Summary
· Virgil leads Dante into the second level of Hell, which is a smaller place and with much more suffering
· This level is guarded by Minos, a judge of the underworld. He determines their punishment and the level the soul will go to.
· Minos can tell that Dante is not yet dead and warns him to careful who he entrusts. Virgil allows them to pass Minos freely.
· They then come to a dark whirlwind of souls, where it is raining and the wind is blowing as if in a storm. These souls represent the lustful.
· Dante sympathizes with these souls because they became too caught in love. He then calls out to the souls and they approach him.
· Dante listens to the story of Francesca. She was forced into a marriage with an older, deformed man and then fell in love with his younger brother. When the old man found out, he ordered the two lovers to be killed, and they now suffer in the second level.
· Dante then faints from pity.
Characters
· Semiramis- Assyrian made the vice of incest a legal practice.
· Dido- killed herself after her lover, Aeneas, abandoned her.
· Cleopatra- killed herself to avoid being captured by her lover’s enemy.
· Helen- left husband, Menalaus, to join lover, Paris.
· Achilles- was tricked to enter the temple of Apollo to meet a Trojan Princess
· Tristan- accidentally drank magic potion, fell in love with Iseult.
Sins and Punishments
· The souls of the second level, or the Lustful, were obsessed with simulation of flesh.
· For punishment, they now have continuously stimulated nerves from the storm.
· They lie susceptible and in the dark, due to their previous lust.
· They failed to restrain their tumultuous emotions, now a tumultuous storm tortures them.
Discussion Questions
· Can you think of anyone today who would be tormented in the second level of Hell?
· Do you think this is a reasonable punishment for the Lushful? Can you think of any other punishment to represent lust and passion?
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