GLOSSARY/INDEX OF NAMES & PLACES IN DANTE’S INFERNO

(Since my text does not use line numbers, I have included the canto number(s) at the end of each entry below where the reader can find more context and information in either the text, the notes, or both. Names or places within the entries in bold print will be found elsewhere in the Glossary.)

Abbagliato: Bartolomeo dei Folcacchieri (c. 1235 – 1300); a Sienese office-holder and a member of the spendthrift Club. (Canto 29.)
Abel: second son of Adam and Eve; murdered by his elder brother, Cain. (Canto 4.)
Abraham: the first of the three patriarchs of Israel; father of Isaac and grandfather of Jacob. (Canto 4.)
Absalom: a son of King David, provoked into rebellion against his father by Achitophel, one of David’s advisors. (Canto 28.)
Acheron: the “river of woe,” one of the four rivers of Hell. (Canto 3.)
Achilles: Greek warrior and hero of Homer’s Iliad. (Cantos 5, 12, 31.)
Achitophel: an advisor to King David who provoked David’s son, Absalom, to rebellion. (Canto 28.)
Acquacheta: an Italian river, the northern part of which originated on the eastern side of Apennines and flowed past the monastery of San Benedetto dell ‘Alpe and in Dante’s time changed to the Montone at Forlí. Now it is all the Montone. (Canto 16.)
Adam: the first human created by God; father of all humankind. (Cantos 3, 4.)
Adige: Italy’s second longest river. It rises near the alpine borders of Austria and Switzerland, flows southward east of Lake Garda, through Verona and empties into the Adriatic south of Venice. (Canto 12.)
Aegina: one of the Saronic islands in the Saronic Gulf off the coast of Greece, about 20 miles southwest of Athens. (Canto 29.)
Aeneas: a Trojan prince, destined to be the founder of Rome, and the hero of Virgil’s epic, the Aeneid. Escaping the destruction of Troy, he and his followers had many adventures, including his great love affair with Dido, queen of Carthage. Finally arriving on the west central coast of Italy and conquering the native inhabitants, he married Lavinia, the daughter of King Latinus. (Cantos 2, 4, 26.)
Aesop: an ancient Greek story-teller and fabulist. But Dante is mistaken here in that Aesop did not write the fable of the mouse and the frog. In his time, however, most stories of this kind were mistakenly attributed to Aesop. (Canto 23.)
Aghinolfo da Romena: one of the Counts of the Guidi family. In the Middle Ages they were one of the most powerful and wealthy families in northern Italy. At one time he was the Podestà of Siena. He and his brothers engaged Master Adamo to mint counterfeit florins, for which the counterfeiter was burned at the stake. (Canto 30.)
Agnel: Nothing is known about him except that he was a Florentine thief and possibly a member of the
Brunelleschi family. (Canto 25.)
Alardo (Erard De Valery): a general of Charles of Anjou who helped him win the battle of Tagliacozzo in 1268. (Canto 28.)
Alberigo, Friar: See Friar Alberigo. (Canto 33.)
Alberto da Siena: most likely the illegitimate and gullible son of the bishop of Siena. (Cantos 29, 32.)
Alecto: one of the three Erynes or avenging Furies of classical mythology. (Canto 9.)
Alessandro Degli Alberti: one of two sons of Count Alberto of Mangona who, in a fight over their inheritance, ended up killing each other. (See Napoleone degli Alberti.) (Canto 32.)
Alessio Interminei: little is known of Alessio except that the family were noted White Guelfs in Lucca. (Canto 18.)
Alexander [1] (the Great):of Macedon (356-323 B.C.), son of Philip II of Macedonia. He conquered Greece, Persia, Phoenicia, Babylon, Egypt, and much of Asia Minor before invading western India. (Cantos 12, 14.)
[2] Alexander of Pherae: many modern scholars believe that Dante was referring here to the cruel fourth-century cruel tyrant of Pherae in south eastern part of Thessaly (north central area of Greece bordering the Adriatic). (Canto 12.) [3] Alexander: Alexander da Romena, one of the Counts of the Guidi family. (See Aghinolfo Da Romena.) (Canto 30.)
Ali (Ali-ibn-abu Taleb): the son-in-law of Mohammed and the first of his followers. (Canto 28.)
Alichin(o): one of several mischievous devils who torment the grafters in the Inferno. (Cantos 21, 22.)
Altaforte (Hautefort): a castle to the south of Limoges in France belonging to Bertran de Born. (Canto 29.)
Amphiaraus: a Greek seer, king of Argos, and one of the seven kings who fought against Thebes (according to many, the greatest of them.) Before the battle, he knew that he would die, and fleeing for his life after killing one of the defenders of the city, Zeus sent a thunderbolt after him. It opened the earth and swallowed Amphiaraus. (Canto 20.)
Amphion: a son of Zeus who built the walls of Thebes. According to legend, as he played music on his lyre the stones placed themselves in the wall. (Canto 32.)
Anastasius: Pope Anastasius II, pope from 496 to 498. He attempted to settle the Acacian heresy but died before his work saw fruition. Dante may have confused him with his contemporary, the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I. (Canto 11.)
Anaxagoras: an Ionian philosopher (500-428 B.C.). He rejected the materialist explanation of the universe and held that mind or intelligence (nous) was the cause of all things. (Canto 4.)
Anchises: the father of Aeneas. (Canto 14.)
Andrea De’ Mozzi: bishop of Florence from 1287 to 1295. He was transferred from the see of Florence to Vicenza by Pope Boniface VIII for his ineptitude and scandalous behavior including sodomy. (Canto 15.)
Angiolello: Angiolello da Carignano, one of two leading citizens of Fano (on the Adriatic coast between Rimini and Ancona). Along with (Meser) Guido del Cassero, he was called to a meeting on a ship off the coast of Cattolica by the treacherous Malatestino who murdered them by throwing them overboard. (Canto 28.)
Anselmuccio: a grandson of Count Ugolino della Gherardesca. (Canto 33.)
Antaeus: son of Neptune and Gaia, one of the Titans or Giants. (See Giants.) (Canto 31.)
Antenora: the second of four concentric regions of Cocytus at the bottom of Hell where traitors to their cities, countries, and political parties are punished. Named for Antenor who opened the gates of Troy to let in the Greeks. (Canto 32.)
Apennines: the major mountain range up and down (like the spine) of Italy. (Canto 16.)
Aquarius: “the water-carrier,” sign of the zodiac; the sun is in Aquarius from mid-January to mid-February. (Canto 24.)
Arachne: in classical mythology she was highly skilled in the art of weaving and challenged Minerva (Athena: goddess of wisdom) to a contest. Arachne won, but Minerva, in a fit of jealousy, tore Arachne’s work to pieces. Arachne then attempted to hang herself, but Minerva cut the rope and turned it into a web and Arachne into a spider. (Canto 17.)
Arbia: an Italian river about 10 miles east of Siena near Montaperti, site of the famous Battle of Montaperti in 1260. (Canto 10.)
Arethusa: a nymph in Ovid’s Metamorphoses who, being pursued by the river-god Alpheus, was changed into a fountain by Diana. (Canto 26.)
Arezzo: an Italian city and Ghibelline stronghold about 45 miles southeast of Florence. The Aretines were often in conflict with the Florentine Guelfs. (Cantos 22, 29, 30.)
Argives: citizens of Argos, Greece. (Canto 28.)
Ariadne: daughter of King Minos of Crete. She fell in love with the young Athenian hero Theseus and helped him kill the terrible Minotaur. (Canto 12.)
Aristotle: one of the most illustrious of the Greek philosophers (384-322 B.C.). He was born in 384 B.C. in Stagira, a town in Chalcidice in Macedonia. He was Plato‘s most brilliant student, but later developed a massive set of teachings quite different from his teacher’s. The two philosophical traditions that grow from Plato and Aristotle make up the foundations of all later Western philosophy. There is hardly a branch of learning and inquiry that Aristotle didn’t write on, and Dante was familiar with everything of Aristotle’s that had been translated into Latin by Medieval Arab scholars. By Dante’s time, St. Thomas Aquinas had already “baptized” Aristotle by incorporating his philosophical methods into the study and understanding of Catholic theology. (Cantos 4, 11.)
Arles: a city in the south of France at the mouth of the Rhone; site of an ancient Roman (later Christian) cemetery. See Pola. (Canto 9.)
Arno: the river that runs through Florence, Italy on its way to Pisa, where it empties into the Mediterranean. (Cantos 13, 15, 23, 30, 33.)
Arrigo: an unidentified Florentine sinner mentioned by the glutton Ciacco in Canto 6. (Canto 6.)
Arthur: mythical king of Britain, husband of Guinevere, and hero of the Round Table stories. (Canto 32.)
Aruns: an Etruscan diviner who foretold the outcome of the Roman civil war and the battle between Julius
Caesar and Pompey. He lived in the hills in the area of Carrara (noted for its beautiful marble). (Canto 20.)
Asdente: “toothless”; a shoemaker and soothsayer of Parma said to possess magical powers. (Canto 20.)
Athamas (King): the king of Boeotia (an ancient kingdom in southeastern Greece). His second wife, Ino, hated the children from his first wife and sought to kill them. Her plot was not successful, however, and Juno struck Athamas with madness. He killed one of his sons (Learchus), and Ino, in a fit of madness, threw herself and her other son into the sea. (Canto 30.)
Atropos: one of the three Fates in Greek and Roman mythology who preside over the destinies of mankind; Clotho, who spins the thread of a man’s life; Lachesis, who weaves it on the loom; and Atropos, who cuts it off at death. (Canto 33.)
Attila: chief/king of the Huns (fl. 406-453), also known as the Scourge of God for his cruelty and violence.
He conquered much of eastern Europe but was turned back when he invaded Gaul. He then devastated several cities in northern Italy. He was stopped from sacking Rome by the intervention of Pope Leo I and died the following year. (Cantos 12, 13.)
Augustus: [1] Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus (63 B.C.-A.D. 14). He was the great-nephew of Julius Caesar and adopted by him as his heir. After the assassination of Julius, he assumed the name of Caesar and became one of the triumvirs who took over the government of the republic. With the defeats and deaths of both Mark Antony (31 B.C.) and Marcus Lepidus (12 B.C.) Octavian became the first Roman Emperor. He was given the title “Augustus” by the Senate in 27 B.C. (Canto 1.) [2] Augustus:an imperial title denoting Emperor Frederick II. (Canto 13.)
Aventine: See Mount Aventine. (Canto 25.)
Averroes (Ibn-rushd): Arabian physician and philosopher; famous for his Latin translations of Aristotle. Born at Cordova and died at Morocco (1216-98). (Canto 4.)
Avicenna (Ibn-sina): Arabian physician and philosopher (980-1037); famous for his commentaries on the works of Aristotle and Galen. (Canto 4.)
Azzolino (Ezzelino): III da Romano (114-1259). A notoriously cruel tyrant of the Veneto region, known especially for his massacre of the citizens of Padua. (Canto 12.)

