Finally in the 9th circle, we come to the focus of Dante's situation.
Feeling betrayed by his own party, his own friends, from his own city,
Dante visits the four circles Caina, Antenora, Ptolomea, and Judecca. In
Canto XXXIII we hear the tragic story of Ugolino. You will remember him from the Canterbury Tales.
And, of course, traitors against their own benefactors are punished in the deepest pit of Hell, cold, cold, so cold. Here we find Cassius, Brutus, and Judas--and Mr. Satan himself: Lucifer. His eating the trio of betrayers with his trio of mouths recalls the betrayal and punishment of Ugolino (Ugolino is foreshadowing for Lucifer's punishment).
The climbing of Satan indicates, as strange as it seems, that Dante has traveled through the Underworld--in fact the entire Earth. He has come out of the dark wood on the opposite side. It is from here that he will journey up the mountain of Purgatory--the next installment of the Divine Comedy.
And, of course, traitors against their own benefactors are punished in the deepest pit of Hell, cold, cold, so cold. Here we find Cassius, Brutus, and Judas--and Mr. Satan himself: Lucifer. His eating the trio of betrayers with his trio of mouths recalls the betrayal and punishment of Ugolino (Ugolino is foreshadowing for Lucifer's punishment).
The climbing of Satan indicates, as strange as it seems, that Dante has traveled through the Underworld--in fact the entire Earth. He has come out of the dark wood on the opposite side. It is from here that he will journey up the mountain of Purgatory--the next installment of the Divine Comedy.
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