The Memory of Men

1
The Memory of Men

• Feraco
• Myth to Science Fiction
• 4 November 2009

2
Canto VI Data File

• Setting The Third Circle
• Figures Cerberus, Ciacco, Plutus
• Allusions Florentine Politics, Judgment
• Punishable Sin Gluttony
• Summary Dante awakens and finds himself in the
  Third Circle. The poets discover Cerberus
  slashing at the gluttons, but elude him by
  feeding him some of the foul waste the souls
  beneath them writhe in. When Dante passes, one
  soul, Ciacco, rises and speaks with him, sharing
  a prophecy we already know comes true. The poets
  move on.

3
The Punishment

• The Third Circle is reminiscent of a giant trash
  heap, or the runny inside of a foul dumpster
• The sinners lie in waste, both human and
  otherwise, freezing at all times (their obsession
  with material left their souls cold), while they
  are consumed by a ravening beast (Cerberus, the
  personification of their unchecked desires)

4
Gluttony

• Why does Dante seem to consider gluttony as a
  worse sin than lust?
• Theyre both Deadly Sins, and both are considered
  Sins of the She-Wolf (i.e., sins of
  immoderation)
• Not everyone shared Dantes view others believed
  lust was the greater evil

5
Gluttony

• For Dante, the relationship between lust and
  gluttony stretched back to early Biblical times.
• Eve eats (consumes) the fruit she isnt supposed
  to eat
• She then tempts Adam, who consumes it in turn
• Temptation and consumption link both sins in
  both cases, were supposed to resist instinct
• Gluttony, however, only requires the weakness of
  one (as opposed to shared desire)

6
Gluttony

• Just as Dante added complexity to lust during his
  study, he seems to add complexity to it here
• The gluttony we encounter is not confined to
  matters of food or money the figures battling
  endlessly over power in Florence are gluttons in
  their own right

7
Cerberus

• In most portrayals, Cerberus is a three-headed
  dog in some (Dantes included), at least one of
  his heads retains some human qualities
• He popped up in The Aeneid as well Aeneass
  retainer (the Sybil) feeds him something that
  causes him to fall asleep
• Here, Virgil throws something foul down his
  throat, and he moves away chokinga very
  different tone

8
Cerberus

• Cerberus is an appropriate figure here because he
  represents unhinged consumption just as the
  Gluttons consumed everything they could reach, so
  they are consumed by Cerberus as soon as he can
  reach them
• Dantes physical descriptions greasy beard,
  clawed hands, swollen gut are meant to conjure
  up an image of gluttony itself

9
Ciacco (the Hog)

• An interesting figure, yet one whom we know
  little about
• Boccaccios portrayal shows us a man who was both
  pleasant and ravenous, someone who could fit in
  well with polite company yet was utterly unable
  to control his appetites
• Dante should have known him Florence was small,
  so Dante knew everyone
• Yet Ciaccos gluttony was so great that it
  destroyed his very substance, rendering him
  unrecognizable to Dante
• That fear the fear of being forgotten, even if
  it meant being notorious is palpable, and one
  wonders if Dante shared it

10
Judgment

• At the end of Canto VI, Virgil alludes to the
  Last Judgment (i.e., the Apocalypse).
• According to medieval Christian thought, time
  ends when God descends (as Christ) and judges all
  souls, at which point hell separate the virtuous
  from those who cannot be saved
• The former go to Heaven, and the latter to Hell

11
Judgment

• Raffa Souls would be judged immediately after
  death and would then proceed either to hell (if
  damned) or purgatory (if saved) this judgment
  would be confirmed at the end of time, and all
  souls would then spend eternity either in hell or
  in heaven (as purgatory would cease to exist).
• The Divine Comedy presents the state of souls
  sometime between these two judgments. The souls
  of the dead will be reunited with their bodies at
  the end of time. The suffering of the damned (and
  joy of the blessed) will then increase because
  the individual is complete and therefore more
  perfect or flawed.

12
In Conclusion

• The Third Circle is fairly minor
• Its noteworthy mainly for its introduction of
  politics (which will have a more important role
  as we proceed), for its graphic depiction of
  depravitys ultimate price, and for the
  interesting questions it raises about reputation,
  identity, and the legacies we leave (or never
  leave) behind