Bacchiglione: a river in the Veneto region of Italy which runs through Vicenza and Padua on its way to the Adriatic. (Canto 15)
Baptist, The: Saint John the Baptist, the patron saint of Florence. (Cantos.13, 30
Barbariccia: one of several mischievous devils who torment the grafters in the Inferno. (Canto 21
Beatrice (Portinari): (1266-1290) daughter of a wealthy Florentine whom Dante idealizes in his book of poems, the Vita nuova (New Life). Though they lived in the same neighborhood, they seem not to have had much contact, though Dante says that he fell in love with her when they were both about nine years old. She was later married to Simone dei Bardi, and died before she was 25. She is the inspiration and energy behind and throughout Dante’s Comedy, representing the ideals of virtue, beauty, truth, and goodness. And she is his guide throughout the final part of the poem, the Paradiso. (Cantos 2, 10, 12, 15. )
Beccheria: Tesauro dei Beccheria of Pavia (d. 1258), an abbot of the Benedictine monastery at Vallombrosia (30 miles east of Florence). He was executed by the Florentine Guelfs, having been accused of engaging in secret communications with the Ghibellines. Dante most likely got this story from reading Brunetto Latini. There is dispute among scholars as to the guilt or innocence of the abbot. (Canto 32.)
Beelzebub: the Devil, Satan, Dis, or Lucifer, etc. (Canto 34.)
Benaco: see Lake Benaco. (Canto 20.)
Benavento, Battle of: an ancient city situated about 45 miles east of Naples. Famous for the site where King Manfred of Sicily was killed by Charles of Anjou. (Canto 28.)
Bergamese: citizens of Bergamo, a northern Italian city between Milan and Brescia. (Canto 20.)
Bisenzio: an Italian river that rises near Cantagallo (about 20 miles northwest of Florence) and flows into the Arno at Signa (a suburb of Florence about 8 miles to the northwest). (Canto 32.)
Bocca: Bocca degli Abati, a Florentine traitor who appeared to be a Guelf but was really a Ghibelline. In the famous Battle of Montaperti, he cut off the hand of the Florentine standard-bearer causing confusion among the Florentine soldiers that resulted in a disastrous defeat at the hands of the Sienese Ghibellines. (Canto 32.)
Bologna: an Italian city in the Romagna region, site of the oldest university in Europe (Dante may have studied there), about 60 miles northeast of Florence. (Canto 23.)
Bolognese: citizen of Bologna. (Canto 18.)
Boniface (Pope, Boniface VIII): (Benedict Caietani) (c. 1217-1303; Pope, 1294-1303). The most powerful and controversial pope in Dante’s time. He was brilliant, arrogant, and while inserting himself into many foreign affairs made numerous far-reaching and unpopular claims to papal power and supremacy. His collusion and interference in Florentine affairs eventually led to Dante’s exile. In Dante’s De Monarchia, the Poet disputes Boniface’s claims to papal supremacy, and in the Inferno he places him among the simonists in Canto 19. (Cantos 15, 19, 27.)
Bonturo: Bonturo Dati, a noted leader and notorious barrator from Lucca. Later expelled, he fled to Florence where he died. (Canto 21.)
Branca d’Oria (Branca, Ser Branca d’Oria): a nobleman of Genoa who murdered his father-in-law, Michel
Zanche, at a dinner. Such treachery resulted in the immediate death of his soul in Hell while his body continued to live it’s appointed course. (Canto 33.)
Branda’s Fountain: a spring in the mountains near Romena castle about 50 miles east of Florence. (Canto 30.)
Brenta: an Italian river that flows from Lake Caldonazzo near Trent and flows into the Veneto region through Padua and empties into the Adriatic below Venice. (Canto 15.)
Brescia: a city of northern Italy between Milan and Verona. (Canto 20.)
Brescians: citizens of Brescia. (Canto 20.)
Briareus: son of Uranus and Gaia, one of the Titans or Giants. (See Giants) (Canto 31.)
Brigata: Nino della Gherardesca, a grandson of Count Ugolino della Gherardesca. (Canto 33.)
Bruges: a major trading city in the Flanders region of northern Belgium during Dante’s time. (Canto 15.)
Brunetto Latini (Ser Brunetto): a learned Florentine statesman and writer whose works had a great influence on Dante. Noted for his Trésor and his Tessoretto. (Canto 15.)
Brutus: [1] (Lucius Junius) (d. 509 B.C.). Legendary founder of the Roman Republic; famed for ending the Tarquinian dynasty. (Canto 4.) [2] (Marcus Junius) (85B.C. – 42 B.C.), son of M. Brutus the Tribune. He joined Pompey after the Roman civil war broke out. He was made governor of Gaul, praetor, and promised the governorship of Macedonia by Julius Caesar. But he was brought into the conspiracy against Caesar by Cassius in hopes of returning Rome to a Republic. After the assassination of Caesar, he took possession of Macedonia and was joined by Cassius who commanded in Syria. They were defeated by Octavian (Augustus) and Mark Antony at the Battle of Philippi. Knowing he would be defeated and captured, he took his own life. (Canto 34.)
Bulicame: a hot spring near Viterbo, Italy, about 50 miles northwest of Rome. (Canto 14.)
Buoso: possibly Buoso degli Abati, a Florentine thief, or Buoso Donati (Canto 30) a member of the powerful Donati family and related to Corso Donati, the Black Guelf leader, and also to Dante’s wife, Gemma. (Canto 25.)
Buoso Donati: a member of the powerful Donati family and related to Corso Donati, the Black Guelf leader, and also to Dante’s wife, Gemma. (Canto 30.)

Caccia (Caccia D’Asciano): a member of the Sienese Spendthrift Club, famous for purposely squandering all of his property. (Canto 29.)
Cacus: a centaur and son of Vulcan. He was a thief and lived in a cave on Mount Aventine in Rome. But when he stole the cattle of Hercules, Hercules killed him. (Canto 25.)
Cadmus: an early Greek hero, the son of Agenor, king of Phoenicia. He later founded the Greek city of Thebes and became its king. A fierce warrior, he killed a dragon sacred to Mars, he was changed into a serpent. (Canto 25.)
Caesar: [1] like “Augustus,”an imperial title denoting Emperor Frederick II. (Canto 13.) [2] (Caius Julius):(100-44B.C.). Popular Roman general and Consul; a strong adherent of democratic ideals. His controversial and famous crossing of the Rubicon River with his army set his later career in motion. He received great acclamation everywhere. After a series of decisive victories, he was made dictator and later offered the kingship (which he turned down). On the famed Ides of March, 44 B.C., he was assassinated in Rome by a band of conspirators led by Brutus and Cassius. He was succeeded by his grandnephew and heir, Octavian (Augustus), the first Roman emperor, and the name Caesar became part of the imperial title. (Cantos 4, 28.)
Cagnazzo: one of several mischievous devils who torment the grafters in the Inferno. (Canto 22.)
Caiaphas: the high priest of the Jews who condemned Jesus to death. (Canto 23.)
Cain (With His Thorn-bush): one of many Medieval names for the Man in the Moon. Some saw in the rough surface of the full moon Cain, the first son of Adam and Eve, carrying a thorn bush or a bundle of thorns which symbolized the “pain” of the Fall. (Canto 20.)
Caïna: the outermost of four concentric areas at the bottom of Hell. Named for the biblical Cain, those who betrayed their families and relatives are punished there. (Cantos 5, 32.)
Calcabrina: one of several mischievous devils who torment the grafters in the Inferno. (Cantos 21, 22.)
Calchas: a Greek augur who, by the power of Apollo, could see events past, present, and future. He appears at the beginning of the Illiad, and accompanied the Greeks to the siege of Troy. (Canto 20.)
Camicion De’ Pazzi: a White Guelf, he apparently killed one of his relatives in order to get his share of a castle they owned jointly. (Canto 32.)
Camilla: daughter of the Volscian king Metabus, a noted warrior in the service of the goddess Diana. Fought with Turnus against Aeneas and the Trojans; killed by Arruns, an Etruscan ally of Aeneas. (Cantos 1, 4.)
Camonica: See Val Camonica. (Canto 20.)
Campaldino: a plain in the valley of the Arno river east of Florence and north of Arezzo, between the Italian towns of Pratovecchio and Poppi, and sometimes referred to as the Casentino. The famous battle of Campaldino pitted the Florentine Guelfs against the Arretine Ghibellines. The foreces of Arezzo were badly defeated. Dante himself participated in this battle. (Canto 22.)
Capaneus: in classical mythology he was one of the seven kings who fought against Thebes. He was noted for his great strength and greater arrogance. He mocked Zeus at the walls of Thebes and the god killed him with a lightning bolt. (Canto 14.)
Capocchio: a man from Siena who, in 1293, was burned at the stake for alchemy. Dante may have known him personally when they were students. (Canto 29.)
Capraia: an island near the mouth of the Arno at Pisa. (Canto 33.)
Caprona: a fortress on the Arno river near Pisa. (Canto 33.)
Cardinal, The: Cardinal Ottaviano degli Ubaldini (1210-1273), a staunch Ghibeline and papal legate in Lombardy and Romagna. (Canto 10.)
Carlino: Carlino de’ Pazzi, no relation to Camicion, from the Valdarno region south of Florence. He was expelled from the White Guelfs and later betrayed a castle housing White Guelfs to the Blacks. (Canto 32.)
Carrara: a town and hills in western Tuscany known for its beautiful marble. (Canto 20.)
Casalodi: Alberto da Casalodi. A Guelf count of Brescia and later Lord of Mantua. (Canto 20.)
Casentino: a mountainous area east of Florence where the Arno river rises. (Canto 30.)
Cassius: Caius Cassius Longinus (86B.C. – 42B.C.), Roman statesman, general, and tribune. He joined Pompey when the Roman Civil War broke out and fled Rome. After the Battle of Pharsalia, Caesar made him praetor and promised him the governorship of Syria, but later it was Cassius who lead the conspiracy to assassinate him, persuading Brutus to join in the plot. He then claimed the governorship of Syria and later joined Brutus in Macedonia to fight against Octavian (Augustus) and Mark Antony. He was defeated by Mark Antony at the Battle of Philippi (42 B.C.) and took his own life. (Canto 34.)
Castel Sant’ Angelo: the Mausoleum of Hadrian, erected ca 135 A.D. The large round fortress/castle later named after St. Michael the Archangel on the Tiber in Rome. Not far from St. Peter’s and the Vatican, in the 14^th century it became the fortress of the papacy. (Canto 18.)
Catalano: See Friar Catalano. (Canto 23.)
Cato (Marcus Porcius Cato the Younger): a Roman statesman (95-46 B.C.) from Utica. He was a supporter of Pompey against Julius Caesar, but after the defeat at Pharsalia he joined Scipio in Africa. A strict republican of the old school, rather than be captured, he took his own life. He is the guardian of Purgatory whom Dante and Virgil will meet when they first arrive there. (Canto 14.)
Cattolica: an Italian town on the Adriatic coast about 15 miles south of Rimini. (Canto 28.)
Caurus: a classical (mythological) name for the Northwest Wind. (Canto 11.)
Cavalcante de’ Cavalcanti: a Florentine nobleman and Epicurean; father of Dante’s best friend, Guido
Cavalcanti. (Canto 10.)
Cecina: a coastal city on the southwestern part of Tuscany, and the name of the a river that runs through it. It sits at the northern edge of the Maremma region which, in Dante’s time, was a vast swampy area. (Canto 13.)
Celestine V (Pope): Pietro Angeleri da Isernia; pope with an extraordinarily short reign of six months in 1294, after which he abdicated. His successor, Boniface VIII, had him imprisoned for specious reasons where he died in 1296. (Cantos 3, 27.)
Ceprano: an Italian town about 70 miles south of Rome. Manfred, king of Sicily, was betrayed by his allies here in his conflict with Charles of Anjou, and later defeated by him at the Battle of Benevento. (Canto 28.)
Cerberus: the mythical three-headed hound of Hell who stands guard over the gluttons. In classical mythology he guarded the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. (Cantos 6, 9.)
Cervia: an Italian town on the Adriatic coast about 20 miles south of Ravenna. (Canto 27.)
Cesena: an Italian town on the Savio river between Forlì and Rimini, about 25 miles south of Ravenna and inland from the Adriatic about 10 miles. (Canto 27.)
Ceuta: a city on the northern tip of Morocco opposite Gibraltar. (Canto 26.)
Charlemagne: king of the Franks, of the Lombards, and emperor of the West (742-814), son of Pepin le Bref, king of the Franks. He united much of Europe for the first time since the Roman Empire. The stories of his exploits have become legendary and were the subject of popular songs and poetry in the Middle Ages. (Canto 31.)
Charles: Charles (I) d’Anjou, king of Naples and Sicily, Count of Anjou and Provence, son of Louis VIII of France and Blanche of Castile (1220-84). Urged to take the kingdom and kingship by Popes Urban IV and Clement IV, he was crowned king of Sicily and Apulia in 1265, and defeated Manfred at Benevento in 1266. Soon, the Sicilians revolted against French rule and open insurrection ended with a massacre of the French (the “Sicilian Vespers”) and the end of French rule in Sicily. Charles died in 1284, while trying to regain the kingdom. (Cantos 19, 28.)
Charon: from classical mythology; son of Erebus and Nox; ferryman of the dead across the River Acheron. (Canto 3.)
Charybdis: along with Scylla, great sea monsters who devoured entire ships and sailors, located in the Straits of Messina between Italy and Sicily. Noted by Homer in the Odyssey and in the Metamorphoses of Ovid. (Canto 7.)
Chiarentana: a mountainous region in northern Italy near Trent, sometimes equated with Carinthia, the southern region of Austria. (Canto 15.)
Chiron: one of the centaurs of mythology; known to be highly cultured, wise, just, and intelligent, he is said to have been the tutor of a great many heroes of classical mythology. Like Pholus, he is distinguished from all the other centaurs in that his human form extends toward the horse’s waist instead of its shoulders. (Canto 12.)
Christ (Jesus): [1] throughout the poem He is referenced by various titles. In Canto 2 by Beatrice as “my Lord.” (Canto 2.) [2] as “Highest Wisdom” in Canto 3; see inscription over the Gate of Hell. (Canto 3.) [3] as “a great Lord” by Virgil in this Cantos 4 and 6. (Cantos 4, 6.) [4] as “Jesus,” by Dante in his tirade against the simoniac pope. (Canto 19.) [5] as “her bridegroom,” by Dante in his tirade against the simoniac pope. (Canto 19.) [6] as “the Man who was free from sin,” by Virgil. (Canto 34.)
Ciacco: a Florentine glutton; a nickname meaning “hog.” (Canto 6.)
Ciampolo: a grafter who was in the service of a Navarese nobleman and later in the court of King Thibault II of Navarre, where he also practiced his crimes. (Canto 22.)
Cianfa: a Florentine thief and member of the Donati family. (Canto 25.)
Circe: a daughter of the Helios and Hecate, she is famous in Homer’s Odyssey where, as an enchantress, she lured Ulysses and his men to the island of Ponza (possibly Aeaea), one of a group of islands above Naples, where she turned the hero’s men into pigs. (Canto 26.)
Ciriatto: one of several mischievous devils who torment the grafters in the Inferno. (Cantos 21, 22.)
Cleopatra: fabled queen of Egypt (68-30 B.C.); mistress of Julius Caesar and then Mark Antony. (Canto 5.)
Cluny: a city in central eastern France, site of a famous Benedictine monastery. (Canto 23.)
Cocytus: “lamentation”; the fourth of the rivers of Hell, it is actually the frozen bottom of Hell, made up of four concentric rings wherein are punished ever worse forms of treachery. (Cantos 14, 31, 33, 34.)
Colchians: citizens of Colchis, an ancient, possibly mythical country of western Asia along the eastern edge of the Black Sea. It was reputed to be fabulously wealthy and ruled by King Aeëtes, who possessed the Golden Fleece until it was taken by Jason and the Argonauts. Also connected with Medea and Prometheus. (Canto 18.)
Constantine: Constantine the Great (272-337), emperor of Rome. In a battle against his rival Maxentius in 312, he is said to have had a vision of a shining cross in the heavens which led to his conversion and becoming the first Christian emperor. He later transferred the seat of the empire from Rome to Byzantium (Constantinople). Also famous for “The Donation of Constantine,” a document (later proved to be a forgery) giving the papacy temporal power over the western part of the empire. (Cantos 19, 27.)
Cornelia: daughter of Scipio Africanus the Elder, wife of Tiberius Semptonius Gracchus, and mother of the two famous tribunes Tiberius and Caius. She is celebrated as a model Roman mother of the old school, who brought up her sons in the utmost rectitude; after her death, the people of Rome erected a statue to her inscribed: “The Mother of the Gracchi.” (Canto 4.)
Corneto: an ancient Italian town once known as Tarquinia that sits near the coast at the southern edge of the Maremma region in northwest Lazio which, in Dante’s time, was a vast swampy area. (Canto 13.)
Corybants: in classical mythology they were the priests or servants of the goddess Cybele who worshiped her with dances, music, and drumming. (Canto 14.)
Count Ugolino: Ugolino della Gherardesca, of Pisa. He was a member of a noble Ghibelline family of Tuscany, leader of the Ghibellines in Pisa and podestà of the city. His story is one of shifting allegiances and political maneuvers between Pisan Ghibellines and Guelfs. The ceding of certain castles and fortresses to Lucca and Florence sealed his fate. His seeming ally, Archbishop Ruggieri, betrayed him. The result was that he and two of his sons and two grandsons were imprisoned in a tower in Pisa and starved to death. (Canto 33.)
Crete: an island in the eastern Mediterranean below Greece, the birthplace of Zeus. (Cantos 12, 14.)
Curio: Caius Scribonius Curio (d. 50 B.C.). Made a Roman Tribune by Pompey and an enemy of Julius Caesar, they later became friends. It was he who gave Caesar the famous advice to cross the Rubicon river with his army and march on Rome. (Canto 28.)

