Allusions:
Virgil: a B.C. era Roman poet known for his epics such as Homer, the Iliad, and Odyssey. Dante uses Virgil as a guide because he views himself as a great poet on the levels of Virgil and believes he is worthy enough to be led by a man who many consider the greatest poet ever.
Lion of Violence and Ambition, Leopard of Malice and Fraud, and She Wolf of Incontinence: each animal represents a category for carnal sins. These animals have an evil connotation with Christianity. The lion is an aggressive and assertive animal that tends to satisfy his desires. The leopard has spots which they use to conceal themselves to their prey in order to deceive them. The She Wolf is a representation of incontinence because wolves are known to stay in packs, hence relating to lust and adultery as both sins requires a group to commit.
Dark Woof of Error: an area which uses the crowded and convoluted nature of woods to depict the nature of those who enter Hell. At the beginning of Hell, the Dark Wood allows for foresight of the nature of Hell being that they share a complex path and many become lost in the depths of Hell.
Literary Devices:
Personification: “Its very memory gives shape to fear.”—line 6—memory is something very dear and personal to someone. To make it the source of someone’s fear is to make it so their existence and life is their source of fear. This is a poetic way to describe what Hell does.
Diction: “sunless wood,” “discolored air,” “friendless waste”—lines 60-64—these words create a sense of bleakness. Dante’s situation before Virgil seems hopeless and this is just the beginning and the lightest part of Hell. To create such a dramatic effect in the beginning of Hell is to instill an idea of how harsh Hell will be as Dante continues into it.
Symbolism: the Leopard, Lion, and She Wolf continue the idea of the reiteration of the idea of three’s being a motif in the Inferno. The numeration of three also exists in Christianity in the Holy Trinity which refers to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Lion assumes the role of Father, as he is the most ferocious of the three animals and generally tops the food chain. The Leopard takes on the role of Son as he is almost a lesser form of the Lion in ferocity and generally assumes a lesser role than the Lion in the wild. The She Wolf relates to the Holy Spirit as wolves are surrounded by mysticism and superstition giving off an aura of spirituality.
Imagery: “Just as a swimmer, who with his last breath flounders ashore from perilous seas, might turn to memorize the wide water of his death”—lines 22-24—Dante combines a simile with strong imagery to strengthen his idea. Here, Dante was to emphasize his struggle with maneuvering through the Dark Wood of Error. The image depicted is that of a swimmer who has just expended the last of his energy and his breath to finally reach land from the vast and dangerous seas of which he was swimming in. Death is introduced into the image to further emphasize how close Dante was to “dying,” although in his case it would probably be closer to never escaping the Dark Wood.