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Inferno

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Inferno

Dante Alighieri

Quiz

1. On what Christian holy day does Inferno begin?

(A) Good Friday

(B) Christmas

(D) Michaelmas

2. How old is Dante at the beginning of the poem?

(A) 45

(B) 40

(D) 31

3. What human quality is Virgil usually thought to represent?

(A) Compassion

(B) Reason

(D) Vehemence

4. Which group of sinners must remain submerged in the swampy Styx?

(A) The Uncommitted

(B) The Traitors to Their Kin

(D) The Sullen

5. What is the meaning of the word “Malebranche”?

(A) Evil Claws

(B) Evil Eyes

(D) Evil Deeds

6. Of which Florentine political party was Farinata a leader?

(A) The Black Guelphs

(B) The White Guelphs

(D) The Ghibellines

7. Where does Beatrice reside after death?

(A) Hell

(B) Heaven

(D) Nirvana

8. Why is Judas unable to speak?

(A) His tongue is a writhing snake

(B) His lips are made of fire

(D) Lucifer is chewing on his head

9. What event caused the earthquake mentioned by several demons and spirits in the poem?

(A) Christ's death

(B) God's defeat of Lucifer in the war of the angels

(D) The Evisceration of the Damned

10. Who tells Dante the story of Paolo and Francesca?

(A) Paolo

(B) Virgil

(D) Dido

11. A Centaur is a cross between which two creatures?

(A) Woman and bird

(B) Man and horse

(D) Lion and scorpion

12. Which three beasts block Dante from the sunlit hill in Canto I?

(A) A lion, a stag, and a serpent

(B) A unicorn, a tiger, and a boar

(D) A leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf

13. From which city was Dante exiled?

(A) Florence

(B) Mantua

(D) Rome

14. Which pope was Dante's enemy?

(A) Innocent XVIII

(B) Clement I

(D) Liberius

15. Into how many “pouches” is the Eighth Circle of Hell divided?

(A) Nine

(B) Ten

(D) Twelve

16. How many circles constitute Dante's Hell?

(A) Five

(B) Seven

(D) Nine

17. Which city did Dante believe to be more important than all others?

(A) Florence

(B) Rome

(D) Alexandria

18. Who brings Dante from the Eighth to the Ninth Circle of Hell?

(A) Lucifer

(B) Virgil

(D) A divine messenger

19. What words can be found above the Gate of Hell?

(A) abandon all hope, you who enter here

(B) and justice for all

(D) remaining frogs

20. Who opens the gates of Dis?

(A) Virgil

(B) Dante

(D) An angelic messenger

21. What is Geryon thought to represent?

(A) Pity

(B) Violence

(D) Fraud

22. Which river must souls cross before they enter Hell?

(A) The Avillon

(B) The Acheron

(D) The Lethe

23. Where in Hell does Virgil reside?

(A) Malebolge

(B) The Styx

(D) The Ante-Inferno

24. Where do the Spenders and Hoarders receive their punishment?

(A) In the Fourth Circle

(B) In the Second Circle

(D) In the Sixth Pouch of the Eighth Circle

25. What form of verse does Inferno utilize?

(A) Sonnet

(B) Alexandrine

(D) Terza rima

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