• Caccia d'Asciano: See
Spendthrift Club. •
Cacciaguida: Italian crusader and the great-great-grandfather of Dante Alighieri. • Among the Warriors of the Faith in the fifth sphere of heaven.
Par. XV, 135. •
Venedico and
Ghisolabella Caccianemico: Venedico (c. 1228 – c. 1302) was head of the
Guelph faction in
Bologna, he was exiled three times for his relationship with the marquess of
Ferrara, '''
Obizzo II d'Este'''. • Found among the panders, he confesses that he prostituted his sister Ghisolabella to
Obizzo.
Inf. XVIII, 40–66. •
Cacus: A
mythological monster son of
Hephaestus, he was killed by
Heracles for stealing part of the cattle the hero had taken from
Geryon. Dante, like other medieval writers, erroneously believes him to be a
Centaur. According to
Virgil he lived on the
Aventine. • As guardian of the thieves he punishes
Vanni Fucci. He is depicted as a centaur with a small dragon perched on his shoulder and snakes riding on his back.
Inf. XXV, 17–33. (Campania), c. 350–340 BCE. From
Paestum. •
Cadmus:
Mythical son of the
Phoenician king
Agenor and brother of
Europa, and legendary founder of
Thebes. Cadmus and his wife
Harmonia are ultimately transformed into serpents. (See also
Hera.) • His transformation in
Ovid's
Metamophoses (IV, 562–603) is compared to the fate of the thieves.
Inf. XXV, 97–99. •
Caecilius: Roman poet of the 2nd century BCE. • Resident of
Limbo.
Purg. XXII, 97. •
Cahors: Town in France that was notorious for its
Cahorsins, Christian financiers who engaged in
usury that was then considered sinful. • Mentioned as being punished in the last circle.
Inf. XI, 50. •
Cain: The son of
Adam and brother of
Abel. He murdered his brother out of envy. • A
popular tradition identified the
Moon's dark spots as the marks on Cain's face mentioned in
Genesis 4:15.
Inf. XX, 126,
Par. II, 49–51. • The outermost ring of
Cocytus, where the treacherous to kin are punished, is named
Caïna.
Inf. XXXII, 58. • He is an example of envy. His voice is heard on the terrace of the envious saying, "Everyone who finds me will slay me." (Gen 4:14)
Purg. XIV, 133. •
Caiaphas: The
Jewish High Priest during the governorship of
Pontius Pilate of the
Roman province of Judea, who according to the
Gospels had an important role in the crucifixion of
Jesus. • Among the hypocrites, his punishment is to be crucified to the ground while the full rank of the sinners tramples him.
Inf. XXIII, 110–120. •
Calchas:
Mythical Greek seer at the time of the
Trojan war, who as augur at
Aulis, determined the most propitious time for the Greek fleet to depart for
Troy. • With
Eurypylus, he "set the time to cut the cables".
Inf. XX, 110–111. •
Calliope: The
Muse of epic poetry. • Invoked by Dante at the beginning of the Purgatorio.
Purg. I, 9. •
Camilla: Figure from
Roman mythology and
Virgil's
Aeneid (VII, 803; XI), was the warrior-daughter of
King Metabus of the
Volsci, and ally of
Turnus, king of the
Rutuli, against
Aeneas and the
Trojans, and was killed in that war. • One of those who "died for Italy".
Inf. I, 106–108. • Seen in
Limbo.
Inf. IV, 124. •
Cangrande della Scala (1290–1329):
Ghibelline ruler of
Verona and most probable figure behind the image of the "hound" ("il Veltro").
Inf. I, 101–111. •
Capaneus: In
Greek mythology, in the war of the
Seven against Thebes, he defied
Zeus who then killed him with a thunderbolt in punishment. • Found amongst the violent against God.
Inf. XIV, 46–72. • His pride is compared with that of
Vanni Fucci.
Inf. XXV, 15. •
Capocchio: Burned at the stake for
alchemy in 1293. • Among the "falsifiers" of metal (
alchemists), sitting with
Griffolino of Arezzo, propping each other up, as they frantically scratch at the scabs covering their bodies.
Inf. XXIX, 73–99. • Agrees with Dante about the vanity of the
Sienese, giving as examples four of the members of the Sienese
Spendthrift Club, then identifies himself.
Inf. XXIX, 124–139. • He is dragged, with his belly scraped along the ground, by the tusks of
Schicchi.
Inf. XXX, 28–30. •
Caprona: Fortress on the
Arno near
Pisa, in 1289, it was besieged by a
Tuscan Guelph army. The
Ghibellines surrendered, and were allowed, under truce, to leave the castle, passing through (with trepidation) the enemy ranks. Caprona's fall along with the Guelph victory in the same year at
Campaldino represented the final defeat of the
Ghibellines. Dante's reference to Caprona in the
Inferno, is used to infer that he took part in the siege. • Dante's fear for his safe passage through threatening devils, is compared to the fear of the surrendering soldiers at Caprona.
