Inferno 12

Study Guide Questions for Canto Twelve

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Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)

N/A

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. What creature did Dante and Virgil encounter as they descended into the seventh circle?

2. According to Virgil, what caused the ruins which the “bestial wrath” now guards?

3. What kind of punishment was inflicted upon the first group of souls in the seventh circle?

4. What kind of “platoon” did Dante and Virgil encounter there? 

5. What was the responsibility of that platoon?

6. What was Nessus told to do for Dante and Virgil?

7. What kind of people were “plunged up to the brow?”

8. What happened to the depth of the river as Dante and Virgil approached the place to cross over?

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. Why might it be fitting that the Minotaur guards this particular circle of Hell?

2. What is meant by the reference to the Minotaur’s “clever sister and her clue?”

3. The text says, “Every side of this deep and stinking hole shivered as if the universe felt love?” What is this referring to?

4. Why is the punishment of this part of the seventh circle fitting to the sin of violence against one’s neighbor?

5. How are the centaurs similar to, and different from, the Minotaur?

6. How did Chiron deduce that Dante was alive?

7. What should we infer from the fact that some people are standing in different depths of the river?

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. In Inferno we see various figures like Cerberus, the centaurs, and various demons, fulfilling some role in Hell. They seem to be there not only to suffer but to ensure the suffering of others. Do you think that Hell will, in fact, have creatures to facilitate the suffering of damned souls? Why or why not?

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read Matthew 25:41 and Revelation 20:7-10 and answer the following question. Is Satan (i.e. the Devil / Lucifer) the ruler of Hell? Why or why not?