Keeping to his religious theme, Dante again mentions the Harrowing of Hell. The rocks that the poets wait behind fell as a result of the earthquake on the day Christ died and came to Hell (the Harrowing) to retrieve a number of the virtuous pagans. Dante sees the headstone of Anastasius, the pope who gave communion to Photinus, and a deacon who was part of the Greek Church that denied Christ's divine paternity. Dante was probably confused on the history, however, because Emperor Anastasius was the person that convinced Photinus to accept the heresy.
The geography of Hell is one of the most distinctive features of Inferno, and it is as meticulous as the structure of the poem. Virgil uses the waiting time, behind the boulders, to explain to Dante where the path they have been following will take them. This break in the action is a literary device that Dante uses to give a brief explanation of the structure of Hell.
The next circle, Circle VII, is divided into three smaller rounds that house sinners of violence, which are, symbolically, the sins of the lion.
The first round features sinners against neighbors, murderers, and the makers of war. Dante makes no distinction here between the punishment of those who commit acts of violence against people and those that commit acts of violence against property. Hence, the first round also houses those guilty of arson, plunder, and extortion.
The second round of Circle VII houses those who sinned against themselves with suicide. The third and final round houses those who committed the sin of violence against God, Art, and Nature.
People in the third round are the blasphemers, sexual deviants, and the usurers (money lenders). Dante held usurers in great contempt, believing that charging any interest on a loan was a great sin. Art in this usage means industry, and Dante believed that industry should be the sole means of man's prosperity. To go against this plan was to go against God. Virgil says that Art is the Grandchild of God, meaning that Art is the child of Nature, and to act against Nature is a sin of violence against God.
