworld. When they were not punishing people on earth, they were working to torture the unfortunate in the Underworld. They served Hades (god of the underworld) and Persephone (goddess of spring and queen of the underworld). – theoi.com
Gorgons, Medusa – The Gorgons were three monsters in Greek mythology, daughters of Echidna and Typhon, the mother and father of all monsters respectively. Their names were Stheno, Euryale, and the most famous of them, Medusa. Although the first two were immortal, Medusa was not. Their faces were ugly and their hair was replaced by snakes; anyone who would gaze into their eyes would be turned to stone instantly. – greekmythology.com
Virgil warns Dante that if he sees Medusa, he will turn to stone and be unable to go back to his life so he tells him not to look. He even turns him around and puts his hands over his eyes.
All of this is sound and fury and produces fear that can paralyze (turn to stone). “But there is nothing to fear but fear itself” – Franklin D. Roosevelt. This is a crisis of faith for Dante, the pilgrim. The fear could turn him to stone, paralyze him, and he would stay in this fear. Fear and unbelief is the Medusa. Does he believe more in God or in the devil? Does he fear God or satan? Does he believe more strongly in the God who has taken him safely thus far, or in the screaming, raging, monstrous, fiery scene before him? Can he overcome the doubts and fears in his own mind, those of Virgil (his reason)? Is this why the angel delays in coming? A test of faith. The obstacles to hinder us from faith in Christ seem fearsome. The Furies attack our mind and point out all the reasons why we can’t be saved… our sins, our inability to believe in Jesus… it all seems overwhelming and fear rears it’s ugly Medusa head to try to trap us in despair. We can turn our heads, cover our eyes for a bit with reason but reason will only go so far. It’s like sticking our head in the sand. It’s denial and avoidance. We must see our sin for what it is but we must also see our Savior for who He is. Seeing our sin alone will send us into fear and doubt and we turn to stone. We must not doubt that God loves us and sent His Son to save us. We must not doubt that Jesus Christ took care of all sin, including the most heinous. His was no limited worked on the cross. We must take hold of Jesus and trust His work on the cross. His blood forgives. He paid the price. You can be saved!
In the Furies, Dante came at last to something of which doubt was impossible. They represent the horror and torment of guilty conscience, and this is one of the few things which, when it is once roused, cannot be doubted away. But this agonized remembrance of past sins creates a terrible doubt, or even despair, of the goodness and mercy of God; and this despair is symbolized by the Medusa’s head, which turns men into stone. – John Ruskin, 1904
he covered my face
With his hands too. O you whose mind is clear:
Understand well the lesson that underlies
The veil of these strange verses I have written.
Luke 12:4-5 (BSB, Jesus speaking) 4 I tell you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear the One who, after you have been killed, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him!
1 John 4:18-19 (BSB) 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because He first loved us.
This verse means that God loves us enough to take care of our every problem and be there through everything we are called to go through. It doesn’t mean He won’t let hard things happen to us, but He will be there through it all and take care of us, bringing good out of bad. If we truly believe He loves us, then we won’t be afraid because we can trust His love. This is a very difficult concept for us as humans. We want to be in control and we would prefer never having any hard life lessons. But Jesus tells us to have the faith of a little child. A baby has no thought for it’s own safety or provision. He merely expects the parent to love him enough to take care of his needs. He trusts in that love. It’s only as we grow up that we want to take matters into our own hands because we no longer completely trust our parents’ love. As we come upon scary circumstances in our life, we need to turn to God and trust that He loves us and will get us through whatever He calls us to get through. As His beloved child, He won’t leave us or forsake us.
Psalm 123:1-2 (BSB) 1 I lift up my eyes to You,
the One enthroned in heaven.
2 As the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes are on the LORD our God
until He shows us mercy.
Note to self: Keep your eyes on God and not on the scary circumstances or feelings!
Across the turbid waves now came the noise
Of a fearsome crash, by which both shores were shaken:
A sound like that of a wind that gathers force
From waves of heat in violent collision
And batters the forest, and on its unchecked course
Shatters the branches and tears them to the ground
And sweeps them off in dustclouds, with scornful roars,
…
As frogs are quick
To vanish through water and hunch on bottom sand
As soon as they see their enemy the snake,
So I saw more than a thousand souls of the ruined
Flee before one who strode across the Styx
Dry-shod as though on land. With his left hand
He cleared the polluted air before his face
And only in that annoyance did he seem tired.