Daedalus: the craftsman of classical mythology who created the wooden bull for Pasiphae, the labyrinth in which Minos kept the Minotaur, and who created wings so that he and his son, Icarus, could fly. (Cantos 12, 17.)
Damietta: an ancient and important seaport in Egypt. (Canto 14.)
Danube: Europe’s second longest river; it flows eastward from near Strausbourg through central Europe and empties into the Black Sea. (Canto 32.)
David (David the King): the second and most famous king of Israel (reigned c. 1010 B.C. – 970 B.C.). (Canto 28.)
Deïdamia: the daughter of Lycomedes, king of Scyros where Achilles was sent by his mother, disguised as a girl, to keep him from the Trojan war. Achilles seduced her and later abandoned her when Ulysses and Diomed came looking for him to recruit him. (Canto 26.)
Dejanira: in classical mythology she was the wife of Hercules. She unwittingly killed him by giving him a shirt that had been stained by the blood of the centaur Nessus who was killed by Hercules for trying to kidnap and ravish her. (Canto 12.)
Democritus: Greek philosopher (c. 460-361 B.C.), born and lived in Abdera in Thrace. Known for his cheerfulness, he taught that the universe came into being by chance. (Canto 4.)
Dido: legendary foundress and queen of Carthage. She and Aeneas fell in love when Aeneas and his men stopped at Carthage on his way to Italy after the destruction of Troy. At the behest of Mercury, Aeneas abandoned her and continued on to fulfill his destiny. See Aeneid IV. (Canto 5.)
Diogenes: a Greek Cynic philosopher (c. 412-323 B.C.), who lived an ascetical life, taught practical virtues, and thumbed his nose at bookish and other cultural affectations. (Canto 4.)
Diomed (Diomedes): king of Argos, son of Tydeus and Deiphyle, a hero of the Trojan War and often in exploits with Ulysses. (Canto 26.)
Dionysius: this could be either Dionysius the Elder (405 B.C. – 367 B.C.), the tyrant of Syracuse, or his son, Dionysius the Younger, who succeeded him in 367 B.C. Both were noted for their terribly cruelty. (Canto 12.)
Dioscorides: a Greek natural scientist and physician (2^nd century A.D.), famous for his Materia Medica, a catalog of plants and minerals useful in medicine. (Canto 4.)
Dis, City of: the fortified city enclosing all of lower Hell, surrounded by the river/marsh Styx. (Cantos 8, 9.)
Dis: [1] In ancient mythology, Dis was a name for the Underworld (Hades) itself, and also the god or king of the Underworld (otherwise called Pluto). [2] Dis is also the name of the fortified city enclosing all of lower Hell, surrounded by the river/marsh Styx. [3] In the Comedy, Dis is also another name for Satan. (Canto 34.)
Don (Tanaì): Europe’s fifth longest river; it flows from its source in central Russia and empties into the Sea of Azov (the northeastern portion of the Black Sea with Ukraine to the north and Russia to the East. (Canto 32.)
Draghignazzo: one of several mischievous devils who torment the grafters in the Inferno. (Cantos 21, 22.)
Duera: Buoso da Duera, a leader of the Ghibellines in Cremona, Italy and a well-known traitor. When the forces of Charles of Anjou were marching into northern Italy, King Manfred of Sicily sent troops under his command to stop them at the Oglio river north of Cremona. But Buoso took a bribe and allowed the French troops to proceed south which ended with the defeat and death of Manfred the famous Battle of Benevento. (Canto 32.)
Duke of Athens: See Theseus. (Canto 12.)

Electra: daughter of Atlas and Pleione. She was the mother of Jupiter and the mythical founder of Troy (and the subsequent Trojan race). For this reason Dante places her among the Trojan heroes in Limbo. (Canto 4.)
Elijah: a prophet of Israel, famous for being taken up to Heaven in a fiery chariot (see II Kings 2). (Canto 26.)
Elisha: a minor prophet of Israel and disciple of Elijah. (Canto 26.)
Empedocles: Greek philosopher of fifth century B. C., born in Agrigentum, Sicily. A psychologist and natural scientist, he is the first to list the four elements as we know them (earth, air, fire, water), and proposed that all material things are composed of combinations of those four – a theory held for several centuries. (Canto 4.)
Ephialtes: the son of Neptune and Iphimedia, one of the Titans or Giants. (See Giants) (Canto 31.)
Epicurean: a follower of the teachings of the philosopher Epicurus.(Canto 10.)
Epicurus: a Greek philosopher (c. 342-270 B.C.). He believed that happiness here and now was life’s ultimate goal, but he did not teach a philosophy of pleasure and hedonism. His later interpreter, Lucretius, believed and taught that Epicurus also held that the soul dies with the body. (Canto 10.)
Erichtho: a Thessalian witch who sent the spirit of Virgil on an errand to the bottom of Hell shortly after he died. (Canto 9.)
Erinyes: the Greek name for the Furies (Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone), the avenging deities of classical mythology. (Canto 9.)
Eteocles: the son of Oedipus and brother of Polynices. He and his brother struggled for the throne of Thebes, which led to the war known as the Seven Against Thebes. Their mutual hatred eventually led to them killing each other in mortal combat. Even the flames of their funeral pyre split apart when they were placed on it together. (Canto 26.)
Ethiopia: ancient country west of the Red Sea in northeastern Africa. (Canto 24.)
Euclid: Greek mathematician from Alexandria, Egypt (fl. 300 B.C.); most famous for his Elements of Geometry. (Canto 4.)
Euryalus: a young Trojan and companion of Aeneas; often mentioned with his friend Nisus; died in a battle with the Rutulians. (Canto 1.)
Eurypylus: A noted hero of the Trojan War. Dante may have thought he was a Greek seer associated with Calchas. (Canto 20.)

