The Divine Comedy · Chapter
Canto XIV: The Violent Against God and the Statue of Time explained
Dante and Virgil enter the third round of the seventh circle, a burning plain of sand where the violent against God, nature, and art are punished.
What happens
Dante and Virgil enter the third round of the seventh circle, a burning plain of sand where the violent against God, nature, and art are punished. They encounter Capaneus, one of the Seven Against Thebes, who lies blaspheming against Jove. Virgil rebukes his pride. They then follow a red rivulet that quenches the falling flames, and Virgil explains its origin from the great statue of the Old Man of Crete, whose tears form the rivers of Hell: Acheron, Styx, Phlegethon, and Cocytus. He also mentions Lethe, which is outside Hell in Purgatory.
Themes in this chapter
Divine Justice
The punishment of the violent against God is depicted as a rain of fire on a burning plain, with Capaneus suffering eternal torment for his blasphemy.
Human Free Will and Moral Responsibility
Capaneus's continued defiance and pride, even in torment, illustrates the moral responsibility and the consequences of one's choices.
Characters to notice
- Dante Alighieri
The pilgrim who gathers scattered leaves for a damned soul and questions Virgil about the punishments and the rivers of Hell.
- Virgil
Dante's guide who rebukes Capaneus and explains the origin of the infernal rivers from the statue of the Old Man of Crete.
- Cato of Utica
Mentioned in a simile comparing the burning sand to the desert Cato once crossed.
- Capaneus
A blasphemer and one of the Seven Against Thebes, lying disdainful under the rain of fire, still defiant against Jove.
Key passages
“O’er all the sand-waste, with a gradual fall, Were raining down dilated flakes of fire, As of the snow on Alp without a wind.”
Over the entire sandy plain, large flakes of fire fell slowly, like snow on a mountain when there is no wind.
Describes the fiery rain tormenting the sinners in the third round of the seventh circle.
“A grand old man stands in the mount erect, Who holds his shoulders turned tow’rds Damietta, And looks at Rome as if it were his mirror.”
A great old man stands upright on the mountain, with his back turned toward Damietta in Egypt, and facing Rome as if it were his reflection.
Virgil's description of the statue of the Old Man of Crete, symbolizing the ages of humanity and the origin of Hell's rivers.