The Second Circle: Minos and the Carnal Sinners

Dante descends to the second circle, where the infernal hurricane forever drives the souls of the carnal sinners who subjugated reason to appetite. At the entrance stands Minos, the infernal judge, who snarls horribly and wraps his tail around himself as many times as the grades the soul must descend. He warns Dante to beware how he enters, but Virgil again silences him with the fate-ordained formula. The souls are tossed and smitten by the blast, without hope of repose. Among them Dante sees Semiramis, Dido, Cleopatra, Helen, Achilles, Paris, and Tristan. He is moved by pity and asks to speak with two who go together, light upon the wind. These are Paolo and Francesca da Rimini. Francesca tells the story of their love, kindled by reading the tale of Lancelot and Guinevere, and how they were killed by her husband. Dante is so overcome with pity that he swoons and falls like a dead body. This episode is one of the most famous in the Inferno, exploring the power of love and the tragedy of sin.