Divina Commedia di Dante: Inferno — Résumé 🇺🇸 English
Dante and his guide Virgil arrive before the dark portal of Hell, reading its ominous inscription that announces eternal sorrow and the lost souls within. Overwhelmed by the difficult meaning of the words, Dante receives reassurance from Virgil, who takes him by the hand and leads him past the gate into the secret realm. Entering the starless air, they are immediately greeted by a deafening tumult of sighs, weeping, and harsh cries uttered in diverse languages by suffering souls.
Virgil explains that this miserable crowd consists of the neutral angels who remained uncommitted during the rebellion, alongside the cowardly souls of humans who lived without infamy or praise. Rejected by Heaven to preserve its beauty and refused by deep Hell so the wicked cannot glory over them, these wretched beings possess no hope of death and are condemned to run naked while tormented by hornets and wasps. Their bleeding faces and tears nourish disgusting worms at their feet, and among them Dante recognizes the shadow of the one who made the great refusal out of cowardice.
Moving further, the travelers reach the dark bank of the river Acheron, where a vast multitude of souls gathers to cross into eternal torment. An ancient ferryman named Caron shouts warnings at the damned, forbidding Dante from passing because he is still a living soul. Virgil silences the ferryman with a reminder of divine will, causing Caron to quiet his fiery eyes. The terrified, naked souls curse God, their parents, and human history before weeping and gathering by the shore.
Caron rounds up the rebellious souls, who cast themselves from the bank like autumn leaves obeying a signal, crossing the dark wave one by one. Virgil explains that all who die in the wrath of God converge here from every land, driven by divine justice so that their fear turns into desire. As the scene concludes, a sudden violent earthquake shakes the tearful ground, producing a red flash of lightning that overwhelms Dante completely and causes him to fall unconscious like a man overcome by sleep.