I knew assuredly he was sent to us
From Heaven. and I turned my head to regard
The master – who signaled that I should be mute
And bow before him. Ah, to me he appeared
So full of high disdain! He went to the gate
And opened it by means of a little wand,
And there was no resistance.
The etching above doesn’t seem to capture the angel. According to Dante the angel made a big impact. His words seem to describe something bigger than this little angel. But I couldn’t find a better picture.
In the text, the angel is sent from God to open the gates of Dis for Virgil and Dante. God wants Dante to journey through to reach the other side, therefore, what God wills, will be accomplished despite what demons try to do. Our reason can only take us so far. We have to have faith and Dante, the pilgrim, is learning this. We are powerless before sin, satan and demons. No matter how educated and civilized we think we are, we are not able to handle sin and satan. Only Jesus can and we must have faith in Him and let Him handle the evil ones.
This angel is very different from the fallen angels in the City of Dis. They were thrown from Heaven in the rebellion against God. But this angel is sent from Heaven on God’s command.
Notice, the Angel doesn’t have to argue with the demons, fight a battle with them, or wrestle his way. “So full of high disdain! He went to the gate and opened it by means of a little wand, and there was no resistance.” Like I said before, all of this demonic activity, that looked so fearsome and scary, was all sound and fury. One single angel with a “little wand” was able to come and open the gate without resistance. God is so much more powerful than anything satan can throw at Him. But satan does keep trying.
What does this mean for us as human beings? It depends on which side you are on. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, then you are born again and are adopted into the family of God. You are a child of God, blood bought! You have the seal of the Holy Spirit within you. Therefore, anything satan tries to throw at you, has to go through God first and He will not allow anything that would destroy you. God is with us, goes through everything with us, and makes sure good comes from whatever evil satan intended. God has His purposes and His designs. He wants to see His purposes wrought in us and sometimes it means He allows things to happen that we don’t like. But these are mere tools in the hands of God to make us into the person He knows we can become. If we can grasp this concept, trust in God’s love, we have nothing to fear. Remember, “perfect love casts out fear”. Pray, try to grasp and hold onto the truth of God’s love for you and trust it.
If you reject Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are leaving yourself open to satan’s attacks. So, yes, if you are unsaved, you should be afraid, very afraid. We are talking about not just today or tomorrow but your eternity.
Dante uses another earthy comparison when he describes how the shades of the angry and wrathful hide when the Angel walks through the marsh and river of Styx. He says they are like frogs that jump into hiding on the bottom of the river when a snake appears. Interesting that he equates the snake with the Angel when normally a snake is equated with satan. Dante often uses an inversion like this.
God is in control. Let’s look back at the Angel:
And there was no resistance. “O race cast out
From Heaven, exiles despised there,” he intoned
From that grim threshold, “Why this insolence”
Why do you kick against that Will whose end
Cannot be thwarted, and whose punishments
Many times over have increased your pain?
What use to butt at what the fates dispense?
Remember, your Cerberus’s throat and chin
For just this reason, still are stripped of fur.”
Then he turned back on the filthy path again,
Not speaking a word to us, but with the air
Of one whom other matters must concern
Than those who stand before him.
The Angel’s disdain is for the demons, not Dante and Virgil. The Angel reminds the demons they were cast out of Heaven. They are still fighting against God’s Will and they should have learned it is a useless fight. They cannot stop God.
Cerberus – The triple headed hound of Hell, with snakes for hair, and barbed tail, that guarded the gates of Tartarus. Remember he was dragged from Hell by Hercules and then sent back. He guards the third circle of the gluttons.
The angels were overpowered by God and thrown from Heaven. They should still have the ruin marks of that battle which should remind them they are mastered. Cerberus was chained and dragged from Hell by Hercules. That event left it’s scars on Cerberus’ chin. Satan and his demons were losers in the rebellion and they bear the marks of ruin that should remind them they cannot win against God. The Angel is reminding them who is in charge. The Angel is sent from God and God is in control. They cannot withstand God’s Will.
