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The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri. The Italian Text with a Translation in English Blank Verse and a Commentary by Courtney Langdon, vol. 1 (Inferno) (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1918).

Author: Dante Alighieri
Translator: Courtney Langdon

Part of: The Divine Comedy, in 3 vols. (Langdon trans.)

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CANTO V

The Second Circle. Minos. The Hell of Incontinence. Sexual Intemperance. The Lascivious, and Adulterers. Francesca

With this circle Dante enters upon the first of the three main parts of Hell, that of Incontinence, or Intemperance, which deals with four sins due to a lack of rational control over necessary human appetites, upon whose use depend the birth, the physical nourishment of individuals, and the development of Man’s material, and moral civilization.

Many scholars think that the del costui piacer of line should be taken to mean “for his charming looks,” but, apart from the involved lack of contrast with line line seems to suggest as more correct the version given in the text.