page_title: List of cultural references in the Divine Comedy
section_title: H
hierarchical_section_title: List of cultural references in the Divine Comedy / H
caption_attribution_description: English: Medieval art of a harpy Español: Representación medieval de una arpía
context_page_description: The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri is a long allegorical poem in three parts: the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, and 100 cantos, with the Inferno having 34, Purgatorio having 33, and Paradiso having 33 cantos. Set at Easter 1300, the poem describes the living poet's journey through hell, purgatory, and paradise.
  Throughout the poem, Dante refers to people and events from Classical and Biblical history and mythology, the history of Christianity, and the Europe of the Medieval period up to and including his own day. A knowledge of at least the most important of these references can aid in understanding the poem fully.
  For ease of reference, the cantica names are abbreviated to Inf., Purg., and Par. Roman numerals are used to identify cantos and Arabic numerals to identify lines. This means that Inf. X, 123 refers to line 123 in Canto X of the Inferno and Par. XXV, 27 refers to line 27 in Canto XXV of the Paradiso. The line numbers refer to the original Italian text.
  Boldface links indicate that the word or phrase has an entry in the list. Following that link will present that entry.
context_section_description: Hadrian V: Pope for 38 days in 1276.
  Dante encounters him repenting for his greed in the terrace of the greedy. Purg. XIX, 88–145.
  Hannibal: Ancient military leader of Carthage, who led an invasion of "Arabs" over the Alps into Italy in the Second Punic War in the late 3rd century BCE.
  His defeat cited as a triumph of the early Roman Republic. Par. VI, 49–51.
  Harpies: Monsters from Greek mythology with human female faces on the bodies of birds.
  Tormentors of the suicides in the seventh circle, round 2. Their description is derived from Virgil (Aeneid iii, 209 on), which tells how they drove the Trojans from the Strophades. Inf. XII, 10–15 & 101.
  Hector: The greatest Trojan warrior, in the Trojan War.
  Seen in Limbo. Inf. IV, 121–128.
  Hecuba: Wife of Priam king of Troy, mother of Hector, Paris, Polyxena and Polydorus. Captured after the fall of Troy, she went mad after seeing her daughter Polyxena, sacrificed on the tomb of Achilles and the corpse of her son Polydorus, murdered by Polymestor, King of Thrace (Euripides, Hecuba, Ovid Metamorphoses XIII, 429–575). According to Ovid she growled and barked like a mad dog.
  Her "fury" at the deaths of Polyxena and Polydorus. Inf, XXX, 13–21.
  Helen: Wife of the Spartan king Menelaus and lover of the Trojan Paris, her abduction caused the Trojan War.
  Found amongst the sexual sinners. Inf. V, 64–65.
  Helicon: Mountain in Boeotia sacred to the Muses.  Purg. XXIX, 40.
  Heliodorus: Minister to Seleucus IV, Hellenistic ruler of the Seleucid Empire. According to II Maccabees 3:21–28, he was sent to Jerusalem to plunder the treasury of the Temple, but was turned back by supernatural figures, including a man mounted on a horse.
  Cited by souls on the terrace of the greedy as an example of greed. Purg. XX, 113.
  Heliotrope stone: Also called bloodstone, is dark green with spots of red. In the Middle Ages the red spots were thought to be the blood of Jesus, and it was believed to have miraculous powers, including making its wearer invisible. Boccaccio writes about it in his Decameron (VIII, 3). Inf. XXIV, 93.
  Hellespont: Narrow strait connecting the Black Sea with the Aegean Sea and separating Europe from Asia Minor. In Herodotus' account of the Persian Wars, Xerxes, king of the Persians, spanned the Hellespont with a bridge to invade Greece. When a storm destroyed the bridge, the king ordered his soldiers to flog the waters as punishment.
  Dante compares the narrow Lethe River to the narrow Hellespont. Purg. XXVIII, 70–72.
  The ancient towns of Abydos and Sestos were on the shores of the Hellespont. Purg. XXVIII, 74.
  Henry of England (Arrigo d'Inghilterra): Henry III (1216–1272)
  Dante sees him in the "Valley of the Princes," waiting as a late-repenter to enter Purgatory. Purg. VII, 130.
  Heraclitus (c. 535 –c. 475 BCE): Greek Presocratic philosopher.
  Encountered by Dante in Limbo. Inf. IV, 138.
  Hera (Juno in Roman mythology): Greek goddess, she is the wife of Zeus (Jupiter). A jealous goddess, she often sought revenge against Zeus' many lovers. One of those was Semele, who was the daughter of Cadmus, King of Thebes and the mother of Dionysus by Zeus. One of Hera's many acts of revenge against Semele, was to cause Athamas, husband of Semele's sister Ino, to be driven mad. Mistaking Ino, holding their two infant sons Learchus and Melicertes, for a lioness and her cubs, he killed Learchus, and Ino still holding Melicertes jumped off a cliff into the sea. (Ovid, Metamorphoses IV, 416–542). Another lover of Zeus, and victim of Hera was Aegina, daughter of the river-god Asopus (see Aegina above).
  Her revenge against "Aegina's people". Inf. XXIX, 58–65.
  Her (Juno's) revenge against Semeles' "Theban family". Inf. XXX, 1–12.
  Heracles (Latin: Hercules): Son of Zeus and Alcmene, he is probably the most famous Hero of Greek mythology. Of his many achievements, the most famous are the Twelve Labours.
  His victory over Cacus. Inf. XXV, 29–33.
  Ulysses recounts his passing the Pillars of Hercules at the Strait of Gibraltar, where "Hercules set up his boundary stones that men might heed and never reach beyond". Inf
caption: A medieval depiction of a Harpy.
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