The Divine Comedy

For this post, each one of us had to answer a question of the Divine Comedy of 

Dante Alighieri. For me, it was de following one:

Dante encounters a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf in Canto 1.  What do you 

think these beasts symbolize, if anything?  Which animal seems to pose the 

greatest problem for Dante?

I think, and based on other opinions and explanations, that the leopard 

symbolize the lust; the lion the pride and the she-wolf the avarice. Also the one 

that pose the greatest problem for Dante is the she-wolf, because it is the one 

where more time is expended and where more details are used. Also she´s the 

one that brings more problems to our main character, as she did to Romulo and 

Rema in the origins of Rome. Finally she has a impact on Dante, because even 

though she does´t attack, she accomplish to move Dante.

For completing this post, I´ll leave the part of the poem where all of the things 

that I said before, can be found.

And almost where the hillside starts to rise –
look there! – a leopard, very quick and lithe,
a leopard covered with a spotted hide.
He did not disappear from sight, but stayed;
indeed, he so impeded my ascent
that I had often to turn back again…
…and the gentle season
gave me good cause for hopefulness on seeing
that beast before me with his speckled skin;
but hope was hardly able to prevent
the fear I felt when I beheld a lion.
His head held high and ravenous with hunger –
even the air around him seemed to shudder –
this lion seemed to make his way against me.
And then a she-wolf showed herself; she seemed
to carry every craving in her leanness;
she had already brought despair to many. 

Tantos pesares ésta me produjo,

con el pavor que verla me causaba

que perdí la esperanza de la cumbre.                                         54

Y como aquel que alegre se hace rico

y llega luego un tiempo en que se arruina,

y en todo pensamiento sufre y llora:                                           57

tal la bestia me hacía sin dar tregua,

pues, viniendo hacia mí muy lentamente,

me empujaba hacia allí donde el sol calla.