Faenza: an Italian town on the Lamone river, between Forlì and Imola near Bologna. (Cantos 27, 32.)
Fano: an Italian town on the Adriatic coast between Rimini and Ancona. (Canto 28.)
Farfarello: one of several mischievous devils who torment the grafters in the Inferno. (Cantos 21, 22.)
Farinata: Farinata degli Uberti, Ghibelline leader of Florence. (Cantos 6, 10.)
Feltro: an Italian town of uncertain location, but from context possibly in the region of Verona. (Canto 1.)
Fiesole: an ancient town of Etruscan origin, later settled by the Romans, located in the hills to the northeast of Florence. (Canto 15.)
Filippo Argenti: a Florentine knight, member of the Black Guelf party and an enemy of Dante; he was proud and given to fits of anger. “Argenti” (silver) may be a nickname because he was so rich he was said to have shod his horse in silver. (Canto 8.)
Fish (Pisces): a sign of the zodiac; the sun is in Pisces from mid-February to mid-March. (Canto 11.)
Flemings: citizens of Flanders (a region of northern Belgium). (Canto 15.)
Florence: a famous (and ancient) Italian city on the banks of the Arno River, the chief city of Tuscany and birthplace of Dante. (Cantos 6, 13, 16, 24, 26.)
Florentines: citizens of Florence. (Cantos 8, 17, 32.)
Focaccia: a White Guelf from Pistoia and member of the Cancellieri family. His murder of his cousin – a Black Guelf – led to major conflicts between Black and White Guelfs of Florence and Pistoia. (Canto 32.)
Focara: a headland on the Adriatic coast between Fano and La Cattolica, noted for the powerful winds that endanger ships in the vacinity. (Canto 28.)
Forlì: an Italian town in the Marches region about 30 miles from the Adriatic coast. (Cantos 16, 27.)
Fortune: like the other guardians of the cosmos, her specific realm is this world, where she oversees the changeable nature of material things, including wealth, power, and fame, etc. (Cantos 2, 7, 15, 30.)
Fra Dolcino: (1250-1307); not a monk but leader of a heretical reform movement/sect in northern Italy called the Apostolic Brethren. His followers practiced extreme simplicity and poverty, answered to no authority but that of God, they believed in the community of property and sharing of women. In 1305 Pope Clement V banned them as heretical and later ordered the eradication of all its members. Fra Dolcino and his “wife” were terribly tortured and burned at the stake. (Canto 28.)
France’s King: Philip IV of France, also known as Philip the Fair (1285-1314). (Canto 19.)
Francesca (Francesca da Rimini): married to Gianciotto da Verruchio but carried on an affair with his handsome brother Paolo. They were murdered by Gianciotto in flagrante delicto. (Canto 5.)
Francesco d’Accorso: a noted Florentine lawyer (1225-1293) who also taught law at the Universities of Bologna and Oxford. (Canto 15.)
Francesco Cavalcanti: a Florentine nobleman and thief murdered by the inhabitants of Gaville. (Canto 25.)
Frederick: [1] Emperor Frederick II (1194-1250) (King Frederick) of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, grandson of Frederick Barbarossa, son of Emperor Henry VI and Constance of Sicily. Because of his brilliance and wide learning he was known in his time as “the Wonder of the World.” (Canto 13.) [2] See King Frederick. (Canto 10.) [3] See King Frederick. (Canto 23.)
Friar Alberigo: Alberigo di Ugolino dei Manfredi (1240-1397), member of a Guelf family from Faenza. Later in life he became a member of the Jovial Friars. During a family feud, he invited the parties involved to dinner and, at a pre-arranged signal, had them all murdered! (Canto 33.)
Friar Catalano: Catalano de’ Malavolti, a Guelf (1210-1285); podesta of Florence along with Loderingo degli Andalo, a Ghibelline, elected to keep the peace (which they failed to do). They were Bolognese members of the quasi religious order known as the “Jovial Friars.” (Canto 23.)
Frisians: inhabitants of Friesland (the northern part of the Netherlands). (Canto 31.)
Furies: See Erinyes. (Canto 9.)

Gaddo: Gaddo della Gherardesca, son of Count Ugolino. (Canto 33.)
Gaeta: a region and town on a promontory overlooking the Gulf of Gaeta about 60 miles north of Naples. (Canto 26.)
Galehot (Galehalt or Galehaut): he acted as a go-between in the story of Lancelot and Guinevere; in Dante’s time his name was synonymous with what he did in the story as an amorous go-between. (Canto 5.)
Galen: noted Greek physician and anatomist (c 130 A.D. – 200 A.D.), famed for his compendium of medical knowledge. (Canto 4.)
Gallura: one of the administrative districts in the northeast of Sardinia. (Canto 22.)
Ganelon: the stepfather of Charlemagne‘s nephew Roland. He betrayed Roland and the rear-guard of Charlemagne’s army to the Saracens, resulting in Roland’s death. (Canto 32.)
Garda: [1] a large lake in northern Italy whose southern shore lies between Brescia and Verona. (See Lake Benaco.) (Canto 20.) [2] an Italian town on the southeastern shore of Lake Garda. (Canto 20.)
Gardingo: a neighborhood in Florence near the Palazzo Vecchio and the Piazza della Signoria. (Canto 23.)
Garisenda: the taller of the two famous leaning towers of Bologna. (Canto 31.)
Gaville: a small town in the Arno Valley between Florence and Arezzo. (Canto 25.)
Genovese: citizens of Genoa. (Canto 33.)
Geri Del Bello: son of Bello degli Aligheri, who was a brother of Dante’s grandfather Bellincione. He was apparently involved in a blood feud with the Sacchetti family who eventually murdered him. The murder was still unavenged in 1300. (Canto 29.)
Geryon: the monster of Fraud in the Inferno. In classical mythology he was a three-bodied giant in Spain who was killed by Hercules. (Cantos 16, 17, 18.)
Ghisolabella: the sister of Venedico Caccianemico, who procured her for the Marquis of Este (either Obizzo II or his son, Azzolino VIII) for a favor. (Canto 18.)
Giacomo Da Sant’ Andrea: a profligate nobleman of Padua who was given to the reckless destruction of his wealth and property for entertainment. (Canto 13.)
Giants: (Nimrod, Ephialtes, Briareus, Antaeus) [1] Nimrodappears in Exodus 10 and is referred to as “a mighty hunter.” He may have been the king of Babylon, and may have had some hand in building the Tower of Babel, but these are uncertainties. Dante, however, connects his babbling speech to that of the workers on the tower who, because of divine intervention, could no longer understand each other. In the Middle Ages he was considered a giant. [2] Ephialtes was a son of Neptune and tried, with his twin brother Otus, to oust the Olympian gods. They were killed in their attempt. [3] Briareus is mentioned by Dante, who is curious to see him, but Virgil declines, telling him that this giant is more ferocious and dangerous than Ephialtes. Both of them are very heavily chained. There are at least three traditions about this giant. One, for example, has him assisting Zeus when the giants attached. Another portrays him as an enemy of Zeus. [4] Antaeus was born after the assault on Olympus by the other giants and is unchained. He gently picks up the two travelers and puts them down onto the bottom of Hell (on which all the giants are standing). (Canto 31.)
Gianfigliazzi: a family of Florentine Black Guelfs and usurers. (Canto 17.)
Gianni Soldanier: after the defeat of Manfred at the Battle of Benevento, he abandoned the Guefs and took sides with the Ghibellines. (Canto 32.)
Gianni Schicchi: a Florentine of the Cavalcanti family, well-known for his mimicry. He impersonated a friend’s dead father in order to change the father’s will. (Canto 30.)
Giovanni Buiamonte: of the Florentine Becchi family. He was given the title “knight” and through usury became one the city’s wealthiest citizens. But he later died in poverty. (Canto 17.)
Gomita: Fra Gomita, from Gallura, was the Chancellor of that region and a notorious grafter. He was eventually hanged for that and other crimes he committed while in office. (Canto 22.)
Gorgona: an island near the mouth of the Arno at Pisa. (Canto 33.)
Governol: (Governolo); an Italian town near Mantua where the Mincio joins the Po River. (Canto 20.)
Graffiacan(e): one of several mischievous devils who torment the grafters in the Inferno. (Cantos 21, 22.)
Greyhound: an uncertain name or nickname; possibly Dante’s Veronese patron Can Grande della Scala. (Canto 1.)
Griffolino da Arezzo: An alchemist who, for a large sum, duped Alberto da Siena into believing that he could teach him to fly. Alberto’s father, the bishop, had Griffolino burned at the stake. (Cantos 29, 30.)
Gualandi: one of the leading Ghibelline families of Pisa. (Canto 33.)
Gualdrada: the lovely and cultured daughter of Bellincione Berti of Florence. She was married to Guido Guerra IV (c. 1196-1239) and was the grandmother of Guido Guerra. (Canto 16.)
Guglielmo Borsiere: a Florentine knight, match-maker, and ambassador. (Canto 16.)
Guido Guerra: a Florentine Guelf nobleman (1220-1272) and military leader, grandson of “the good Gualdrada.” (Canto 16.)
Guido da Romena: a Count of the Guidi family. (See Aghinolfo da Romena.) (Canto 30.)
Guido (Cavalcante): son of Cavalcante dei Cavalcanti (c. 1255-1300); Florentine poet of the dolce stil nuovo, like Dante, White Guelf, and best friend of Dante. Like his father, Cavalcanti, he was also an Epicurean. He was married to the daughter of Farinata degli Uberti. (Canto 10.)
Guido Bonatti: an astrologer from Forlì. He made divinations for such notable figures as Frederick II and
Guido da Montefeltro. (Canto 20.)
Guido Da Montefeltro: count of Montefeltro (a mountainous Italian region on the eastern side of the Apennines which includes the Republic of San Marino). He was a famous Ghibelline captain known for his strategy. (Canto 27.)
Guy De Montfort: son of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester. Under Carles of Anjou he became the Vicar General of Tuscany, and in 1275 shockingly assassinated the nephew of Henry III at the altar of the cathedral in Viterbo in the presence of the cardinals who were in conclave there to elect a new pope. A crime for which he was excommunicated. (Canto 12.)

