Absalom Bible. David's favorite son; killed after rebelling against his father: 2 Samuel 18.
Acheron the River of Sorrow.
Achilles Greek Mythology. Greek warrior and leader in the Trojan War who kills Hector and is killed by Paris with an arrow that strikes his only vulnerable spot, his heel; he is the hero of Homer's Iliad.
Aeneas hero of the Aeneid, written by Virgil.
Aesop real or legendary Greek author of fables; supposed to have lived in the sixth century b.c.
Alchemy an early form of chemistry, with magical associations. Its chief aims were to change base metals into gold and to discover the elixir of perpetual youth.
Alecto Greek and Roman Mythology. one of the three Furies.
Alexander Alexander the Great; 356–323 b.c.; king of Macedonia (336–323); military conqueror who helped spread Greek culture from Asia Minor and Egypt to India.
Ali c. 600–661 a.d.; fourth caliph of Islam (656–661), considered the first caliph by the Shiites; son-in-law of Mahomet.
ambush of the Horse the Trojan Horse.
Amphiareus one of the seven captains who fought against Thebes.
Anastasius in Inferno, the leader (whether pope or emperor) who led Photinus to deny the divine paternity of Christ.
Antenora second round of Circle IX.
Apostolate the office, duties, or peroid of activity of an apostle.
Arachne famous spinner who challenged Minerva to a spinning contest; Minerva became enraged at the result of the contest and turned Arachne into a spider.
Argive of ancient Argos or Argolis.
Arno river in Tuscany, central Italy, flowing west through Florence and into the Ligurian Sea.
Aruns a soothsayer from Etruria.
Atropos Greek and Roman Mythology. the one of the three Fates who cuts the thread of life.
Attila king of the Huns and called "Scourge of God" because of his cruelty.
Augustus (Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus) 63 b.c.–14 a.d.; first Roman emperor (27 b.c.–14 a.d.); grandnephew of Julius Caesar.
Azzolinao cruel Ghibelline tyrant.
Bacchiglione river in Italy.
Bacchus Greek and Roman Mythology. the god of wine and revelry.
Baptist's image John the Baptist's image was stamped on gold florins.
Beatrice Dante's childhood and lifelong love and future guide through Paradise.
Beccheria abbot that plotted with the Ghibellines; the Guelphs cut off his head.
bestial like a beast in qualities or behavior; brutish or savage; brutal, coarse, vile, and so on.
Black Black Guelph.
Bocca a Florentine traitor.
Bolognese of Bologna, its people, or their dialect.
Bonturo politician of Lucca.
Borsiere courtier arranger of marriages and a peacemaker.
Branca D'Oria Ghibelline who killed his father-in-law at a banquet he hosted.
Bulicame a red-tinted stream in Viterbo where the prostitutes bathed.
Buoso da Duera accepted a political bribe.
Cahors a city in France known for its usurers.
Cain with his bush of thorns the moon.
Caina the first round in Circle IX; named after Cain.
Camicion de' Pazzi murdered a kinsman.
Cardinal of the Ubaldini a cardinal in Dante's time, said to be involved in money and politics.
Carlin traitor to his country, will go to the next circle.
Cato Cato of Utica; also a friend of Cicero.
Centaurs Greek Mythology. any of a race of monsters with a man's head, trunk, and arms, and a horse's body and legs.
Cerberus Greek and Roman Mythology. the three-headed dog guarding the gate of Hades; in Inferno, Cerberus flays and tortures the Gluttons.
Charles of Anjou seventh son of Louis VIII of France.
Charon the boatman who ferries souls of the dead across the river Styx to Hades; in Inferno, he ferries on the Acheron.
Charybdis old name of a whirlpool off the Northeast coast of Sicily, in the Strait of Messina (now called Galofalo).
chelidrids, jaculi , phareans, cenchriads, amphisbands various reptilian cretures that torture the sinners in the seventh pit.
Chiron Greek Mythology. the wisest of all Centaurs, famous for his knowledge of medicine; he is the teacher of Asclepius, Achilles, and Hercules.
Circe in Homer's Odyssey, an enchantress who turns men into swine.
Cleopatra c. 69–30 b.c.; queen of Egypt (51–49; 48–30); mistress of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.
Cocytus the final circle of Hell.
Colchian Ram the Golden Fleece.
Constantine Constantine I (Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus) c. 280–337 a.d.; emperor of Rome (306–337); converted to Christianity; called the Great.
Corybantes any of the attendants who follow the Phrygian goddess Cybele with dancing and frenzied orgies.
Crete Greek island in the Mediterranean.
Cyprus country on an island at the east end of the Mediterranean, south of Turkey.