Inf. XXI, 88–96. •
Cardinal Virtues: The foundations of a moral life, attainable by all, regardless of religion. They include
Prudence,
Temperance,
Justice, and
Fortitude. • They appear symbolically as four stars visible from
Purgatory.
Purg. I, 37; VIII, 91. • Virgil defines Prudence as "the power that counsels and keeps the threshold of assent."
Purg. XVIII, 62–63. •
Casella: Florentine composer and singer (died before 1300) and friend of Dante's, who set at least one poem from Dante's
Convivio to music.
Purg. II. •
Cassius: The most senior of
Julius Caesar's assassins, Gaius Cassius Longinus was a Roman politician and soldier. • Along with
Brutus and
Judas, he was one of the three betrayer/suicides who, for those sins, were eternally chewed by one of the three mouths of
Satan.
Inf. XXXIV, 53–67. •
Castel Sant'Angelo: A
Papal castle in Rome with bridge attached.
Inf. XVIII, 28–33. • Catalano dei Malavolti (c. 1210–1285): From a powerful
Guelph family of
Bologna, he was
podestà in several towns, including Florence, and governor of his city. He was commander of the infantry in the
Battle of Fossalta in 1249, when the Ghibellines suffered a crushing defeat. He later became a member of the Knights of St. Mary, founded by
Loderingo degli Andalò. • Among the hypocrites.
Inf. XXIII, 76–144. •
Catiline: a
Roman politician of the 1st century BCE who is best known for the "Catiline conspiracy", an attempt to overthrow the
Roman Republic, and in particular the power of the
aristocratic Senate. • Probably
Pistoia's "seed", which Pistoia surpasses in "wickedness".
Inf. XXV, 12. •
Cato the Younger (95–46 BCE) : Politician and statesman in the late
Roman Republic, and a
Stoic. • His crossing of the
Libyan desert in 47 BCE provides a simile for the hot sands of the seventh circle.
Inf. XIV, 14–15. • The "patriarch" who resides at the base of Mount Purgatory and functions as gate-keeper for Purgatory.
Purg. I, 31. •
Cavalcante de' Cavalcanti: (died c. 1280) Father of
Guido Cavalcanti, his shade appears to Dante, alongside the shade of
Farinata degli Uberti.
Inf. X 52–72. •
Guido Cavalcanti (c. 1255–1300): First Florentine poet of
Dolce Stil Novo, close friend of Dante and son of '''
Cavalcante de' Cavalcanti. Inf. X, 56–63, Purg. XI, 97–98'''. • Francesco de' Cavalcanti: Nicknamed
Guercio ("one-eyed" or "squinter"), he was murdered for unknown reasons by the inhabitants of the village of Gaville, near Florence. Reportedly his death started a bloody feud between his family and the villagers, leaving most of the inhabitants of Galville dead. • Among the thieves, as a "blazing little serpent", he attacks the soul of
Buoso Donati, causing it to transform into a serpent, and himself to transform back into human form.
Inf. XXV, 82–151. •
Cecina: See
Maremma. •
Pope Celestine V: A hermit named Pietro da Morrone, he abdicated the
Papacy in 1294 after only five months. His successor,
Boniface VIII, immediately jailed him and two years later apparently murdered him. • Is perhaps the person whose shade Dante meets in the Ante-Inferno, where those who lived "sanza 'nfamia e sanza lodo" (without praise and blame) dwelt, and referred to as the one, "Che fece per viltate il gran rifiuto" (who made, through cowardice, the great refusal).
Inf. III, 60. • Of whom Boniface says, "I possess the power to lock and unlock Heaven; for the keys my predecessor did not prise are two". '
Inf. XXVII, 105. •
Centaurs: In
Greek mythology, a race part
Man and part
horse, with a horse's body and a human head and torso. • Supervising the punishment of the violent. Their leader
Chiron appoints one of their number,
Nessus, to guide the poets.
Inf. XII, 55–139. • The only one not with the violent is
Cacus, who supervises the thieves.
Inf. XXV, 28–30. • Cited as examples of gluttony in Purgatory by a voice hidden in a tree of temptation, because of their drunken behavior at the marriage feast of
Hippodamia.
Purg. XXIV, 121–123. • Ceperano: See
Apulia. (18th century) •
Cerberus: In
Greek mythology, he was the three-headed dog who guarded the gate to
Hades. In the
Aeneid,
Virgil has the
Sibyl throw a drugged honey cake into Cerberus' mouths; in the
Inferno, Dante has Virgil throw dirt instead. • Encountered In the third circle.
Inf. VI, 13–33. • Example of divine punishment.
