Mythological
Hercules
Hercules is the hero of classical myth to whom Dante alludes in three places in the Inferno. In Canto XXV he is recalled as the slayer of Cacus, in Canto XXVI for the signs he placed at the Strait of Gades, and in Canto XXXI for the struggle he waged with Antaeus.
Profile
In Canto XXV of the Inferno, in the episode of Cacus, the club of Hercules is recalled as the instrument with which the hero strikes the monster repeatedly, without giving him respite; the notes specify that Hercules killed Cacus with the club according to Ovid and Livy, while in the Aeneid he strangled him, and that Dante remodels the Virgilian myth with freedom. In Canto XXVI, on the occasion of Ulysses' account, the point is mentioned where Hercules set his marks, identified by the notes with the Strait of Gades, where the hero had placed his prohibition against further navigation. In Canto XXXI the strait of Hercules is recalled in connection with Antaeus, a giant whom the notes describe as the slayer of lions known for his struggle with Hercules. The figure is summoned as a mythological term of comparison and does not appear as a character on the scene.
In the text
Linked verses
3 verses| Cantica | Canto | Verso | Testo | Open verse |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inferno | Canto XXV | 32 | sotto la mazza d’Ercule, che forse | Open verse |
| Inferno | Canto XXVI | 108 | dov’ Ercule segnò li suoi riguardi | Open verse |
| Inferno | Canto XXXI | 132 | ond’ Ercule sentì già grande stretta. | Open verse |