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Symbols
Canto I
Canto III
Canto V
Canto XXXIV
100
Dante symbolizes this.
What is... Humanity?
100
He said, "I was a poet and sang of old Anchises' noble son."
Who is... Virgil?
100
The Gate of Hell advises anyone who enters to abandon this.
What is ... Hope?
100
This character assigns each soul to its circle of Hell.
Who is ... Minos?
100
The final circle of Hell is for this kind of sinner, and it is full of this.
What are betrayers who are condemned to be encased in ice?
200
Virgil symbolizes this.
What is... Reason (or logic)?
200
She looks like "a starved horror / ravening and wasted beyond all belief / . . . gaunt and craving."
What is ... the She-Wolf?
200
The following statement reminds the reader of this previous thinker: "You will behold the wretched souls who've lost the good of intellect."
Who is ... Thomas Aquinas?
200
These sinners are called this which involves a sin of this kind of appetite.
What is ... the Carnal sinners who committed sins of passion?
200
Upon entering this circle, Virgil tries to encourage Dante with this advice.
What is ... be brave.
300
The dark wood symbolizes this.
What is... Dante's spiritual confusion?
300

Beatrice must guide Dante to Paradise because of this.

What is ...because Virgil who represents logic and reason can only take Dante so far. He will need Beatrice who represents divine love to guide him to paradise.

300
This describes the sins of the Opportunists.
What is the failure to show strong convictions for good and against evil?
300
After Dante hears Francesca's story, Virgil asks Dante "What painful thoughts are these your lowered brow covers?" Virgil asks him this for this reason.
What is ... because Dante feels sorry for the young lovers.
300
Satan eternally chews upon these three souls.
Who are ... Judas, Brutus, and Cassius.
400
Beatrice represents this.
What is... Divine love and faith?
400
Who does Dante say this to and what does he mean? "Glory and light of poets! Now may that zeal / and love's apprenticeship that I poured out / on your heroic verses serve me well!"
What is ... Dante says this to Virgil, and he means that he has spent many hours reading Virgil's great works and admires him greatly. Dante hopes that Virgil will be his guide.
400
In the Vestibule, Dante recognizes this soul who Dante believes was a coward in life.
Who is ... Pope Celestine V?
400

Francesca tells Dante that she believes this about her husband.

What is ... Francesca thinks her husband belongs in Caina when he dies because he committed the sin of betrayal to kin, which she thinks is a lot worse than a carnal sin?

400
Brutus receives this kind of symbolic retribution which can be justified in this way.
What is Brutus used language to conspire against Caesar and betray him, thus Brutus is denied the use of words in Hell and must suffer silently?
500
Climbing over Satan to escape Hell represents this.
What is...It is necessary to recognize evil in order to surpass it?
500
Dante describes this as he is waking up in the dark wood: "Its shoulders glowed already with the sweet rays of that planet whose virtue leads men straight on every road."
What is ... the Mount of Joy which represents divine illumination and God?
500
The punishment of the Opportunists involves these three things.
What are ... chasing a whirling banner, being stung by wasps and bees, and running through their own bodily fluids along with maggots and worms.
500
According to Francesca, this motivated her descent into sin.
What is ... reading the rhyme of Lancelot and how love had mastered him?
500

In Canto XXXIV, Dante's journey from spiritual confusion to spiritual clarity can be explained using these two allegorical representations.

What is ... Climbing over Satan requires hard work, just as overcoming sin is difficult. Emerging into the "shining world again" on Easter Sunday under the stars represents Dante's hope for spiritual insight.