The Judge of the Dead

Minos’ scepter, Virgil’s courts, and the sentence marked by a tail

The dead still come before a judge. Homer’s Minos hears their cases with a king’s scepter, while Virgil gives Minos and Rhadamanthus distinct judicial tasks. Dante brings examination and confession together before a Minos whose coiling tail assigns each soul its depth.

1. Odyssey 11.568–571
2. Aeneid 6.431–433
3. Aeneid 6.566–569
4. Inferno 5.4–15