Canto VII: Summary:
Plutus, in Greek mythology, was the God of Wealth, menaces Virgil and Dante, but Virgil is more powerful. Plutus is the overseer of the miserly and the prodigal. Virgil to Dante reassures, “Do not be startled, for no power of his, however he may lord it over the damned, may hinder your descent through this abyss.” Virgil and Dante descend the dark scarp of Hell to which all the evil of the Universe comes home at last, into the Fourth Great Circle.
There is a war in progress. The sinners are divided into two mobs, and each soul strains madly against a large boulder. In haste they rolled them back, one party shouting out: “Why do you hoard?” and the other: “Why do you waste?” (26-30) One mob is the Hoarders, while the other is the Wasters. In life, these sinners lacked moderation in regulating their expenses; they destroyed the light of God within themselves by thinking of nothing but money.
Dante to Virgil asks, “Master, tell me now that you touch on this Dame of Fortune what is she, that she holds the good things of the world within her clutch?” (67-69) The Dame of Fortune is usually holding an ever revolving wheel symbolic of Chance. Dante uses her in his ordering of the universe. Dame Fortune is among the angels, and she is given a special place in the service of the Catholic God. This is the first of many passages in which Dante details the Divine Ordering of the universe.
Virgil says, “The stars that marked our starting fall away. We must go deeper into greater pain, for it is not permitted that we stay” (97-99). The stars falling away indicates that it is past midnight on Good Friday. As Virgil and Dante where crossing over to the edge, they “Came to a spring that boiled and overflowed through a great crevice worn into the ledge” (101-102). The spring is the waters of Hell which are derived from one source, Acheron. Acheron waters is boiling out of a subterranean passage. The spring bubbles over the rocks to form the Marsh of Styx. The Styx marsh marks the first great division of Hell. Between the Acheron and Styx are punished the sins of Incontinence, the Sins of the She-Wolf. The Marsh of Styx is the Fifth Circle, the last station of the Upper Hell. Across the Marsh of Styx they view countless souls attacking each other in the foul slime. These souls are the Wrathful. The Sullen refused to welcome the sweetness of the Sun, Divine Illumination. Therefore, the Sullen in death are buried forever below the gross waters of the Styx. Dante ridicules the damned for the first time.
Beyond the Styx rise the flaming walls of the infernal city of Dis, within which are punished Violence and Fraud.
Canto VII: Analysis:
Plutus menaces Virgil and Dante, but Virgil shows himself more powerful than Hell’s monsters. Plutus, in Greek mythology, was the God of Wealth. Plutus is identical to Lucifer himself and would require a central place in Hell. The classical function of Plutus as God of Material Wealth makes him the ideal overseer of the miserly and the prodigal.
Virgil to Dante reassures, “Do not be startled, for no power of his, however he may lord it over the damned, may hinder your descent through this abyss” (4-6). “Thus [Virgil and Dante] descended the dark scarp of Hell to which all the evil of the Universe comes home at last, into the Fourth Great Circle” (16-18). In the Fourth Circle, there seems to be a war in progress. “Just as the surge Charybdis hurls to sea crashes and breaks upon its counter surge, so these shades dance and crash eternally” (22-24). Charybdis is a famous whirlpool in the Straits of Sicily.
The sinners are divided into two mobs, and each soul strains madly against a large boulder. In this circle, the sinners “Strained their chests against enormous weights, and with mad howls rolled them at one another. Then in haste they rolled them back, one party shouting out: “Why do you hoard?” and the other: “Why do you waste?” (26-30) One mob is comprised of Hoarders, while the other is the Wasters. “These tonsured wraiths of greed where priests indeed, and popes and cardinals, for it is in these the weed of avarice sows its rankest seed” (46-48).
In life, these sinners lacked moderation in regulating their expenses; they destroyed the light of God within themselves by thinking of nothing but money. Therefore, there contrapasso is in death, their souls are encumbered by dead weights, mundanity, and one excess serves to punish the other. Their souls have become so dimmed within their rage that there is no hope of recognizing any of them.
Dante to Virgil asks, “Master, tell me now that you touch on this Dame of Fortune what is she, that she holds the good things of the world within her clutch?” (67-69) The Dame of Fortune is a central figure in medieval mythology. The Dame of Fortune is usually holding an ever revolving wheel symbolic of Chance. Dante uses her in his ordering of the universe. Dame Fortune is among the angels, and she is given a special place in the service of the Catholic God. This is the first of many passages in which Dante details the Divine Ordering of the universe.
Then Lady of Permutations is “So railed at and reviled that even her debtors in the joys of time blaspheme her name. Their oaths are bitter and wild, but she in her beatitude does not hear. Among the Primal Beings of God’s joy she breathes her blessedness and wheels her sphere” (91-96).
Virgil says, “The stars that marked our starting fall away. We must go deeper into greater pain, for it is not permitted that we stay” (97-99). The stars falling away indicates that it is past midnight on Good Friday. As Virgil and Dante where crossing over to the edge, they “Came to a spring that boiled and overflowed through a great crevice worn into the ledge” (101-102). The spring is the waters of Hell which are derived from one source, Acheron. Acheron waters is boiling out of a subterranean passage.
The spring bubbles over the rocks to form the Marsh of Styx. The river Styx is in classical mythology. However, the river Styx is usually a river of the Underworld. In this case, Dante makes the Styx a filthy marsh. The Styx marsh marks the first great division of Hell. Between the Acheron and Styx are punished the sins of Incontinence, the Sins of the She-Wolf. The Marsh of Styx is the Fifth Circle, the last station of the Upper Hell. Across the Marsh of Styx they view countless souls attacking each other in the foul slime. These souls are the Wrathful, and their contrapasso is obvious. The Wrathful “Thumped at one another in that slime with hands and feet, and they butted, and they bit as if each would tear the other limb from limb” (112-114).
Virgil points out that the bubbles rising from the slime. Virgil to Dante says, “Behold the souls of those who lived in wrath. And do you see the broken surfaces of those water-holes on every hand, boiling as if in pain?” (115-118) Virgil explains that below the mud lie entombed the souls of the Sullen. The Sullen refused to welcome the sweetness of the Sun, Divine Illumination. Therefore, the Sullen in death are buried forever below the gross waters of the Styx. The Sullen gargle the words of an endless chant in a grotesque parody of a singing hymn. The chant is “Sullen were we in the air made sweet by the Sun; in the glory of his shinning our hearts poured a bitter smoke. Sullen were we begun; sullen we lie forever in this ditch” (121-124).
Beyond the Styx rise the flaming walls of the infernal city of Dis, within which are punished Violence and Fraud. Violence and Fraud are the sins of the Lion and Leopard. It is symbolically appropriate that approaching the city of Hell should be the filthiest marsh. “Then circling on along that filthy wallow, [Virgil and Dante] picked [their] way between the bank and fen, keeping [their] eyes on those fouls souls that swallow the slime of Hell. And so at last [they] came to the foot of a Great Tower that has no name” (127-131).
Dante’s reaction to the Sullen sinners is different from what we have previously observed. Until now Dante has been appalled or overcome by pity, however, in this description of the Sullen, Dante ridicules the damned for the first time.
Work Cited:
Alighieri, Dante, “The Inferno,” Trans. John Ciardi, Signet Classics, New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., New York, New York, 2009, Print.
