Charon refuses to take Dante across the river, for Dante is still a living man and Charon serves to ferry dead souls across Acheron. Charon states, “ I come to lead you to the other shore, into eternal dark, into fire and ice. And you who are living yet, I say begone from those who are dead” (pages 20-21). Furthermore, Charon sees that Dante is not a damned soul saying that, “a lighter craft than mine must give you passage”(page 21), which refers to an angel who shall bring Dante to heaven or Purgatory instead of Hell. The souls are cursing everyone because they realize that Charon is ferrying them into the clutches of Hell where there is no escape from the unavoidable eternal doom they will face. This is illustrated in lines 97-107, “but those