The Ninth Circle of Hell: Treachery
Treachery is the ninth circle of Dante's Hell, described in Cantos XXXI–XXXIV. It holds those who betrayed the people who trusted them most. The punishment: frozen into Cocytus, a lake of ice, at four increasing depths.
The punishment
Frozen into Cocytus, a lake of ice, at four increasing depths.
The lowest place in Hell is not fire. It is cold, still, and silent — because betrayal is the coldest thing a person can do, and Dante makes the punishment match.
Who guards it
Giants ring the pit. Satan is frozen at the centre, chewing three traitors forever.
Who Dante puts here
Named residents of the ninth circle include:
- Judas Iscariot
- Brutus
- Cassius
- Count Ugolino
- Archbishop Ruggieri
The four rounds
The ninth circle is divided into four zones, each deeper than the last:
- Cainabetrayers of family
- Antenorabetrayers of country
- Ptolomeabetrayers of guests
- Judeccabetrayers of benefactors
The modern read
The circle for the one who told. You know which friend. Everyone knows which friend.
Sending someone to Treachery
The friend who repeated the thing you said in confidence. There is a plot with their name on it.
Damnation Vacation sells a numbered, permanent plot in one of Dante's nine circles of Hell. You pay $6.66, pick who it's for, name their cardinal sin in twenty characters or fewer, and choose their circle. They get a public gravestone page with their name on it, their plot number, and a counter tracking how many days they've been down there. Treachery is Circle IX, and it has open plots.
Common questions
What is the ninth circle of Hell?
Treachery, described in Cantos XXXI–XXXIV of Dante's Inferno. It holds those who betrayed the people who trusted them most, whose punishment is: frozen into Cocytus, a lake of ice, at four increasing depths.
Which circle of Hell is treachery?
The ninth — Circle IX of nine.
Who guards the ninth circle?
Giants ring the pit. Satan is frozen at the centre, chewing three traitors forever.