Inferno
The Minotaur. The Seventh Circle: The Violent. The River Phlegethon. The Violent against their Neigh- bours. The Centaurs. Tyrants. The place where to descend the bank we came Was alpine, and
The place where we came down to descend the bank
was like an alpine cliff, and what lay there
would make any eye recoil in horror.
The destruction there was of such a kind
that every eye would turn away in horror.
Like that landslide which struck the Adige's flank
on this side of Trent—whether by earthquake
or failing foundation—where the mountainside
shattered from peak to plain in such a way
it might provide a path for those above,
so was the descent of that ravine.
And there upon the edge of the broken chasm
lay stretched the infamy of Crete,
conceived within that counterfeit cow.
When he saw us, he bit himself
like one consumed by inner rage.
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THE MINOTAUR
“so was the descent of that ravine. / And there upon the edge of the broken chasm / lay stretched the infamy of Crete,”
My guide shouted toward him: "Perhaps
you think the Duke of Athens stands here,
who brought your death in the world above?
Get away, beast! This man comes not
tutored by your sister, but travels here
to witness all your punishments."
Like a bull that breaks loose the moment
it receives the killing blow,
unable to walk but staggering everywhere,
so I watched the Minotaur react.
My guide, alert, cried: "Run to the passage!
While he rages, you'd better get down."
So we descended over that rockfall,
stones that often shifted beneath my feet
under this unaccustomed weight.
I walked deep in thought, and he said:
"You're thinking about this ruin, perhaps,
guarded by that bestial fury I just subdued.
Know this—the other time I descended
to the depths of Hell, this cliff
had not yet fallen. But truly,
if I discern correctly, a little before
He came who carried off the mighty spoil
from Dis in the highest circle,
the deep and loathsome valley trembled
on all sides so violently I thought
the universe was moved by love—
by which some believe the world
has often been converted into chaos.
At that moment this ancient rock,
here and elsewhere, collapsed."
But fix your eyes below, for now
the river of blood draws near,
in which boils everyone who does
violence to others.
Oh blind greed! Oh insane wrath
that drives us forward in our brief life
and then steeps us so wretchedly in eternity!
I saw a wide moat curved like a bow
that embraced the entire plain,
just as my guide had said.
Between the moat and the embankment's base
centaurs ran in single file, armed with arrows,
as they used to hunt on earth.
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THE CENTAURS—NESSUS
“Between the moat and the embankment's base / centaurs ran in single file, armed with arrows, / as they used to hunt on earth.”
Seeing us descend, each one stopped,
and three detached themselves from the squadron,
bows and arrows ready in advance.
One shouted from afar: "What torment
are you heading for, descending that slope?
Tell us from there—or I draw my bow!"
My master said: "We'll give our answer
to Chiron there beside you.
Your hasty will was always your misfortune."
Then he touched me and said: "That's Nessus,
who died for beautiful Dejanira
and took his own revenge.
The one in the middle, gazing at his chest,
is great Chiron, who raised Achilles.
The other is Pholus, full of rage.
Thousands and thousands circle the moat,
shooting arrows at any soul that emerges
from the blood more than his sin allows."
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CHIRON
“shooting arrows at any soul that emerges / from the blood more than his sin allows."”
We approached those swift creatures.
Chiron took an arrow and with its notch
pushed back his beard upon his jaw.
When he'd uncovered his great mouth,
he said to his companions: "Have you noticed
that the one behind moves whatever he touches?
The feet of the dead don't usually do that."
My good guide, now at Chiron's breast
where the two natures join together,
replied: "He is indeed alive, and I alone
must show him the dark valley.
Necessity, not pleasure, drives us.
Someone who was singing hallelujah
gave me this new duty.
He's no thief, and I'm no criminal spirit.
But by the power that moves my steps
along this savage road,
give us one of your own to accompany us,
to show us where to cross the ford
and carry this one on his back—
he's no spirit that can walk on air."
Chiron wheeled around to his right side
and said to Nessus: "Go back and guide them,
and warn off any other band you meet."
We moved forward with our faithful escort
along the bank of the boiling crimson tide
where the boiled uttered piercing screams.
I saw people sunk up to their eyebrows,
and the great centaur said: "These are tyrants
who dealt in bloodshed and plunder.
Here they lament their merciless crimes.
Here is Alexander, and fierce Dionysius
who brought Sicily years of anguish.
That forehead with the black hair is Azzolino,
and the blond one is Obizzo of Este,
who was truly murdered by his stepson
in the world above."
Then I turned to my guide, and he said:
"Let him lead now, and I'll follow."
A little farther the centaur stopped
above people who seemed to emerge
from that boiling stream up to their throats.
He showed us one shade standing apart:
"He split asunder, in God's bosom,
the heart still honored on the Thames."
Then I saw people who lifted their heads
and all their chests out of the river,
and I recognized many among them.
The blood grew ever shallower
until it covered only their feet,
and there we found our crossing.
"Just as you see on this side
the boiling stream continually diminishing,"
the centaur said, "so I want you to know
that on the other side it grows deeper and deeper
until it reaches the place where tyranny
must groan. Divine justice on that side
torments Attila, who was a scourge on earth,
and Pyrrhus and Sextus, and forever milks
the tears that the boiling unseals
from Rinier da Corneto and Rinier Pazzo,
who waged such war upon the highways."
Then he turned back and crossed the ford again.