Inf. IX, 98. •
Cesena: City on the
Savio River during Dante's time, though free, its politics were controlled by
Guido da Montefeltro's cousin Galasso da Montefeltro.
Inf. XXVII, 52–54. •
Charles the Lame: Son of
Charles of Anjou and King of Naples (1285–1309) • Forced to marry off his daughters "like slaves" for political alliances.
Purg. XX, 79–81. •
Charles of Anjou (also Charles I of Sicily) (1227–1285): Son of
Louis VIII of France, he was one of the most powerful rulers of his age and the undisputed head of the
Guelph faction in Italy. His dream of building a Mediterranean Empire was wrecked by the
Sicilian Vespers. • Dante probably alludes to the
Byzantine money that it was believed
Nicholas III had taken with the promise to hinder Charles' plans against
Constantinople.
Inf. XIX, 98–99. • Defeated
Conradin at
Tagliacozzo in 1268 and became King of Sicily.
Purg. XX, 68. • According to Dante, responsible for the death of
Thomas Aquinas.
Purg. XX, 69. •
Charles of Valois: (1270–1325) Second son of
Philip III of France. Invaded Italy and took Florence in 1301, placing the
Black Guelphs in power. Subsequently, Dante was exiled from Florence. • Compared to
Judas.
Purg. XX, 70–78. •
Charybdis: In Greek mythology, a sea monster who swallows huge amounts of water three times a day and then spouts it back out again, forming an enormous whirlpool. Mentioned frequently by classical writers. • Used in a
simile to describe the punishment of the greedy and prodigal in the fourth circle.
Inf. VII, 22. •
Charon: The
mythological Greek figure who ferried souls of the newly dead into
Hades over the underworld river
Acheron.
Inf. III, 82–129. •
Chiron: Leader of the
centaurs, legendary tutor of
Achilles.
Inf. XII, 65. •
Ciacco ("pig"): Nickname, for a Florentine contemporary of Dante, perhaps well known as a glutton, and probably the same who appears in
Boccaccio's
Decameron (IX, 8). • Central figure of canto VI, he voices the first of many prophecies concerning Florence.
Inf. VI, 37–99. •
Ciampolo di Navarra: Utterly unknown to sources other than Dante, this Ciampolo (i.e. Jean Paul) appears to have been in the service of
Theobald II, king of
Navarre. • Among the
barrators.
Inf. XXII, 31–129. •
Cianghella della Tosa: 14th-century
Florentian woman. She was born into the Florentine
Della Tosa family and married into the
Alidosi family of
Imola, near
Bologna. • Listed as an example of the corrupt nature of Florentine citizens in his time, in contrast to the virtue of the idealized Florence in
Cacciaguida's time.
Par. XV, 128. •
Cicero, Marcus Tullius (c. 106 – c. 43 BCE):
Roman statesman and author. • Encountered by Dante in
Limbo.
Inf. IV, 141. •
Cimabue: Florentine painter (c. 1240–1302) • Mentioned in Purgatory as a famous painter.
Purg. XI, 94. •
Circe:
Mythical daughter of
Helios, god of the
Sun, and sister of
Aeetis, king of
Colchis. She was an enchantress who lived near the
Gulf of Gaeta, who turned the crew of
Odysseus into pigs on their journey home from the
Trojan war. But Odysseus, with the help of
Hermes, forced her to release his men from her spell (Ovid,
Met. XIV, 435–440). She fell in love with Odysseus and he stayed with her for another year and in some accounts, she had a son
Telegonus with Odysseus, who was to accidentally kill him. • It is said, by Ulysses (Odysseus), that she "beguiled" him.
Inf. XXVI, 90–92. • The people of Tuscany fall into vice, as if under her spell.
Purg. XIV, 42. •
Cirra: Town in ancient Greece near
Parnassus.
Par. I, 36. •
Pope Clement V (1264–1314): Born in France as Bertran de Goth, he was made
archbishop of Bordeaux by
Pope Boniface VIII. He was elected
pope in 1305 and was remarkable for his dissolution of the
Templars and his
de facto move of the
Papal See from Rome to
Avignon (See
Avignon Papacy). He was thought to have negotiated with
Philip IV of France for his papacy, becoming a puppet of the French monarchy. • "One uglier in deeds ... a lawless shepherd from the west", whose damnation among the
Simoniacs is foretold by
Pope Nicholas III.
Inf. XIX, 79–87. , Roy Miles Gallery, London •
Cleopatra (69–30 BCE): Queen of
Egypt, lover of
Julius Caesar and
Mark Antony. Like
Dido, she "killed herself for love". • Found amongst the sexual sinners.
Inf. V, 63. •
Clio: The
Muse of History. • Mentioned by Virgil as '''
Statius''
inspiration in writing the Thebaid''.