Hannibal: a famous Carthaginian general, strategist, and statesman, and a great adversary of Rome (c. 247-183 B.C.). He conquered Spain, and in the Second Punic War defeated the Romans in two great battles (Lake Trasimeno and Cannae). Scipio Africanus finally defeated him at the Battle of Zama. After a treaty of peace, he became involved in Carthaginian affairs, but later went into voluntary exile in the Near East when Rome suspected him of corruption. In his last years he was protected by various kings and potentates. There are conflicting accounts of the date and manner of his death. (Cantos 28, 31.)
Harpies: in classical mythology, daughters of Thaumas and Electra. They were originally personifications of the storm winds and later described as beautiful winged maidens. However, their wicked behavior caused them to be banished to the Strophadies Islands (a tiny group of islands in the Ionian Sea to the west of southwestern Greece). They were turned into foul half-human half-bird-like creatures. They pestered Aeneas and his men when they stopped at the islands and befouled their offerings. (Canto 13.)
Hector: son of Priam, king of Troy, chief of the Trojan heroes in the Iliad; killed by Achilles. (Canto 4.)
Hecuba: the wife of Priam, king of Troy. She was carried off by the Greeks after the Trojan war and went insane after seeing her daughter slain on the grave of Achilles and discovering the unburied body of her son on the shore of Thrace (an area in eastern Europe that in ancient times was made up (mostly) of southern Bulgaria, northwestern Turkey, and northeastern Greece). (Canto 30.)
Helen (of Troy): a daughter of Zeus and wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. Said to be the most beautiful woman in the world, she was seduced by Paris and carried off to Troy and the Trojan War ensued. (Canto 5.)
Heraclitus: Greek philosopher (fl. 500 B.C.) From Ephesus. He believed fire to be the primordial element and that all things are in a continual state of flux. (Canto 4.)
Hercules: a son of Zeus and mythological hero renowned for his enormous strength. Famed for completing The Twelve Labors. Brought among the gods on Olympus as one of the Immortals after his death. (Cantos 12, 25, 26, 31.)
Hippocrates: most noted of the ancient Greek physicians (c. 460-377 B.C.). He was born and practiced on the island of Cos, where his famous medical school flourished. A noted diagnostician, his name survives today in the “Hippocratic oath” which lays out the ethical duties of physician to patient. (Canto 4.)
Holy Face: Volto Santo;a famous wooden crucifix and shrine in the cathedral of Lucca. (Canto 21.)
Homer: the greatest Greek epic poet (fl. 9^th or 10^th century) and author of the twin epics, the Iliad (about the siege and destruction of Troy) and the Odyssey (about the wanderings of Ulysses). Dante knew these great epics only by reputation and quotes from other authors because he did not know Greek, and in his day these poems had not yet been translated into Latin. (Canto 4.)
Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus): famous Latin lyric poet (65-8 B.C.) during the Augustan age and cultured man of the world. (Canto 4.)
Hypsipyle: daughter of Thoas, king of Lemnos. When the women of Lemnos swore to kill all the men of the island, she hid her father and lied about his death. Later, on his way to secure the Golden Fleece, Jason and his men stopped at Lemnos, where he seduced her and then abandoned her. (Canto 18.)

Ida: a mountain in Crete. In classical mythology, it was chosen by Rhea (Cybele) as the place to hide her infant son, Jupiter, from his father, Saturn, who often ate them. When the baby would cry, Rhea had her servants (Corybantes) scream and shout to drown out the baby’s cries. (Canto 14.)
Ilium (Greek, Ilion): another name for Troy. (Canto 30.)
Imola: an Italian town about 25 miles southwest of Bologna on the way to the Adriatic coast. (Canto 27.)
India: the sub-continent that sits at the bottom of central Asia . (Canto 14.)
Israel (Jacob): the third of the three patriarchs of ancient Israel; grandson of the patriarch Abraham and son of the patriarch Isaac. (Canto 4.)

Jacob: (see Israel). (Canto 4.)
Jacopo Rusticucci: a wealthy knight and distinguished Florentine Guelf punished among the sodomites. (Cantos 6, 16.)
Jason: [1] famous in mythology as the leader of the Argonauts. In order to regain the promised throne of Iolcus, he set out to get the golden fleece possessed by the king of Colchis. On the way there, the Argonauts stopped at the island of Lemnos where Jason seduced Hypsipyle, the king’s daughter. Once at Colchis, he fell in love with the king’s daughter, Medea, and married her. Once back home at the end of his mission, Jason fell in love with Creusa, daughter of the king of Corinth. Medea killed her and murdered her own children. Jason died of grief. (Canto 19.) [2] a wicked high priest of Israel who fraudulently obtained his position. (See II Maccabees.) (Canto 19.)
Jehoshaphat: a valley in Palestine just east of Jerusalem, noted in legend to be the gathering place of all peoples at the end of the world for the Last Judgment, sometimes connected with Armageddon. (Canto 10.)
Jesus: (see Christ).
Joseph: son of the patriarch Jacob in the Book of Genesis, the patriarch. (Canto 30.)
Jove (Jupiter): the Roman deity identified with the Greek Zeus, son of Cronos and Rhea, “father of the gods and men,” and chief of the Olympian deities. (Cantos 14, 31.)
Jovial Friars: a quasi religious order founded in Bologna, whose members were pledged to keep the peace among warring factions in various Italian cities. (Canto 23.)
Jubilee: a year-long period of forgiveness of sins first instituted by Pope Boniface VIII in 1300. A plenary indulgence of forgiveness of sins was granted to all pilgrims who came to Rome during that year, went to confession, and visited the tombs of the Apostles and various other sacred shrines. The term comes from chapter 25 in the Book of Leviticus. It has been celebrated every 25 years since its institution. (Canto 18.)
Judas: Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Christ. (Cantos 9, 31, 33.)
Judecca: the fourth (central) of four concentric areas at the bottom of Hell. It is named for Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Christ. Those who betrayed their lords and masters are punished here. (Canto 34.)
Julia: daughter of Julius Caesar and wife of Pompey. (Canto 4.)
Juno (Greek, Hera): the daughter of Saturn and the wife of Jupiter. (Canto 30.)
Jupiter: see Jove. (Cantos 14, 31.)

King Athamas: the king of Boeotia (an ancient kingdom in southeastern Greece). His second wife, Ino, hated the children from his first wife and sought to kill them. Her plot was not successful, however, and Juno struck Athamas with madness. He killed one of his sons (Learchus), and Ino, in a fit of madness, threw herself and her other son into the sea. (Canto 30.)
King Frederick (Frederick, the Second Frederick): Emperor Frederick II (1194-1250) of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, grandson of Frederick Barbarossa, son of Emperor Henry VI and Constance of Sicily; he was born at Jesi, near Ancona, Italy. He was called by his contemporaries “Stupor Mundi” (the Wonder of the World) for his multifarious and eccentric brilliance. (Cantos 10, 13, 23.)

Laertes: the father of Ulysses (Odysseus). (Canto 26.)
Lake Benaco: now known as Lake Garda, its southern end lies bewteen Brescia and Verona. (Canto 20.)
Lamone: an Italian river that rises in the Apennines between Florence and Faenza, flows northeast through Faenza and empties into the Adriatic just north of Ravenna. (Canto 27.)
Lancelot (du Lac): hero of the Medieval romance Lancelot du Lac. He was the most famous of the knights of the Round Table. Among the many variants of the story, he fell in love with King Arthur’s wife, Queen Guinevere, which led to Arthur and his kingdom. (Canto 5.)
Lanfranchi: one of the leading Ghibelline families of Pisa. (Canto 33.)
Lano: a wealthy nobleman from Siena who was a reckless profligate and spendthrift. (Canto 13.)
Lateran: a palace in Rome dating back to the early Roman Empire and occupied by the important Laterani family, advisors to several emperors. Constantine took possession of the palace in the early 4^th century and soon ordered the construction of the great Basilica of St. John Lateran, which is the cathedral church of Rome. The Lateran Palace is adjacent to the Basilica and was used as the residence of the popes from 313 to 1309. (Canto 27.)
Latian King (Latinus): Latinus, king of Latium (central western region of Italy containing the city of Rome). He gave his daughter, Lavinia, in marriage to Aeneas. (Canto 4.)
Lavinia: daughter of Latinus. See Aeneas. (Canto 4.)
Learchus: the infant son of King Athamas and Ino, killed by his father in a fit of madness. (Canto 30.)
Lemnos: a Greek island in the northeastern Aegean Sea. (Canto 18.)
Lethe: in classical mythology one of the rivers of the underworld. Drinking its waters caused one to forget the past. (Canto 14.)
Libbicocco: one of several mischievous devils who torment the grafters in the Inferno. (Canto 21, 22.)
Libya: a country of north Africa; but in ancient times, this was the name for all of north Africa except Egypt. (Canto 24.)
Linus: a mythical Greek poet with a considerable divine family tree; noted for his songs and melodies. (Canto 4.)
Livy (Titus Livius): a Roman historian (57 B.C.-17 A.D.) who, under the patronage of Augustus Caesar, he wrote his great History of Rome. (Canto 28.)
Loderingo: Loderingo degli Andalo (1210-1293), like Friar Catalano, a member of the “Jovial Friars,” a quasi religious order of Bologna. (Canto 23.)
Logodoro: a large administrative area of northwest Sardinia. (Canto 22.)
Lombard: a citizen of Lombardy, a region of north central Italy bordering on Switzerland, and whose main cities include Milan and Brescia; also the dialect of Lombardy. (Canto 27.)
Lombardy: a major region of north central Italy, situated between the Alps and the Po River, with the region of Milan to the west and Brescia to the east. (Canto 1.)
Lucan (Marcus Annaeus Lucanus): a famed Roman poet (A .D. 39-65) and author of the great epic of the civil war, Pharsalia. Born at Cordova, he lived most of his life in Rome until he was condemned for joining the conspiracy of Piso against the Emperor Nero. He then took his own life. (Cantos 4, 25.)
Lucca: an Italian city in Tuscany about 12 miles northeast of Pisa. (Cantos 18, 21, 33.)
Lucia (Saint Lucy): an early Christian Martyr. Her name means “light,” and she is invoked as the patron saint of the eyes and those who need both sight and insight. (Canto 2.)
Lucifer: Satan, the Devil, Dis, Beelzebub, etc. Once the highest of the angels, now the prince and personification of Evil. (Cantos 31, 34.)
Lucretia: the honorable wife of Lucius Tarquinus Collatinus; her rape by Tarquin led her to take her own life and set in motion the expulsion of the Tarquin dynasty and the start of the Roman Republic. (Canto 4.)Luni: an Italian city, near Carrara. (Canto 20.)

