Dante, Inferno
Acheron in Dante’s Journey
Dante sees a throng by a great stream and asks his guide why the souls seem eager to cross. Virgil postpones his explanation until they reach the sorrowful tide of Acheron. The ferryman gathers the dead at the shore and carries them away from the living sky. The canto uses the river as a boundary after the vestibule and before the circles explored in the following cantos.
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In the sources
The encounter
LiteraryDante sees a throng by a great stream and asks his guide why the souls seem eager to cross. Virgil postpones his explanation until they reach the sorrowful tide of Acheron.
Further detail
LiteraryThe ferryman gathers the dead at the shore and carries them away from the living sky. The canto uses the river as a boundary after the vestibule and before the circles explored in the following cantos.
Context & interpretation
This entry follows the exact supplied Thompson & Thomas edition of H. F. Cary’s translation. Figures, places and events belong to Dante’s literary vision; their assigned roles are distinguished from historical biography, other classical traditions and independently established descriptions of an afterlife.
Original passages
Source 1
Dante's Inferno
woful tide of Acheron." Then with eyes downward cast, and fill'd with shame, Fearing my words offensive to his ear, Till we had reach'd the river,Open this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Dante’s Inferno, Cary translation; active reader leaf 27
Passage read against the exact edition’s extracted canto text; whitespace normalised and original-leaf mapping checked. Plate art separately visually inspected.
- Edition
- IMJ-0082-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0082-E001-P0027
- Original scan leaf
- 34
- Recorded leaf number
- 34
- Current Reader position
- 27
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Dante's Inferno
the curst strand, that every man must pass Who fears not God. Charon, demoniac form, With eyes of burning coal, collects them all, Beckoning, and each,Open this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Dante’s Inferno, Cary translation; active reader leaf 30
Passage read against the exact edition’s extracted canto text; whitespace normalised and original-leaf mapping checked. Plate art separately visually inspected.
- Edition
- IMJ-0082-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0082-E001-P0030
- Original scan leaf
- 37
- Recorded leaf number
- 37
- Current Reader position
- 30
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Illustrations
Continue exploring
Charon, Dante’s Ferryman
The fiery-eyed boatman who gathers the dead at Acheron and objects to Dante’s living presence.
Same subject and traditionAntenora, the Second Frozen Round
The part of the ice where the encounter with Bocca leads to accusations of betrayal.
Same subject and traditionCaina, the First Frozen Round
The first division of the frozen circle, introduced through entangled family figures.
Same subject and traditionCocytus, the Frozen Lake
The lake of immobilising cold at the bottom of Dante’s Inferno.