<P> Virgil then indicates the time through his unexplained awareness of the stars' positions . The "Wain", the Great Bear, now lies in the northwest over Caurus (the northwest wind). The constellation Pisces (the Fish) is just appearing over the horizon: it is the zodiacal sign preceding Aries (the Ram). Canto I notes that the sun is in Aries, and since the twelve zodiac signs rise at two - hour intervals, it must now be about two hours prior to sunrise: 4: 00 A.M. on Holy Saturday, April 9 . </P> <P> Canto XII The Seventh Circle, divided into three rings, houses the Violent . Dante and Virgil descend a jumble of rocks that had once formed a cliff to reach the Seventh Circle from the Sixth Circle, having first to evade the Minotaur (L'infamia di Creti, "the Infamy of Crete", line 12); at the sight of them, the Minotaur gnaws his flesh . Virgil assures the monster that Dante is not its hated enemy, Theseus . This causes the Minotaur to charge them as Dante and Virgil swiftly enter the seventh circle . Virgil explains the presence of shattered stones around them: they resulted from the great earthquake that shook the earth at the moment of Christ's death (Matt . 27: 51), at the time of the Harrowing of Hell . Ruins resulting from the same shock were previously seen at the beginning of Upper Hell (the entrance of the Second Circle, Canto V). </P> <Ul> <Li> Ring 1: Against Neighbors: In the first round of the seventh circle, the murderers, war - makers, plunderers, and tyrants are immersed in Phlegethon, a river of boiling blood and fire . Ciardi writes, "as they wallowed in blood during their lives, so they are immersed in the boiling blood forever, each according to the degree of his guilt". The Centaurs, commanded by Chiron and Pholus, patrol the ring, shooting arrows into any sinners who emerge higher out of the boiling blood than each is allowed . The centaur Nessus guides the poets along Phlegethon and points out Alexander the Great, "Dionysius" (either Dionysius I or Dionysius II, or both; they were bloodthirsty, unpopular tyrants of Sicily), Ezzelino III da Romano (the cruelest of the Ghibelline tyrants), Obizzo d'Este, and Guy de Montfort . The river grows shallower until it reaches a ford, after which it comes full circle back to the deeper part where Dante and Virgil first approached it; immersed here are tyrants including Attila, King of the Huns (flagello in terra, "scourge on earth", line 134), "Pyrrhus" (either the bloodthirsty son of Achilles or King Pyrrhus of Epirus), Sextus, Rinier da Corneto, and Rinier Pazzo . After bringing Dante and Virgil to the shallow ford, Nessus leaves them to return to his post . This passage may have been influenced by the early medieval Visio Karoli Grossi . </Li> </Ul> <Li> Ring 1: Against Neighbors: In the first round of the seventh circle, the murderers, war - makers, plunderers, and tyrants are immersed in Phlegethon, a river of boiling blood and fire . Ciardi writes, "as they wallowed in blood during their lives, so they are immersed in the boiling blood forever, each according to the degree of his guilt". The Centaurs, commanded by Chiron and Pholus, patrol the ring, shooting arrows into any sinners who emerge higher out of the boiling blood than each is allowed . The centaur Nessus guides the poets along Phlegethon and points out Alexander the Great, "Dionysius" (either Dionysius I or Dionysius II, or both; they were bloodthirsty, unpopular tyrants of Sicily), Ezzelino III da Romano (the cruelest of the Ghibelline tyrants), Obizzo d'Este, and Guy de Montfort . The river grows shallower until it reaches a ford, after which it comes full circle back to the deeper part where Dante and Virgil first approached it; immersed here are tyrants including Attila, King of the Huns (flagello in terra, "scourge on earth", line 134), "Pyrrhus" (either the bloodthirsty son of Achilles or King Pyrrhus of Epirus), Sextus, Rinier da Corneto, and Rinier Pazzo . After bringing Dante and Virgil to the shallow ford, Nessus leaves them to return to his post . This passage may have been influenced by the early medieval Visio Karoli Grossi . </Li>

What circle of hell do murderers go to