And next, perfidious Sisyphus, the liar;

Then Erebus, son of the Invisible;[132]

And grim old Charon, ferryman of hell.

At equal distances those magnates stood

About this circle of great magnitude

Much in themselves, but all subordinate

To Pluto; who, now in great pomp and state,

Was in their midst: there He (awaiting him

The harbinger of joy—Earth’s seraphim)

With pow’rful speech and accent, call’d aloud—