Purg. XXII, 58. •
Clotho: The
Fate who determines the lifespan of each mortal by measuring out thread and then cutting it. • Virgil cites her as the reason Dante is yet alive.
Purg. XXI, 25–27. •
Cluny: A
Benedictine monastery founded in 909, in
Burgundy. The elegant robes of the Cluniacs are described with irony in a letter of
Saint Bernard, a
Cistercian, to his nephew Robert, who had left the Cistercians to join the Cluniacs. • The "cloaks and cowls" of the hypocrites are compared to the Cluniac robes.
Inf. XXIII, 61–63. •
Cocytus: "The river of lamentation", in
Greek mythology, it was the river on whose banks the dead who could not pay
Charon wandered. It flowed into the river
Acheron, across which lay
Hades. In the
Inferno it is a frozen lake forming the ninth circle and the bottom of
Hell. • Formed from the tears of the statue of the Old Man of Crete.
Inf. XIV, 94–120. • Is shut in by cold.
Inf. XXXI, 121–122. • Described.
Inf. XXXII, 22–39. • Frozen by flapping of the wings of
Dis.
Inf. XXXIV, 46–52. •
Colchis: Ancient kingdom at the eastern end of the
Black Sea. According to ancient Greek legend,
Jason and the
Argonauts sailed there in search of the Golden Fleece. • Dante compares the voyage to his journey through the heavens.
Par. II, 16–18. •
Conradin: (1252–1258) King of Sicily until 1258, when he was defeated and deposed by
Charles of Anjou.
Purg. XX, 68. (mosaic in
Hagia Sophia,
Constantinople, c. 1000) •
Constance (Constanza): Queen of Sicily in the 12th century and mother of Emperor
Frederick II. • Dante accepts a story that Constance had taken monastic vows and was later forced to renounce them. She appears among the inconstant in the Heaven of the Moon.
Par. III, 109–120. •
Constantine the Great (272–337): The famous
Roman Emperor who passed the
Edict of Milan in 313 and converted to
Christianity. According to medieval legend, Constantine was inflicted with leprosy because of his persecution of Christians, and in a dream was told to seek out
Pope Silvester on
Mount Soracte, who baptised and cured him. According to the forged document, the
Donation of Constantine, Constantine gave to the Pope the power to rule over Rome and the
Western Roman Empire, which Dante sees as the source of the corruption of the Papacy. • Blamed for "the dower that you bestowed upon the first rich father!",
Inf. XIX, 115–117. •
Guido da Montefeltro compares Silvester being sought by Constantine to cure his leprosy, with himself being sought by
Boniface to "ease the fever of his arrogance".
Inf. XXVII, 94–95. • In converting to Christianity, Constantine reversed the flight of the Roman
Eagle.
Par. VI, 1. •
Cornelia Africana (c. 190–100 BCE): daughter of
Scipio Africanus Major, and mother of
Tiberius and
Gaius Gracchus. • Encountered by Dante in
Limbo.
Inf. IV, 128. •
Corneto: See
Maremma. •
Cronus: In
Greek mythology, King of
Crete during the
Golden Age. He had several children by
Rhea, but swallowed them at birth because he had learned from his parents
Gaia and
Uranus, that he was destined to be overthrown by a son. However, Rhea managed to save
Zeus who eventually fulfilled that prophecy. • Under his rule, the world lived chastely".
Inf. XIV, 96. • Rhea protects Zeus from him.
Inf. XIV, 100–102 •
Crassus: Roman general who amassed the largest fortune in Roman history. He died in a battle with the
Parthians. A story later circulated that the Parthians poured molten gold into his mouth. • Cited on the terrace of the greedy as an example of greed. "Tell us, Crassus, because you know: How does gold taste?"
Purg. XX, 116–117. •
Cunizza da Romano (1198–c. 1279): sister of
Ezzelino III da Romano.
Par. IX, 13–66. •
Gaius Scribonius Curio: A distinguished orator, and supporter of
Pompey the Great, he switched his support to
Julius Caesar after Caesar paid his debts. Lucan (
Phars I 270–290) has Curio urge Caesar persuasively, to quickly cross the
Rubicon and invade Rome. • Among the sowers of discord, he is pointed out by
Pier da Medincina, his tongue having been slit, "who once was so audacious in his talk!".
Inf. XXVIII, 91–111. •
Cyclops: Children of
Uranus and
Gaia, they were giants with a single eye in the middle of their forehead. In Roman mythology, they helped
Vulcan make thunderbolts for
Zeus. • The "others" who Zeus "may tire" making thunderbolts.
Inf. XIV, 55. •
Cytherea: Alternative name for
Aphrodite or
Venus, the goddess of love. Also, the planet
Venus. • In his last night in Purgatory, Dante dreams as the planet is rising.
Purg. XXVII, 94–96. ==D==