Inferno: Canto V

Just a quick summary for the 5th Canto:

King Minos judges the unworthy

Dante and Virgil descend into the 2nd Circle of Hell where two events are playing out. First, they meet big King Minos whose job is that of a hellish Saint Peter; All damned souls come before Minos who then judges them and sends them to the appropriate level of Hell for eternal punishment.

I say, that when the spirit evil-born
  Cometh before him, wholly it confesses;
  And this discriminator of transgressions


Seeth what place in Hell is meet for it;
  Girds himself with his tail as many times
  As grades he wishes it should be thrust down.


Always before him many of them stand;
  They go by turns each one unto the judgment;
  They speak, and hear, and then are downward hurled.

After Minos, the 2nd Circle is home to those who were guided by their wanton lust. As punishment, they are forever suffered to be cast about by a massive whirlwind. As in life they are forever stirred by fleeting chaos and the abandonment of reason. Dante meets some of the lustful in this scene, the likes of whom include Cleopatra, Tristan, Achilles, as well as Francesca and Paolo, a pair seduced by reading stories of Lancelot and Guenevere (who, if they existed, would probably be in this circle as well).

My illustration this time features an interpretation on King Minos that highlights my desire to de-humanize the likes of the supernatural beings in this story. When I think of Minos' task of judging the masses, I imagine a gargantuan worm-like creature that inhales the damned by the thousands and excretes them into their proper places. It's a disgusting, messy, revolting affair but hey, it's Hell! It ain't supposed to be pretty and poetic! As a final touch, you can see the wisps of the lustful caught up in their whirlwind above Minos' head.