Virgil, sensing Dante's fear that he may be abandoned, haltingly refers to someone who "has come before" — his descent to the lowest circle, called by Erichtho's magic long ago, before his death — to reassure Dante that he knows the way. But his confidence is strained. Three Furies appear on the tower: Megaera, Alecto, Tisiphone — women of Hell, their bodies wrapped in green hydras, their hair alive with serpents. They cry for Medusa: bring Medusa, let him look at her and be turned to stone and never return! Virgil spins Dante around and covers his eyes with his own hands — even that might not be enough, so he places his own hands over Dante's. The allegory is stark: there are forces that, if looked at directly and without grace, will destroy the soul — kill its movement toward the good, freeze it in permanent stasis.
A sound of crashing water across the Styx — a great disturbance, both banks trembling. A figure walks through the murk, waving the air from before his face, contemptuous of Hell and its atmosphere. Souls flee at his coming; he opens the gate of Dis with a small wand, without effort, without resistance, and delivers a brief, cold speech to the demons: do not try this obstruction again; it has been tried before. He departs without looking at Dante and Virgil. Inside the City of Dis extends a field of open tombs — each one blazing, each one containing a heretic. The lids lie to the side. On the Day of Judgment they will be sealed forever.