Georgiana followed behind Caroline and Polina toward Duke's Courtyard.
The Graces each represented a part of all that was beautiful in life. Unlike Hera, Venus, and Athena, they had not competed for the title of "most beautiful" or the Golden Apple. Thus, they lived in harmony, forming the order of the ideal city-state in Aristotle's eyes.
Before Dante passed through the Gates of Hell and reached the first circle of Hell, he encountered Charon, the ferryman. That river flowed in only one direction.
Georgiana looked up at the patterns decorating the ceiling of the Sforza Castle corridor. In daylight, they could still be called suns, but now they looked much more like a cluster of snakes.
That was merely her personal impression. Perhaps it was because, even after marrying into the Visconti family, Sforza had continued to use the Visconti coat of arms. She had seen too many snakes in this castle.
If Hell was a downward funnel, then Purgatory was an upward mountain. In theory, the first level of Purgatory should have been closest to the first circle of Hell.
No One could travel upstream along the river flowing from Mount Purgatory into the center of the earth, yet the old man had kept waiting by the river for the wife he had lent out. Even in the mortal world, boats sailing upstream could often be seen.
Dante and the others had not broken that rule either. They traveled in the direction of the current.
Opposing the Graces were the Nemesis. He described them like the Gorgon sisters, with heads full of snakes, living in foul-smelling marshes.
In Ancient Greece, Nemesis represented conscience. At the same time, vengeance brought the endless continuation of hatred and madness. Agamemnon's son had fallen into that inescapable predicament.
Georgiana turned her gaze ahead.