The Bible tells us satan was a created angelic being, high up in the angel hierarchy. He was beautiful. But satan became proud in his beauty and position, and his heart became rebellious against God.
Ezekiel 28:12-19 (BSB) 12 “Son of man, take up a lament for the king of Tyre and tell him that this is what the Lord GOD says:
‘You were the seal of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden,
the garden of God.
Every kind of precious stone adorned you:
ruby, topaz, and diamond,
beryl, onyx, and jasper,
sapphire, turquoise, and emerald.
Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold,
prepared on the day of your creation.
14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub,
for I had ordained you.
You were on the holy mountain of God;
you walked among the fiery stones.
15 From the day you were created
you were blameless in your ways—
until wickedness was found in you.
16 By the vastness of your trade,
you were filled with violence, and you sinned.
So I drove you in disgrace
from the mountain of God,
and I banished you, O guardian cherub,
from among the fiery stones.
17 Your heart grew proud of your beauty;
you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor;
so I cast you to the earth;
I made you a spectacle before kings.
18 By the multitude of your iniquities
and the dishonesty of your trading
you have profaned your sanctuaries.
So I made fire come from within you,
and it consumed you.
I reduced you to ashes on the ground
in the eyes of all who saw you.
19 All the nations who know you
are appalled over you.
You have come to a horrible end
and will be no more.’”
Isaiah 14:12-16 (BSB) 12 How you have fallen from heaven,
O morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the ground,
O destroyer of nations.
13 You said in your heart:
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God.
I will sit on the mount of assembly,
in the far reaches of the north.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
15 But you will be brought down to Sheol,
to the lowest depths of the Pit.
16 Those who see you will stare;
they will ponder your fate:
“Is this the man who shook the earth
and made the kingdoms tremble,…
Revelation 12:7-9 (BSB) 7 Then a war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But the dragon was not strong enough, and no longer was any place found in heaven for him and his angels. 9 And the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Luke 10:17-20 (BSB) 17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name.”
18 So He (Jesus) told them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Jude 1:6 (BSB) And the angels who did not stay within their own domain, but abandoned their proper dwelling, He keeps under darkness, in eternal chains for judgment on that great day.
2 Peter 2:4;9 (BSB) 4 For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;… 9 if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.
Colossians 1:13- (BSB) 13 He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.
17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence. 19 For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.
21 Once you were alienated from God and were hostile in your minds because of your evil deeds. 22 But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy, unblemished, and blameless in His presence— 23 if indeed you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope of the gospel you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.
So Virgil and Dante enter the City of Dis.
Anxious to learn
What their condition was who populate
A fortress so guarded, I cast my eye around
As soon as I was in – and saw a great
Plain filled with woe and torment. As on the land
At Arles where the river Rhone grows more subdued,
Or at Pola where the Quarnero sets a bound
For Italy, bathing her borders, on every side
The ground is made uneven by the tombs –
So it was here: but these were of a mode
More bitter, for among the graves were flames
that made the sepulchers glow with fiercer heat
Than a smith could need. Among these catacombs
The lids were raised, with sounds of woe so great
Those within surely suffered horrible pain.
“Master,” I said, “who are these people that are shut
Ensepulchered within these coffers of stone,
Making their sounds of anguish from inside?”
He answered, “Here, arch-heretics lie – and groan
Along with all the converts that they made,
The followers of every sect, with like
Entombed with like. A greater multitude
Crowds into these graves than you may think they take.
Some sepulchers grow hotter, and some less.”
He turned to the right and we continued to walk
Between the anguish and the high parapets.
In the sixth circle of Hell, they are inside the City of Dis to find a plain filled with tombs or graves. These are flaming, hot sepulchers with the lids raised. Virgil tells Dante it’s the place where heretics lie and groan, along with all the converts they made
These heretics were stubborn and obstinate in their heresies and therefore are stuck in these tombs, unable to leave them. They refused Truth in their lifetime and instead perverted and deformed the Truth. They used their God-given intelligence to pervert the Truth and lead others astray. They never repented but stuck to their heresies so they are now stuck in their flaming tombs.
2 Peter 2:1-3 (BSB) 1 Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed. 3 In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.
Excerpts of Inferno are from a new translation by Robert Pinsky.
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