# The Devil's pitchfork **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 17, 2000, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devils-pitchfork/686 "2000-02-17T19:02:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DannGreycat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@DannGreycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DannGreycat)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devils-pitchfork/686/1 "2000-02-17T19:02:00Z")
In the 990604 column on the Devil’s goatlike characteristics, Cecil made a comment about the generally associated pitchfork being derived from Neptune’ trident. I believe it more likely that it derived from Dante’s “Inferno”. There is a truly memorable scene from, I believe (could be mistaken, been a while since I read it), the 6th Circle, where the damned were tortured in pits of boiling pitch (reserved for grafters, etc.). The demons guarding the pit were truly scary; as I recall, they nearly threw Dante and Virgil into the pitch! They were armed with large forks (thus “pitchforks”) they used on anyone attempting to get out. I cannot recall any pre-Dantean (doesn’t mean there isn’t any, of course) association of devils and pitchforks, but plenty of post-Dantean references. This seems more logical to me than the Neptune idea. Sorry, Cecil. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devils-pitchfork/686/2 "2000-02-17T20:04:00Z")
The article is [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/990604.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/990604.html) (See, that’s how it’s done.) ---
**Author:** ![Ursa\_Major](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a88e57/32.png) [@Ursa\_Major](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ursa_Major)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devils-pitchfork/686/3 "2000-02-17T20:04:00Z")
Ah, but where did Dante get the idea? _The Divine Comedy_ is filled with references to Greek and Roman mythology. I beleive it’s quite possible that Dante was thinking of Neptune’s trident when he described demons with forks. I seem to recall mideval block etchings of demons with forks. Certainly, these would predate the Italian Renaisance. I’ll try to find a cite for this. ---
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devils-pitchfork/686/4 "2000-02-17T21:42:00Z")
First of all, let me join the others in welcoming **DannGreycat** to the SDMB. Second of all, let me provide a link to a Dante’s _Inferno_ website by a Luke Kleinberndt of Trinity College in Connecticut: [http://sophia.smith.edu/~lkleinbe/dante/home.html](http://sophia.smith.edu/~lkleinbe/dante/home.html) This site features the _Inferno_ in its entirety in both English and the original Italian. You can also choose cartoon-like pen-and-ink drawings by Botticelli\* or the more-familiar highly-detailed engravings of Gustave Dore. Scroll to the bottom and click on “Cantos” (“Chapters?”) to access the poem. Hope your browser can handle frames. Satan Himself does not appear till the final Canto. Dore drew him with huge bat-like wings and a Pan-like head and face, but no pitchfork. Botticelli drew him with three faces, just as Dante described him. Enjoy! \*It looks to me like the Botticelli drawings were preliminary sketches for a series of paintings or engravings. Does anyone know if this series was ever done, or is this all Botticelli did? * * * \>\< DARWIN \> \_\_ **L\_\_\_L** ---
**Author:** ![Ursa\_Major](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a88e57/32.png) [@Ursa\_Major](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ursa_Major)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2000, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devils-pitchfork/686/5 "2000-02-18T01:24:00Z")
Well, I’ve spent way more time than I really should have looking at hundreds of medieval woodcuts and have yet to find one damned (pun intended) pitchfork! I withdraw my contention that they were common in medieval art. Demons seemed to have favored swords and pikes back then: [http://www.multimedia.calpoly.edu/libarts/dschwart/iconography/bigd11.html](http://www.multimedia.calpoly.edu/libarts/dschwart/iconography/bigd11.html) ---
**Author:** ![DannGreycat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@DannGreycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DannGreycat)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2000, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-devils-pitchfork/686/6 "2000-02-18T02:39:00Z")
Thanks for the welcome, people. Ursa: Entirely too many years ago, I went through the same exercise, although it was in some musty stacks at UC Davis :-), and reached the same conclusion. As for the Trident of Neptune being Dante’s inspiration, possibly, but I have my doubts. The Trident was more a sceptre than anything, while Dante’s demons used their forks as simple tools. I could see Lucifer having such a symbol of office, but Dante’s Satan is a far cry from Milton. Besides, in several translations, the demons at the pit of grafters (I was wrong, it was 8th circle, not 6th) also had grappling hooks, and other tools. You are, of course, completely correct about the influence of Greek/Roman mythology on Dante; after all, who was his guide? Jab1: Thanks for the cite on the site :-). Will take a look. Irishman: OK, noted and logged. Thanks!