Maghinardo Pagano: governor of Faenza, Forlì, and Imola, noted for switching sides between the Guelfs and Ghibellines. (Canto 27.)
Mahomet (Mohammed): (c. 570-632) born at Mecca, founder of the religion of Islam. (Canto 28.)
Malacoda: the chief of the mischievous devils who torment the grafters in the Inferno. (Canto 21.)
Malatestino, son of Malatesta da Verrucchio (the Old One), Lord of Rimini from 1312 to 1317. (Canto 28.)
Malebolge: “evil pouches”; a region of Hell comprising the Eighth Circle. It is made up of ten concentric rings or bolge that descend one from the other and are connected by bridges like a series on wheels and spokes. Various and increasingly serious forms are fraud are punished here. (Canto 18.)
Malebranche: “evil claws”; the group of mischievous devils who oversee the torment of the grafters in the fifth “pocket” of Malebolge in the Inferno. (Cantos 21, 22, 23.)
Manfred: (illegitimate) son of Frederick II. He was the King of Sicily, a Ghibelline, brilliant and unorthodox. He was betrayed by his allies and defeated by Charles of Anjou at the Battle of Benevento in 1266. He is the chief character in Canto 3 of the Purgatorio.
Marcabò: a castle/fortress built by the Venetians in 1260. It was located about 10 miles north of Ravenna near the present town of Sant’Alberto, below the lagoon of Comacchio near the mouths of the Po. It was destroyed after the defeat of the Venetians in 1309. (Canto 28.)
Manto: a prophetess and daughter of the famed Theban seer Tiresias and founder of the Italian city of
Mantua. (Canto 20.)
Mantua (Mantova): a city in north central Italy below Lake Garda and between Milan and Venice, named for the Greek prophetess Manto, and the birth-place of Virgil. (Canto 20.)
Mantuan (Mantua): a citizen of Mantua. (Cantos 1, 2.)
Marcia: the second wife of Cato of Utica. (Canto 4.)
Maremma: a large region along the southern coast of Tuscany and northwest Lazio which, in Dante’s time, was a vast swampy area. (Cantos 25, 29.)
Mars: son of Jupiter, the Roman god of war, and patron of ancient Florence before St. John the Baptist. (Canto 13, 24, 31.)
Master Adam(o): a counterfeiter (see Aghinolfo da Romena), probably from the Casentino region east of Florence. (Canto 30.)
Matthias: the man elected to take the place of the traitor Judas Iscariot among the Twelve Apostles. (Canto 19.)
Medea: the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, she appears at various points in classical mythology, most often as a sorceress connected to the goddess Hecate. She is probably most notable in Euripides’ tragedy Medea. (See Jason.) (Canto 18.)
Medusa: one of the three Gorgons of classical mythology and the only one who was mortal. Having angered Minerva, the goddess turned her beautiful hair into a nest of serpents and anyone who subsequently looked at her was immediately turned to stone. (Canto 9.)
Megaera: one of the three Erynes or avenging Furies of classical mythology. (Canto 9.)
Menalippus: a Theban warrior killed by Tydeus in the battle of the Seven Against Thebes. However, he was also mortally wounded by Tydeus. As Menalippus was dying, Tydeus’ severed head was brought to him and he gnawed on it until he died. (Canto 32.)
Mencio: (Mincio); a river in northern Italy that flows out of Lake Garda and flows into the Po River near
Mantua. (Canto 20.)
Messer Guido: Guido da Cassero, one of two leading citizens of Fano (on the Adriatic coast between Rimini and Ancona). Along with Angiolello da Carignano, he was called to a meeting on a ship off the coast of Cattolica by the treacherous Malatestino who murdered them by throwing them overboard. (Canto 28.)
Michael (Saint): the archangel, chief of the angelic host. (Canto 7.)
Michael Scot: a Scottish philosopher and reputed to be a magician. He was part of the court of Frederick II and translated the works of Aristotle from the Arabic of Avicenna. (Canto 20.)
Michel(e) Zanche, (Don): believed to have been the governor of Logodoro in Sardinia, who eventually married the queen after she divorced the king and assumed the government of the island. He was later murdered by his son-in-law, Branca d’Oria, whom Dante will meet at the bottom of Hell. (Cantos 20, 22, 33.)
Minos: a son of Zeus, legendary king of Crete, and judge of the Underworld after his death. (Cantos 5, 29.)
Niccolo: Niccolo de’ Salimbeni, a member of the Sienese Spendthrift Club. (Canto 29.)
Minotaur: in mythology the half-human half-bull offspring of Pasiphae (wife of Minos, king of Crete) and a bull. (Canto 12.)
Montagna: Montagna de’ Parcitati, head of the Ghibelline party in Rimini. (Canto 27.)
Montaperti: a valley/hill about 15 miles east of Siena where the famous Battle of Montaperti on September 4, 1260 was waged between the Florentine Guelfs and the Sienese Ghibellines. The Sienese forces routed the Florentines in what was one of the bloodiest battles in the Middle Ages. (Cantos 10, 32.)
Monte Giordano: a hill in Rome to the left of Castel Sant’ Angelo. (Canto 18.)
Monte Veso (Viso): a peak of the Alps in the Piedmont region of Italy, the River Po has its source there. (Canto 16.)
Montereggion (Montereggioni): a hill town near Siena surrounded by high walls and 14 towers. (Canto 31.)
Montone: an Italian river that rises in the Tuscan Apennines, above the monastery of San Benedetto dell’Alpe. Before it reached Forlí in Dante’s time it was known as the Acquacheta. (Canto 16.)
Mordred: the traitorous nephew of King Arthur who tried to kill him, but was killed by the king instead. (Canto 32.)
Moroello Malaspina: (c. 1268-1315) a Guelf leader and friend of Dante. He and his large family owned vast tracts of land to the northwest of Florence. He led the Guelf army of Florence against Lucca and Pistoia. At one point he was the podestà of Bologna. (Canto 24.)
Mosca: a member of the Lamberti family of Florence (d. 1243). His role in a broken engagement led to the murder of the intended groom which fomented the split between the Florentine Guelfs and Ghibellines. (Cantos 6, 28.)
Moses: the law-giver and deliverer of Israel; chief character of the Old Testament Book of Exodus. (Canto 4.)
Mount of Purgatory: the location of the Second Canticle of Dante’s Divine Comedy. It was formed by the earth piling up behind Satan as he fell from Heaven to the center of the Earth (the bottom of Hell). (Canto 34.)
Mount Aventine: one of the seven hills of Rome, legendary site of the cave of Cacus. (Canto 25.)
Mount Soracte: a mountain near Rome and location of the church and monastery of San Silvestro. Pope St. Sylvester I healed Constantine who had contracted leprosy, and the emperor repaid him by “The Donation of Constantine.” (See Constantine.) (Canto 27.)
Mount Tambernic: Scholars do not agree on the location of this mountain. Some place it in the Balkans and others in the Apuan Alps of Tuscany just east of Carrara and Massa. (Canto 32.)
Mountain: A reference to the Mountain of Purgatory. (Canto 26.)
Muses: in classical mythology, the nine Muses – daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne – are generally associated with Apollo. Invoked as goddesses, they preside over the realms of poetry, literature, and music. (Canto 2.)
Myrrha: the daughter of Cinyras, king of Cyprus. Overcome with passion for her father, she disguised herself and went to his bed where they made love. (Canto 30.)

Napoleone degli Alberti: one of two sons of Count Alberto of Mangona who, in a fight over their inheritance, ended up killing each other.( See Allesandro degli Alberti.) (Canto 32.)
Narcissus: a handsome Greek boy, the son of Cephisus the river-god. He became so enamored with his reflection in a clear pond that he couldn’t stop looking at it and starved to death. (Canto 30.)
Nasidius: a soldier in Cato’s army in Africa. When bitten by a snake, he turned into a formless blob of flesh. (Canto 25.)
Navarre: a kingdom on both sides of the Pyrenees, consisting of French and Spanish Navarre. (Canto 22.)
Navarrese: an inhabitant of Navarre. (Canto 22.)
Neptune (Greek Poseidon): the god of the sea. (Canto 28.)
Nessus: a centaur, made famous in mythology in the story of his abduction of Dejanira, wife of Hercules. (Canto 12.)
Nicholas III, Pope: Gian Gaetano degli Orsini (c. 1225-1280). Known for his integrity as a cardinal, his papacy was marred by his notorious simony and nepotism. (Canto 19.)
Nile: the main river of Egypt that flows north from Lake Victoria in central Africa and empties into the southeastern Mediterranean. (Canto 34.)
Nimrod: possibly an ancient king of Mesopotamia and often associated with the building of the Tower of Babel in the Book of Genesis. Dante associates him with the Giants. (Canto 31.)
Ninus: a warrior king, who with his wife, Semiramis, is said to have founded the ancient Assyrian empire (c. 2182 B.C.). (Canto 5.)
Nisus: a Trojan companion of Aeneas; inseparable friend of Euryalus; killed in a skirmish with the Rutulians. (Canto 1.)
Noah: chief character in the Old Testament story of the Great Flood in the Book of Genesis. (Canto 4.)
Novarese: citizens of Novara, a northwestern Italian city about 30 miles west of Milan. (Canto 28.)

Opizzo d’Este (Opizzo II d’Esti): Opizzo II d’Esti, Marquis of Ferrara and the March of Ancona (1264-1293), a Guelf nobleman who assisted the army of Charles of Anjou to cross the Po in the campaign against King Manfred of Sicily. Noted for his cruelty. (Cantos 12, 18.)
Ordelaffi: the tyrannical ruling family of Forlì. (Canto 27.)
Orpheus: a mythical Greek poet and musician, taught by Apollo. (Canto 4.)
Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso): a Roman poet (43 B.C. – 17 A.D.) best known for his collection of legends and amazing stories in his Metamorphoses. (Cantos 4, 25.)

