At the base of the well, Dante finds himself within a large frozen lake: Cocytus, within the ninth circle of Hell...Treachery. Trapped in the ice, each according to his guilt, are punished sinners guilty of treachery against those with whom they had special relationships. The lake of ice is divided into four concentric rings of traitors corresponding, in order of seriousness, to betrayal of family ties, betrayal of community ties, betrayal of guests, and betrayal of lords, "The treacheries of these souls were denials of love (which is God) and of all human warmth. Only the remorseless dead center of the ice will serve to express their natures. As they denied God's love, so are they furthest removed from the light and warmth of His Sun. As they denied all human ties, so are they bound only by the unyielding ice." Ring 1 - Caïna: This ring is named after Cain, who killed his own brother in the first act of murder. This ring houses the Traitors to their Kindred: they have their necks and heads out of the ice and allowed to bow their heads, allowing some protection from the freezing wind. Ring 2 - Antenora: The second ring is named after Antenor, a Trojan soldier who betrayed his city to the Greeks. Here lie the Traitors to their Country: those who committed treason against political entities (parties, cities, or countries) have their heads above the ice, but they cannot bend their necks. Ring 3 - Ptolomaea: The third ring is named after Ptolemy, who invited his father-in-law Simon Maccabaeus and his sons to a banquet and then killed them. Traitors to their Guests lie face up in the ice while their tears freeze in their eye sockets, sealing them with small visors of crystal – even the comfort of weeping is denied them. Ring 4 - Judecca: The fourth and final ring is named for Judas Iscariot, the greatest traitor in history who betrayed Jesus Christ and gave him to the romans to be crucified in exchange for a sack of silver coins, this ring contains the Traitors to their Lords and benefactors. Upon entry into this round, Virgil says "Vexilla regis prodeunt inferni" ("The banners of the King of Hell draw closer"). Judecca is completely silent: all of the sinners are fully encapsulated in ice, distorted and twisted in every conceivable position. In the very center of Hell, condemned for committing the ultimate sin (personal treachery against God), lies Lucifer, the absolute ruler of the abyss. The arch-traitor, was once held by God to be fairest of the angels before his pride led him to rebel against God, resulting in his expulsion from Heaven. Lucifer is a giant, terrifying beast trapped waist-deep in the ice, fixed and suffering. He has three faces, each a different color: one red (the middle), one a pale yellow (the right), and one black (the left), six wings which are dark and bat-like blow the icy winds that keep him imprisoned in the frozen lake and six eyes from which he weeps tears that mix with bloody froth and pus as they pour down his three chins. Each face has a mouth that chews eternally on a prominent traitor, Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus dangle with their feet in the left and right mouths, respectively, for their involvement in the assassination of Julius Caesar, in the central, most vicious mouth is Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Christ. Judas is receiving the most horrifying torture of the three traitors: his head is gnawed inside Lucifer's mouth while his back is forever flayed and shredded by Lucifer's claws. Virgil and Dante begin their escape from Hell by clambering down Satan's ragged fur, feet-first. When they reach Satan's genitalia, the poets pass through the center of the universe and of gravity from the Northern Hemisphere of land to the Southern Hemisphere of water. The poets then ascend a narrow chasm of rock through the "space contained between the floor formed by the convex side of Cocytus and the underside of the earth above," moving in opposition to Lethe, the river of oblivion, which flows down from the summit of Mount Purgatory. The poets finally emerge a little before dawn on the morning of Easter Sunday beneath a sky studded with stars.

• published: 24 Jun 2017
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