Dante's Inferno
According to A. Manetti & G. Galilei
Dear reader, this StoryMap aims to reconstruct the location and structure of Dante's Inferno based on Divine Comedy verses and early scientific calculations made by Antonio Manetti and Galileo Galilei. It offers a new perspective for advanced Comedy readers whilst for the others exploring the geometry of literary Hell and its position underneath the Earth's surface.
Users familiar with Comedy do not need to follow the accompanying text; feel free to seek and discover. On the contrary, it is recommended paying attention to the sidebar with text to those who haven't read Comedy yet. It guides them through the map, emphasizes its interactive features, and narrates the story of mapping hell step by step.
Midway upon the journey of our life I found myself within a forest dark, For the straightforward pathway had been lost. (Inferno I, 1–3)
The plot of the Inferno, the first canticle of the Comedy, begins in the Easter week of the year 1300. Dante is lost in a dark forest, in which he encounters Virgil, the ancient Roman poet, who offers himself as a guide through Hell. Although Dante hesitates at first, they embark on a journey to the underworld.
“Let us go on, for the long way impels us.” Thus he went in, and thus he made me enter The foremost circle that surrounds the abyss. (Inferno, IV, 22–24)
Already the Sun was joined to the horizon Whose meridian circle covers Jerusalem with its highest point. (Purgatorio II, 1–3)
Three places on the Earth's surface are key to determining the exact location of the Inferno. This is especially the Holy City of , which medieval cartography placed symbolically in the center of the map.
Other sites include the Cretan and the Dark Forest – – in which the plot of the Comedy begins. Unlike the previous two, its location is not specified in detail, however, it is traditionally placed near the Italian city of Cuma.
Interactive features: terrestrial places
... You found no reason To delay like this at any other pit. Consider, if counting them is what you plan, This valley extends along a circular route For twenty-two miles. (Inferno XXIX, 7–9)
Manetti and Galileo performed their calculations on a sphere that was approximately 30% smaller compared to the Earth we know today, because they used a greatly underestimated Earth radius. Since the shape of Hell is derived primarily from the vertical between Jerusalem and the center of the Earth, it is nevertheless possible to reconstruct it (assuming certain inconsistencies).
The shape of the Inferno can be compared to a cone with its top in the center of the Earth. Inside the infernal abyss there are nine . These can be thought of as rings that wrap around the inner circumference of the Infernal cone at various levels.
The circles are found on eight different height levels (since two of the circles are on the same floor). Manetti gradually deduced not only the dimensions of all circles and their parts, but also their heights above the center of the Earth. The above-quoted passage was pivotal in his early calclations.
To determine the widths of the circles, Manetti projected their boundaries onto the Earth's surface and used geometric similarity, believing he correctly knew the distance between Cuma and Mt. Ida. Although that length was wrong, the projection of Hell circles onto the surface of today's Earth is still possible. In contrast to Manetti's assumptions, the borders of Hell thus extend much further than to the Selva Oscura forest. For example, lies above the boundary between the 1st and 2nd circle; the entire infernal border begins approximately below the city of .
Interactive features: Inferno circles
So I descended from first to second circle – Which girdles a smaller space and greater pain, Which spurs more lamentation." (Inferno V, 1–3)
Manetti put together a complex infernal structure and also offered an explanation of poets' descent through Hell. Virgil takes Dante through Hell to show him and make him understand the principle of punishment and suffering that people receive after death according to the sins committed during life. Within each circle, the poets cover a tenth of it, and after entering the next one, they always to the right side. The spiral trajectory of the path is indicated on the map (now more like a plan).
The transitions between individual levels are also discussed by Manetti, as he claims that those are perpendicular. According to his papers (backed by the Comedy verses), descent or ascent between the infernal levels is possible only at a specific place in which the rock wall has collapsed and created a gap. It is the only way to descend lower, but these places are always guarded by demons who watch over sinful souls to prevent their undesirable migration between circles.
...Were I still light Enough to move even one inch ahead Every hundred years, I would have set out Upon this road already, trying to find Him in this mutilated people – despite The circuit being eleven miles around And at least half a mile across its track. (Inferno, XXX, 82–86)
However, the structure of the Inferno is not only made up of circles; Hell has a much more fragmented composition. Each circle, except for the first ones, contains several sections. But what is the purpose of the whole structure?
Dante was inspired by Aristotelian ethics, in which the author classified sins according to their seriousness. In the Aristotelian concept, treason is perceived as the worst sin, which is why traitors are imprisoned the deepest in Hell. Each circle relates to a different sin, the sub-parts then correspond to the precise form of the given sin.
On this map, the reader can follow the poets' journey and meet the same characters they met along the way. Before the , it is recommended to scroll down and explore it in more detail.
Interactive features: Inferno rings, characters
The emperor of the realm of grief protruded From mid-breast up above the surrounding ice. A giant's height and mine would have provided Closer comparison than would the size Of his arm and a giant. Envision the whole That is proportionate to parts like these. (Inferno XXXIV, 28–33)
The view is now focused on the deepest part of the Inferno. The Ninth Circle is located at the bottom of the Well of Titans and is formed by the frozen waters of the last underworld river – Cocytus. In the very center, i.e. in the center of the entire Earth, Lucifer (The emperor of the realm of grief) protrudes out from the ice.
Manetti based his calculations on the height of Lucifer on the aforementioned verses, from which he subsequently derived the dimensions of all four ice spheres forming the ninth circle.
At this point, the poets arrived at the end of the first part of their long pilgrimage; by climbing over Lucifer, they find themselves in the other hemisphere, where they continued by an ascent of Mount Purgatory. The third and final part of the Comedy contains Dante's journey through Paradise.
Interactive features: Inferno rings, characters
Although the previous map series are interactive and detailed as much as possible, some aspects of the Inferno structure still can not be sufficiently expressed. For these cases, a 3D model of the Inferno was created and consequently incorporated to make the StoryMap complete.
Virtual tour through the infernal cone.