Paduans: citizens of Padua, a city in the Veneto region of Italy, not far from Venice. (Cantos 15, 17.)
Palestrina: as ancient Italian town located in the foothills 25 miles east of Rome. (Canto 27.)
Palladium: a golden statue of the goddess Athena said to protect the ancient city of Troy as long as it remained within its walls. It was stolen by Ulysses and Diomed. (Canto 26.)
Paolo Malatesta: third son of Malatesta da Verrucchio, lord of Rimini, and lover of his brother’s wife,
Francesca da Rimini. (Canto 5.)
Paris: the son of Priam, king of Troy. He “won” Helen (of Troy) in a beauty contest between the goddesses Juno, Minerva, and Venus when he fell for Venus’ promise to give him the most beautiful woman in the world. Abducting her from Sparta and her husband, King Menelaus, he brought her to Troy. The Trojan War ensued. (Canto 5.)
Paul (Saint): known as “The Apostle to the Gentiles,” he is a major figure in the development of early Christianity, one of the chief protagonists in the Acts of the Apostles, and the author of several major New Testament letters. (Canto 2.)
Peleus: the father of Achilles. (Canto 31.)
Penelope: the wife of Ulysses (Odysseus). (Canto 26.)
Penthesilea: Queen of the Amazons and the daughter of Mars; killed by Achilles during the Trojan war. (Canto 4.)
Perillus: the maker of the Sicilian Bull commissioned by Phalaris, the 6^th century B.C. tyrant of Agrigentum (southern Sicily) as an instrument of torture. (Canto 27.)
Polenta: a castle a few miles south of the Italian city of Forli, from which the Guelf Polenta family took their name. Guido Vecchio Polenta was the father of Francesca da Rimini. Guido II da Polenta was Lord of Ravenna and Dante’s last patron before he died in 1321. (Canto 27.)
Peschiera: a town and fortress at the southern end of Lake Benaco (Garda). (Canto 20.)
Peter (St. Peter): chief of the apostles of Jesus; later martyred in Rome and buried under the great basilica there bearing his name. (Cantos 1, 2, 19.)
Phaethon: in classical mythology he was the son of Apollo and Clymene. He begged his father to allow him to drive the chariot of the sun. Unfortunately, as Apollo had warned him, he was not able to control the chariot and it raced wildly across the heavens burning a great streak in the sky that became known as the Milky Way. Jupiter killed him with a thunderbolt before he could damage the earth. (Canto 17.)
Phlegethon: “flaming”; one of the four rivers of Hell. In the Inferno it is a river of boiling blood. (Cantos 12, 14.)
Phlegra’s Battle: on the Macedonian peninsula of Pallene, the scene of the battle in which Jupiter and others defeated the Giants who attempted to storm Olympus. (Canto 14.)
Phlegyas: a son of Mars, king of the Lapithae, and the boatman of the River Styx. (Canto 8.)
Pholus: a centaur who, like Chiron, was cultured and intelligent. Like Chiron he is distinguished from all the other centaurs in that his human form extends toward the horse’s waist instead of its shoulders. (Canto 12.)
Photinus: a fifth-century deacon of Thessalonica. He was a follower of the heretic Acacius and was sent to
Pope Anastasius in an attempt to settle the theological dispute about the nature of Christ that was dividing the Christian church. Anastasius offered Holy Community to Photinus, as a kind of peace offering. The deacon refused. Some believed that the pope went to far in doing this which cast suspicion on his papacy. Dante connects him with Anastasius. (Canto 11.)
Piceno: (Piceno’s field) a location near Pistoia where the Black Guelfs under the leadership of Moroello
Malaspina defeated the White Guelfs. (Canto 24.)
Pier Da Medicina: little is known of him except that he was from Medicina, an Italian town about 20 miles east of Bologna. It is said that he instigated the feuding between the Polenta and Malatesta families. (Canto 28.)
Pier Delle Vigne: the chancellor of Emperor Frederick II and noted poet (c. 1190 – c. 1249). (Canto 13.)
Pietrapana: Most likely a mountain peak in western Tuscany to the northeast of Viareggio. (Canto 32.)
Pinamonte: Pinamonte de’ Bonaccolsi, a Ghibelline who took control of Mantua in 1272. (Canto 20.)
Pine Cone: a bronze pine cone over 7 feet tall dating back to Roman times. It stood in front of the old St.
Peter’s Basilica and now stands in the gardens of the Vatican Museum. (Canto 31.)
Pisa: an Italian city in Tuscany at the mouth of the Arno river. (Canto 33.)
Pisans: citizens ofPisa. (Canto 33.)
Pistoia: a town in Tuscany about 25 miles northwest of Florence. (Canto 24.)
Plato: one of the two most famous of the Greek philosophers (along with his student, Aristotle) (c. 428-347 B.C.). He was a student of Socrates and later started his own school; famous for his dialogues and many other philosophical works. The two philosophical traditions of Plato and Aristotle are the later foundation of the entire Western philosophical tradition. (Canto 4.)
Plutus: the god of wealth and guardian over the misers and spendthrifts in Canto 7 of the Inferno. (Cantos 6, 7.)
Po: the longest river in Italy (400 miles), it flows across the northern part of the country from the Alps in the northwest and empties into the Adriatic near Ravenna. (Cantos 5, 20.)
Pola: a seaport near the southern extremity of the Istrian peninsula (below Trieste). Like Arles, it is known for its Roman ruins and a great cemetery filled with sarcophagi. (Canto 9.)
Polydorus: son of Priam, king of Troy, and Hecuba. (Canto 30.)
Polyxena: the daughter of Priam, king of Troy, and Hecuba. (Canto 30.)
Potiphar’s Wife: the wife of the Pharaoh’s chief steward who attempted to seduce Joseph. (See Genesis 39.) (Canto 30.)
Prato: a town in Tuscany about ten miles northwest of Florence. (Canto 26.)
Prince Henry: [1] son of Richard, Duke of Cornwall and nephew of Henry III. Assassinated during Mass by Guy de Montfort. (Canto 12.) [2] the eldest of the four sons of King Henry II of England. Their revolt against their father ended in failure. (Canto 28.)
Priscian (Priscianus Caesariensis): a famous sixth-century Latin grammarian, born at Caesarea in Cappadoccia. His Institutes of Grammar was the standard textbook for the study of Latin in the Middle Ages. (Canto 15.)
Proserpina (Greek, Persephone): the daughter of Ceres, she was stolen away by Pluto while gathering flowers and carried off to be his queen in Hades. (Canto 9.)
Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus): Greek mathematician, astronomer, and geographer (c. 100 A.D. – c. 170 A.D.); author of several major scientific works. (Canto 4.)
Puccio Scianciato: a Florentine thief and a member of the Ghibelline Galigai family of Florence. Exiled from Florence in 1268. (Canto 25.)
Puglia (Apulia): a large region of southeastern Italy which borders the Adriatic Sea from below Pescara to the bottom of the “heel” of the peninsula. (Canto 28.)
Puglians: citizens of Puglia. (Canto 28.)
Pyrrhus: he may be the King of Epirus (318 B.C. – 272 B.C.) or his ancestor, also King of Epirus and son of Achilles. (Canto 12.)

Quarnero’s Gulf: the Gulf of Quarnero is located on the eastern side of the Istrian peninsula. (Canto 9.)

Rachel: wife of the Patriarch Jacob (grandson of Abraham) and mother of two of his twelve sons, the famous Joseph and Benjamin. (Canto 2.)
Ravenna: a city in Italy on the Adriatic about 75 miles south of Venice, near the mouth of the Po river. In the Fifth century it was the capital of the Western Roman Empire. (Cantos 5, 27.)
Red Sea: a body of water that separates the Arabian peninsula from Africa. (Canto 24.)
Reno: a river of northern Italy, among its longest. It rises in the mountainous region north of Pistoia, flows north and then west of Bologna on its way to the Adriatic just north of Ravenna. (Canto 18.)
Rhea (Cybele): the daughter of Uranus (Heaven) and Ge (Earth), wife of Saturn, and mother of Jupiter. (Canto 14.)
Rhone: the longest river of France; it starts at Lake Geneva in Switzerland and empties into the Mediterranean at Arles in France. (Canto 9.)
Rimini: a coastal city about 120 miles south of Venice. (Canto 5.)
Rinier Da Corneto: an infamous highway robber in Dante’s time whose specialty was robbing the clergy. (Canto 12.)
Rinier Pazzo: an infamous highway robber in Dante’s time. (Canto 12.)
Robert Guiscard: Duke of Apulia and Calabria (c. 1015-85); an 11^th century adventurer from Normandy who gained control of all of southern Italy. Fighting against Byzantine domination, he gave Roman Christianity a firm foundation in southern Italy and Sicily. (Canto 28.)
Roland: the famous nephew of Charlemagne and French epic hero who was slain through treachery at Roncesvalles. (Canto 31.)
Romagna: a province of Italy lying between Bologna and the Adriatic, now called Emilia. (Cantos 27, 33.)
Romans: citizens of Rome. (Cantos 15, 18, 26.)
Rome: ancient capital of the Empire, situated on the Tiber River in the central coastal region of Italy (Latium). (Cantos 1, 2, 14, 31.)
Romena: a castle belonging to the Guidi Counts and village in the Casentino, a hilly region about 50 miles east of Florence. (Canto 30.)
Rubicante: one of several mischievous devils who torment the grafters in the Inferno. (Cantos 21, 22.)
Ruggieri, the Archbishop: Ruggieri degli Ubaldini, Archbishop of Pisa (1278-95), nephew of Cardinal Ottaviano degli Ubaldini mentioned in canto 10. He betrayed Count Ugolino. (Canto 33.)

Sabellus: a soldier in Cato’s army in Africa. When bitten by a snake, he turned to ash. (Canto 25.)
Saint Francis (of Assisi, Giovanni Francesco Bernadone): (c. 1181-1226) the son of a wool merchant of Assisi. In 1209 he drew up the rules of his order called the Minor Friars for their espousal of poverty and humility. They were later called the Franciscans. Jesus spoke to him from a church crucifix, telling him to “rebuild my church,” meaning to restore a vain and pompous church to its original Gospel simplicity. He is the first person recorded to have received the stigmata, the marks of Jesus’ crucifixion on his body. He was canonized in 1228, only two years after his death, by Pope Gregory IX. He is one of the two patron Saints of Italy. The other is St. Catherine of Siena. (Canto 27.)
Saint Peter’s Cone: a bronze pine cone over 7 feet tall dating back to Roman times. It stood in front of the old St. Peter’s Basilica and now stands in the gardens of the Vatican Museum. (Canto 31.)
Saint Peter: chief of the apostles of Jesus; later martyred in Rome and buried there under the great basilica bearing his name. (Canto 2.)
Saladin (Salah-ed-din Yussuf Ibn Ayub): Sultan of Egypt and Syria (1137-93); famed Muslim hero of the Third Crusade. (Canto 4.)
San Giovanni: the Baptistery of Florence where Dante was baptized. (Canto 19.)
San Benedetto Dell’ Alpe: a monastery on the upper reaches of the Montone. (Canto 16.)
Santa Zita: (c. 1212-1272); born in a small town near Lucca, she is the patron saint of that city and of maids and servants. (Canto 21.)
Santerno: a river of northern Italy that rises in the Apennines between Florence and Bologna, flows northeast and joins the Reno river on its way to the Adriatic just north of Ravenna at the lagoon of Comacchio. (Canto 27.)
Sardinia: a large island off the central west coast of Italy about 200 miles from Rome. (Cantos 22, 26, 29.)
Sassol Mascheroni: a Florentine said to have murdered his cousin in order to get his inheritance. (Canto 32.)
Satan: a name of the Devil, along with Lucifer, the Evil One, Dis, Beelzebub, etc. (Canto 1, 7.)
Saturn: in ancient mythology he was king of Crete and later of Italy, where the Romans called him Kronos. He was the father of Jupiter and many other divinities. (Canto 14.)
Savena: a river of northern Italy, it flows northward from Lake Castel dell’Alpi between Florence and Bologna, and joins the River Indice east of Bologna. (Canto 18.)
Savio: a river of northern Italy, which rises in the Apennines and flows north about 50 miles past Cesena. It falls into the Adriatic between Ravenna and Cervia to the south. (Canto 27.)
Scarmiglione: one of several mischievous devils who torment the grafters in the Inferno. (Canto 21.)
Serchio: a river in Tuscany that passes along the northern side of Lucca. Later it flows through the northern side of Pisa and empties into the Mediterranean. (Canto 21.)
Scipio (Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major): a famous Roman general c.234-183 B.C.) who fought against Hannibal at Cannae and later defeated him at the Battle of Zama (202 B.C.). (Cantos 28, 31.)
Scrovegni: a family of Padua, Italy, notorious for its usury. (Canto 17.)
Scylla: along with Charybdis, great sea monsters who devoured entire ships and sailors, located in the Straits of Messina between Italy and Sicily. Noted by Homer in the Odyssey and in the Metamorphoses of Ovid. (Canto 7.)
Second Frederick: see King Frederick. (Cantos 13, 23.)
Semele: the daughter of Cadmus, founder and king of Thebes. Zeus fell in love with her and carried on a long affair until his wife Hera tricked Semele into asking Zeus to promise on oath that he would appear to her in all his glory. When he did so, Semele burst into flame and was reduced to ashes. (Canto 30.)
Semiramis: legendary queen of Assyria; wife and successor of Ninus. (Canto 5.)
Seneca (Lucius Annaeus Seneca): Roman philosopher and tragic poet(4 B.C.- 65 A.D.). Author of numerous philosophical works in the Stoic tradition and several tragedies in the Greek style. (Canto 4.)
Ser Brunetto: see Brunetto Latini. (Canto 15.)
Ser Branca d’Oria: See Branca d’Oria. (Canto 33.)
Seville: a city on the southern coast of Spain. (Cantos 20, 26.)
Sextus: most likely the son of Pompey the Great (c. 67 B.C. – 35 B.C.) and a life-long enemy of Julius Caesar. After numerous battles and skirmishes against those who followed Caesar and his successors, including a naval blockade of the Italian coast, he was eventually captured and executed by General Titus. (Canto 12.)
Sichaeus: a wealthy Phoenician of Tyre, the uncle and husband of Dido, Queen of Carthage. (Canto 5.)
Sicilian Bull: a large bronze bull created by Perillis of Greece for the Sicilian tyrant Phalaris. Criminals were closed up inside of it and a fire was lit underneath it. It was said that their cries sounded like the bellowing of a bull. Ironically, Perillis was its first victim! (Canto 27.)
Sicily: an island in the Mediterranean just below and off the southwest coast (the “toe”) of the mainland of Italy. (Canto 12.)
Siena: an Italian city about 50 miles south of Florence. In Dante’s time a stronghold of the Ghibelline party. (Canto 29.)
Sienese: citizens of Siena. (Canto 29.)
Silvestro: Pope St. Sylvester I: (285 A.D. – 335 A.D.). Said to have cured Constantine of his leprosy, for which the emperor repaid him by “The Donation of Constantine,” a document purported to give the papacy authority over the western empire. It was later proved to be a forgery. (Cantos 19, 27.)
Simon Magus: a magician noted in chapter 8 of the Acts of the Apostles. Seeing the apostles curing the sick, he sought to purchase the power to do the same from St. Peter. The crime of simony comes from his name. (Canto 19.)
Sinon: a Greek soldier of the Trojan War who, according to plan, persuaded the Trojans to bring the Wooden Horse into the city. (Canto 30.)
Sismondi: one of the leading Ghibelline families of Pisa. (Canto 33.)
Socrates: famous Greek philosopher (c. 469-399 B.C.). He wrote nothing, and did not found a school, but is famous for his method of argument by questions – preserved in the Dialogues of his student Plato. He believed that all vice was ignorance and that right understanding would enable one to live virtuously. (Canto 4.)
Sodom: a city of ancient of Palestine located toward the south-eastern part of the Dead Sea. In the Book of Genesis it was destroyed for its wickedness along with neighboring Gomorrah. (Canto 11.)
Spendthrift Club: A group of wealthy profligates in Siena who strove to outdo each other in how quickly and extravagantly they could run through their fortunes. (Canto 29.)
St. John (the Evangelist): one of the apostles of Jesus, known as the “beloved disciple,” author of the Gospel of John, the Book of Revelation, and several letters in the New Testament. (Canto 19.)
St. Peter: chief of the apostles of Jesus; later martyred in Rome and buried there under the great basilica bearing his name. (Canto 19.)
Stricca: Stricca di Giovanni dei Salimbeni, a member of the Sienese Spendthrift Club. (Canto 29.)
Strophades: islands in the Ionian Sea, to the west of the southwestern coast of Greece. Aeneas and his men stopped there and were harassed by the Harpies. (Canto 13.)
Styx: “the hateful,” one of the four rivers of Hell and one of the nine rivers of the ancient underworld. (Cantos 7, 9, 14.)
Sultan: a reference to the sultan, El-Melik En-Nasir Muhammad (1299-1309), who ruled Egypt and Syria and lands that would have been governed by Ninus and Semiramis. (Canto 5.)

