Full Book Summary. Inferno opens on the evening of Good Friday in the year 1300. Traveling through a dark wood, Dante Alighieri has lost his path and now wanders fearfully through the forest. The sun shines down on a mountain above him, and he attempts to climb up to it but finds his way blocked by three beastsâa leopard, a lion, and a she
Pape SatĂ n, pape SatĂ n aleppe. Plutus in Divina Commedia, in an engraving by Gustave DorĂŠ. " Pape SatĂ n, pape SatĂ n aleppe " is the opening line of Canto VII of Dante Alighieri 's Inferno. The line, consisting of three words, is famous for the uncertainty of its meaning, and there have been many attempts to interpret it.
The infernal employee who transports Dante and Virgil in his boat across the Styx (Inf. 8.13-24)--circle of the wrathful and sullen--is appropriately known for his own impetuous behavior. In a fit of rage, Phlegyas set fire to the temple of Apollo because the god had raped his daughter. Apollo promptly slew him. Virgil, Roman poet, best known for his national epic, the Aeneid (from c. 30 BCE; unfinished at his death), which tells the story of Romeâs legendary founder and proclaims the Roman mission to civilize the world under divine guidance. Learn more about Virgilâs life and works in this article.