Dante Exam 2 (Canti 10-21 and La Vita Nuova) exam questions and answers

Canto 10 SUMMARY- Sixth Circle: The Heretics (Epicureans): They are placed into open tombs. The main characters are: Farinata degli Uberti and Cavalcante dei Cavalcanti. THEMES: 1) Farinata's prediction of Dante's difficulty in returning to Florence from exile, 2) Cavalcante's misunderstanding of Dante's remark on his son, the poet Guido. 3) The inability of the damned to see the present, although they can foresee the future. CHARACTERS- Dante Alighieri, Virgil, Cavalcante de' Cavalcanti, Farinita SIN- Heresy CONTRAPASSO- They burn in a sepulcher (tomb) for eternity Farinata Degli Uberti Encounters Dante in the 6th circle. Is a heretic and a member of the Ghibellines. Asks about Dante's lineage. Prophesizes that Dante will be banished from Florence; Heretic of circle 6; political enemy of Dante; explains how the damned can see the future; 2nd prophecy Cavalcante dei Cavalcanti Father of Guido Cavalcanti, a friend of Dante's. Believes his son is dead. Shows that heretics can only see into the distant future Battle of Montaperti The bloody battle of 1260 between Siena and Florence, part of the conflict between the rival parties the Guelfs and the Ghibellines; Ghibellines win this battle and they want to level Florence. Farinata advocates that Florence be spared; made the River Arbia flow red; 4000 people died Pope Celestine V SINNER allowed himself to be convinced by a priest, Benedetto, to resign from his papacy (position as pope); The Pope who abdicated his papal position and is in the vestibule because of it; "the one who refused" Canto 11 SUMMARY- Programmatic canto, The structure of Hell. Still in the sixth circle. There is a reference to Pope Anastasius' tomb, but the main issue is Virgil's exposition of the structure of Hell. This canto is a doctrinal digression on the physical and moral division of Hell. It is a programmatic canto in which Dante outlines the Aristotelian conception of sins into the three categories: Incontinence, Violence, Bestiality (fraud). CHARACTERS- Dante Alighieri, Virgil SIN- Heresy CONTRAPASSO- They burn in a sepulcher (tomb) for eternity The two types of fraud according to Virgil Simple fraud: betraying ones own species; circle 8 Compound Fraud: Treachery; An infraction in a relationship where trust is what binds everyone (kinship, political party, God); circle 9 Canto 12 SUMMARY- Seventh circle, first ring. Violent Against Others. The mythical monster who guards the circle is the Minotaur who, being half human & half beast, symbolizes the entire lower hell. Also here we find the Centaurs, mythical creatures — half man half horse —. They characterize the first section of the seventh circle. They are led by Chiron, who orders Nessus to guide Dante and Virgil across the boiling river of blood, the Phlegethon. In this river of boiling blood, we find Tyrants and Murderers; they are punished by the arrows of the Centaurs. Dante talks to Nessus, the centaur, and they cross across this circle in a seemingly pleasant manner CHARACTERS- Dante Alighieri, Virgil SIN- Violence against others CONTRAPASSO- Those who spilled another's blood now must bathe in it for eternity and get pelted by the arrows of centaurs Canto 13 -second ring of seventh circle Sin: violence on oneself (suicide) or willingly hurt themselves. Punishment: Become a tree in Hell, and never return to human form or have skin back. Harpies come, eat and destroy the tree's leaves, just like how the sinners destroyed themselves. The people who willingly hurt themselves, now ran through the woods and vicious dogs chase them. Contrapasso: The trees represent truth and life, which they turned away from during their life. Since they did not want to be in their skin, they are formed into trees where their skin will lay on the branches. People met: Harpies- vicious creatures, head of a woman and body of a bird. Pier delle Vigne- Committed suicide because of rumors and is a tree. Lano and Siena- "the two that ran"- Lano sold his estates and Siena burned down his house. They are examples of people who willingly hurt themselves. Piero delle Vigne Advisor to Emperor Frederick II of the HRE; convicted of treason and he has his eyes gouged out; he bangs his head against a wall and kills himself Harpies An evil mythical monster with the head and body of a woman and the tail, wings, and talons of a bird; they pick at the trees in canto 13; defiled Aeneas' banquet in the Aeneid "All our knowledge will be dead from the moment the door of the future is closed" After the Last Judgement, temporal time will finish, and the sinners in hell will perish for eternally Imprimatur a bishop's approval to print a religion textbook because its contents agree with Church teaching Why did Virgil have Dante pull the twig off of the bush in canto 13 Calls into question whether Dante had read the Aeneid because the speaking bush was in Virgil's story; If Dante had listened to Virgil he wouldn't have lost his way; this can be construed as Dante's way of telling us to believe his own text Canto 14 SUMMARY- Seventh circle, third ring. e flakes. The main character of this canto is Capaneus, one of the most significant examples of the nature of hell's punishment: Hell is internal suffering.. In the second part of the canto Virgil tells Dante the myth of the Old Man of Crete, a grotesque statue, whose streaming eyes form the rivers of Hell, Acheron, Phlegethon, Styx, and Cocytus. CHARACTERS- Dante Alighieri, Virgil, Capaneus SIN- Violent against God CONTRAPASSO- Eternal rain of fire from the heavens Capaneus One of the 7 kings who laid siege to Thebes, and dared Jupiter to defend Thebes, and so he got struck by lightning. Denys the power of God; in Hell, he is as resentful of God as he was in real life Old Man of Crete The giant statue located under a mountain in Crete. Supposedly, the tears of all of mankind throughout all of history stream from cracks in his structure that collect to form the rivers of hell; head of gold, torso of silver/bronze, legs of iron, and feet of terra-cotta (decreasing value of metals constructing the statue) Rhea ancient goddess represented as the daughter of Heaven (Uranus) and Earth (Gaea) and the wife of Saturn; mother of Vesta, Ceres, Juno, Pluto, Neptune, and Jupiter Saturn's Prophecy Wanted to avert the fulfillment of the prophecy that he would be dethroned by one of his children so he ate them all with the exception of Jupiter, who Rhea hid on Mt. Ida, and who eventually assumed the throne Canto 15 SUMMARY- Seventh circle, third ring. Third Zone: Violent Against Nature. This canto centers on the figure of Brunetto Latini. These souls are endlessly running throughout the fiery sands beneath the rain of fire. The main character, Brunetto Latini had been chancellor of Florence and also Dante's mentor and teacher in his early life. Dante sees him as a father figure. CHARACTERS- Dante Alighieri, Virgil, Brunetto Latini SIN- Violent Against Nature CONTRAPASSO-