Tag Archives: canto 14

Cato vs Capaneus : Dry Desert

          In the 7th circle (3rd subcircle) of Dante’s inferno, Dante contrasts Cato and Capaneus to emphasize that sinners are responsible for maintaining their own hell in the afterlife. Cato and Capaneus were both pagans that displayed virtues such as honesty and bravery which enhanced their political careers. Cato was a Roman statesman and warrior during the late Roman republic. He was notoriously known for refusing bribes and condemning corruption. He committed suicide because he didn’t want to submit to Julius Caesar’s tyrannical forces. Capaneus was one of the many warrior Kings that attempted to take over Thebes. Unlike his comrades, he didn’t want to deceitfully attack in the night, he wanted to fight openly in the day. He was killed by Zeus because he climbed a city’s wall and openly challenged Jupiter (Zeus) to fight him, to which Zeus responded by throwing a lightning bolt at him. While Cato doesn’t appear in Cato 14, the 7th circle is set in a “course, dry ground” (Canto 14, line 13) that was similar to the one “trodden by the feet of Cato” (Canto 14, line 13) in his real life and also the one that Capaneus “lies” (Canto 14, line 46) on in the afterlife. The importance of the course, dry ground is that it can’t grow any vegetation. Cato and Capaneus’ lives are like the dry ground because they’re pagans so it’s difficult for their life to grow into something meaningful because they’re already condemned. However, Dante claims that “The floor was course, dry sand, not made differently from that once trodden by the feet of Cato.” (Canto 14, line 12-14). The “floor” actually refers to the Libyan Desert that Cato crossed with his army. Dante deliberately mentions Cato because while he’s a pagan who shares very similar characteristic with Capaneus, he’s not in the 7th circle of hell. Dante refers to the desert to show that when Cato crossed it with his army to fight for freedom, inevitably leading to his suicide, his virtues outweighed the punishment of his religious beliefs. Thus, Dante uses the word “once”  not only as an indicator of time, but to show that Cato was “once” in the “desert” in hell, but he was able to grow out because his virtues provided him with the opportunity to achieve redemption at one point (despite being a pagan). However Capaneus isn’t able to outgrow his ill vices, thus he’s still trapped in hell’s version of a desert. Dante describes him as “scornful and frowning, so the rain does not seem to ripen him.”(Canto 14, lines 46-47). Instead of repenting for his blasphemy, he’s condemning the Gods even more for his condition. Dante uses botanical imagery when he uses terminology “ripen” to describe Capaneus’ lack of character development in hell. While the rain tortures the other souls to repent, it has no effect on Capaneus thus he can’t grow into anything else. Capaneus claims that “As I was alive, so am I dead” (Canto 14, line 50). He possessed disdain for the Gods during his life and he still has the same feelings for them in his afterlife. Thus, he is responsible for his own stagnation in hell because he refuses to repent. Virgil even claims that “O Capaneus, since your pride is not extinguished, you are punished more;” (Canto 14,line 62-63). Despite Capaneus’ virtues as a military leader, his blasphemy outweighed his virtues, and his continuous defiance in hell further condemns and prolongs his suffering. Thus, the desert setting only reiterates that sinners like Capaneus are responsible for their own hell because they can’t cultivate virtues like repentance that can possibly lessen their punishment.

 

References :

“Ante-Purgatory.” Dante’s Inferno – Main Page, University of Texas at Austin, danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/purgatory/01antepurgatory.html.

Additional Note: I have the online pdf version of the book and it doesn’t allow for page numbers to be displayed (it gives me alphabets instead) so I couldn’t include the page numbers).

The Old Man of Crete–Dante and Greek Mythology

In Canto 14, Virgil explains the rivers of Hell to the Pilgrim.  The rivers originate in a mountain in Crete where there is a statue of an old man, he describes this man: “his head is formed of fine gold, and pure silver are his arms and breast; then he is of brass as far as the fork; from there downward he is all refined iron, except that his right foot is baked clay” (canto 14, lines106-110). The imagery used here is very closely connected to Greek mythology.  Crete is an important location in myth as it is where many of the Gods originate from and where many of the mythical stories take place.  Dante mentions one of those stories here with the connection to Rhea, who he says: “chose it [this mountain in Crete] once to be the trusted cradle of her son” (canto 14, lines 100-101).  Rhea’s son is Zeus–her youngest child whom she saved from being consumed by his father, Cronus, by tricking him into swallowing a stone wrapped like a child and hid Zeus on the island of Crete until he could defeat his father and save his siblings.  The structure of the statue reflects an idea rooted in Greek mythology as well.

The myth of the creation of humans states that the Gods had created man 4 times: the first group of humans were from the golden age, the second from the silver age, the third from the bronze age, and the last from the iron age.  The only element which makes up the old man of Crete which is not a part of this myth is the baked clay, which our book says may refer to the Catholic Church.  This statue represents all the men who have ever lived and stands strongest on the final piece–the Church (canto 14, line 111).  However, Virgil says that every part of the old man is cracked except for his golden head.  Therefore, every part of man, including the Church has been corrupted and damaged except from the original created state which no longer exists.  Dante writes that it is the old man’s “tears” that run through these cracks to form the rivers of Hell.  The tears would come from the eyes, where there are no cracks–so the earliest humans are crying for what they have become.  However, since Dante was Christian and wrote from his beliefs and not those of the Greeks, the head must still represent the earliest humans who were closest to God.  The Pilgrim knows that God is present in Hell and that He made Hell with love as He did everything else because of the inscription above the gates of Hell.  The un-cracked golden head represents not only those humans who were close to God, but also God’s love for them which causes His tears and theirs.  The rivers that flow through Hell are the tears which flow from the love of God.  It makes sense that the flames in the next few cantos are extinguished on the banks of the river since the river is so closely connected to God, it is free from the source of pain and suffering.