Tagliacozzo: a central Italian town in the mountains about 55 miles east of Rome and about 35 miles south of L’Aquila. (Canto 28.)
Tarquin (Lucius Tarquinius Superbus): the seventh and last of the Tarquinian kings of Rome, noted for his tyranny and cruelty. (Canto 4.)
Tegghiaio Aldobrandi: a Florentine Guelf nobleman who advised against the battle with Siena that resulted in a disastrous defeat for Florence at Montaperti in 1260. He is among the sodomites in the Inferno. (Cantos 6, 16.)
Telemachus: the son of Ulysses (Odysseus) and Penelope. (Canto 26.)
Thaïs: the famous cultured and well-educated prostitute who accompanied Alexander the Great. Dante may have meant the ancient Thaïs, but this reference, according to the flattery referred to here by Virgil, is attributed to the whore in Terence’s play Eunuchus. (Canto 18.)
Thales: Greek philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer (c. 635 – c. 545 B.C.); one of the Seven Sages of Greece; called by Aristotle the first philosopher in the Greek tradition. (Canto 4.)
Thames: the longest river in England itself. It flows through London on its way to the North Sea. (Canto 12.)
Thebans: citizens of Thebes. (Cantos 20, 30.)
Thebes: a famed ancient city of Boeotia, Greece, some 30 miles northwest of Athens. It is noted in many mythological stories and in connection with famous ancient characters and events. It is said to have been founded by Cadmus, and its walls were said to have built themselves to the music of Amphion. It is noted in the stories of Oedipus, Semele, Dionysius, and Hercules to name a few. Much of it was eventually destroyed by Alexander the Great. But for all its fame it also had a darker reputation for wickedness and violence. (Cantos 14, 20, 25, 32, 33.)
Theseus (Duke of Athens): mythical founder of Athens and hero of many famous stories, including the rescue of Ariadne from the Minotaur (see Canto 12) and the attempted rescue of Proserpine. (Canto 9, 12.)
Tibbald: member of the Zambrasi family of Faenza. The Lambertazzi family, Bolognese Ghibellines went into exile in Faenza. As an act of vengeance against them, Tibbald opened the gates of Faenza to their enemies who came in at night and murdered them. (Canto 32.)
Tiber: Italy’s third longest river. It rises in the mountains about 45 miles east of Cesena and eventually flows through Rome on its way to the sea at Ostia. (Canto 27.)
Tiresias: the famed blind Theban prophet and soothsayer. (Canto 20.)
Tisiphone: one of the three Erynes or avenging Furies of classical mythology. (Canto 9.)
Tityus: a member of the race of Titans or Giants, slain by Jupiter for his attempted rape of Diana. (Canto 31.)
Tolomea: also Ptolomea, the third of four concentric areas at the bottom of Hell. It is named either for Ptolemy of Jericho who had his father-in-law and two of his sons murdered during a meal (see I Maccabees XVI), or Ptolemy XII of Egypt who murdered Pompey after welcoming him. Those who betrayed their guests are punished here. (Canto 33.)
Toppo: a river ford near Arezzo, site of the disastrous defeat of the Sienese troops by the Aretines in 1287. (Canto 13.)
Trent: (Trento) a city on the Adige river in northern Italy about 60 miles north of Verona. (Cantos 12, 20.)
Tristan: a knight of Arthurian legend. He fell in love with Isolde, wife of King Mark of Cornwall. Dante seems to follow the story in which the king surprises Tristan with Isolde and kills him. (Canto 5.)
Trojans: inhabitants of the ancient city of Troy. (Canto 13, 20.)
Troy: an ancient city in Asia Minor (northwestern Turkey), highlighted in Homer’s Iliad, and Virgil’s Aeneid (in which Aeneas escapes and follows his destiny to found Rome). (See Illium.) (Cantos 1, 30.)
Tully (Marcus Tullius Cicero): famed Roman orator, writer, philosopher, and statesman (106-43 B.C.); several of his works were well known to Dante, particularly his essay “On Duty,” which had some influence on the poet’s arrangement of sins in the Inferno. (Canto 4.)
Turnus: Rutilian king and chief enemy of Aeneas, particularly after his promised wife, Lavinia, daughter of King Latinus, was later given to Aeneas. (Canto 1.)
Tuscan: an inhabitant of the Italian Province of Tuscany, and the name of their dialect. (Cantos 10, 23, 27, 32.)
Tuscany: a region of Italy that generally extends from the Apennines in the east to the Mediterranean, and from the area below La Spezia in the north to the border with Lazio in the south. Its main river is the Arno, which runs through Florence, its major city and Dante’s birthplace. (Canto 24.)
Tydeus: a king of Chalydon (a mountainous region on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth); one of the Seven against Thebes. (Canto 32.)
Typhon: a member of the race of Titans or Giants. Slain by Jupiter for his rebellion against the gods. (Canto 31.)
Tyrol: a mountainous (alpine) region of northeastern Italy and southern Austria. (Canto 20.)

Ubriachi: a family of notorious Florentine usurers. (Canto 17.)
Uguiccione: Uguiccione della Gherardesca, a son of Count Ugolino. (Canto 33.)
Ulysses (Odysseus): the king of Ithaca and hero of Homer’s epic poem, the Odyssey. Son of Laertes, husband of Penelope, and father of Telemachus. He was one of the principal Greek heroes of the Trojan War. (Canto 26.)
Urbino: a town in east central Italy, south of the Republic of San Marino and about 25 miles from Pesaro on the Adriatic coast. (Canto 27.)

Val Camonica: a long valley in northeastern Lombardy, west of Lake Garda. Most of it is situated in the Province of Brescia, and is the site of numerous battles between Guelfs and Ghibellines in Dante’s time. (Canto 20.)
Valdichiana: an area southward from the Italian city of Arezzo. In Dante’s time, the valley of the Chiana river used to dry up in summer months and turn into a malarial swamp. In modern times, the river has been replaced by a long canal. (Canto 29.)
Valdimagra: the valley of the Magra river, which flows through Lungiana, Italy (northwest of La Spezia). It was the territory of the Malaspina family. (Canto 24.)
Vanni Fucci: the illegitimate son of Fuccio de’ Lazzari. He was a leader of the Blacks in Pistoia and a thief. (Canto 24.)
Venedico Caccianemico: a Bolognese nobleman (c. 1228-1302) and leader of the Guelfs in that city; later Podestà of several other cities. He procured his sister, Ghisolabella, for the Marquis of Este (either Obizzo II or his son, Azzo VIII) for a favor. (Canto 18.)
Venetians: citizens of Venice. (Canto 21.)
Venice: A northeastern Italian seaport on the Adriatic Sea, built entirely on more than 100 small islands, connected by canals, all within a great lagoon; in Dante’s time an independent republic.
Vercelli: a northwestern Italian town between Milan and Turin. (Canto 28.)
Verona: an Italian city in Veneto region of Italy between Brescia and Venice. Home of Dante’s later patron, Can Grande Della Scala, and home for a while during the poet’s exile. (Cantos 15, 20.)
Verrucchio: a castle and village near Rimini, seat of the Malatesta family. (Canto 27.)
Verrucchio’s Old Mastiff: Malatesta da Verrucchio, Lord of Rimini from 1295 to 1312. (Canto 27.)
Verrucchio’s New One: a reference to Malatestino, son of Malatesta da Verrucchio (the Old One), Lord of Rimini from 1312 to 1317. (Cantos 27, 28.)
Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro): Dante’s guide and mentor throughout the Inferno and the Purgatorio. He is one of the most significant of the Roman poets (70-19 B.C.), traditionally said to be born near Mantua in north central Italy. Patronized by the emperor Augustus, he is the author of the great Roman epic, the Aeneid, which celebrates through its hero, Aeneas, the founding of Rome and its later empire. Early Church Fathers saw a prophecy of the birth of Christ in his Fourth Eclogue, and in Dante’s time he had the popular reputation of being somewhat of a magician or wizard. (Canto 1, etc.)
Virgin Mary (Mary): mother of Jesus. (Canto 2.)
Vitaliano: a member of a family of Paduan usurers. (Canto 17.)Vulcan: the Roman god of fire, and the blacksmith of the gods whose forge was said to be in Mount Etna in Sicily (called Mongibello in ancient times). (Canto 14.)

Wain: an older name for the Great Bear or the Big Dipper. (Canto 11.)
Wissant: a port city in Flanders (northern Belgium) between Calais and Cape Gris-Nez. (Canto 15.)

Zeno: founder of Greek Stoic philosophy (c. 334 B.C. – c. 262 B.C.). (Canto 4.)