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Dante’s Inferno: Canto 33 & 34

Canto 33: circle Nine: Compound Fraud: Round Two: Antenora: Treacherous to Country: round Three: Ptolomea: The Treacherous to Guests and Hosts

  1. What reason does the gnawing man give for his willingness to tell his painful story?
  2. Define infamy:
  3. Identify the Irony in lines 13—15:
  4. Do you think the punishment equal the crime in this circle?Explain
  5. In what tone does Ugolino refer to his worst enemy?
  6. What foreboding does Ugolino feel after his frightening dream?
  7. What is your reaction to Ugolino’s sons’ offer to serve as food for their father?
  8. What purpose is served by revealing this offer by the sons to the father?
  9. As horrible as Ugolino’s revenge is, do you think it is justified, in view of Ruggieri’s crime against him?
  10. Is revenge justifiable in principal?
  11. Whom is Dante addressing in lines 79—90?
  12. For what sin does Dante blame the subject of lines 79—90?
  13. What metaphor is used for Hell in line 91, and why is it apt?
  14. Why has Dante become “numb as any callus,” in line 102?
  15. What symbolic significance might his numbness have?
  16. What does “to take me in” mean?
  17. In lines 115—117, Dante promises to relieve Friar Albiergo’s sufferings if he will identify himself and tell his story. Why in lines 148—150 does he break his promise?

Canto 34 on back

Canto 34: Ninth Circle: Cocytus: Compound Fraud round :Four: Judecca: The Treacherous to Their Masters: The Center: Satan

  1. What does Dante consider the worst sin of all?
  2. The icy wind Dante feels comes from the incessant beating of Satan’s great wings. What allegorical meaning is suggested here?
  3. Do you agree with Dante that being entirely frozen in solid ice would be the worst punishment of all?
  4. Identify another punishment that you think would be just as bad:
  5. How is Dante both alive and dead as he stands in the lowest depths of Hell?
  6. What literary element is “alive and dead” ?
  7. Satan himself is imprisoned in Hell, frozen in the ice like human sinners. What does this fact suggest about Satan’s role as the enemy of God?
  8. To what does Dante compare Satan’s wings in lines 46-48?
  9. What literary term covers this comparison?
  10. Medieval Christians regarded Judas Iscariot as the worst sinner because he had betrayed his loving master Jesus. Who do you think of today as the worst possible sinner?
  11. Evaluate Dante’s conception of the earth, in lines 106—111, in light of current scientific understanding. Make a comment?
  12. Why might Dante have chosen to mention Christ in lines 115—117?
  13. Lines 124—129 describe Earth’s terrified reaction to Satan’s plunge from Heaven. What words and phrases in this passage speak of geographical features as if they were living beings?