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Post #5
As Dante continues his voyage through Hell, many spirits
ask him to remember them and tell their stories when he gets back to Italy.
These spirits make this request primarily because they feel guilty for the sins
they were condemned for and want to be remembered for the goodness in their
lives instead. They also want their lives to serve as a warning for Italy,
because in death they have gained more knowledge about life, and are concerned
for Italy’s future. They know that Italy is corrupt and may soon fall to the
same fate as themselves if they are not able to put an end to their evildoing.
For instance, in Canto XVI on page 145 and 147, three spirits from Florentine
that have been condemned for sodomy use their stories first to honor their
accomplishments, then to warn Italy of corruption, and then to speak about
their own sin and guilt. The first Florentine, whose “sword and … good sense
accomplished much,” is explained to Dante in order to relieve these spirits of
some of their guilt so they can be remembered for goodness rather than sin (XVI.
145. 39). It also establishes their credibility so that the proceeding warning
will be better received. This warning takes form as the second Florentine is
explained as having “a voice that should have been heeded in the world above” (XVI.
145. 42). The Florentine says this to open Dante’s ears to make sure that his
voice can be heeded now that it has the chance to be heard again. Following
this, the third Florentine serves as a warning by explaining his own faults. By
speaking of his own condemnation, he is warning the people of Italy not to
follow in his footsteps by letting “fear [win] out against … good intention”
(XVI. 145. 42). These three components are important because they want Dante to
be equipped with stories to tell to men to save them from evil.
Canto XVII opens with a long description of the beast of
fraud. Dante juxtaposes the beast’s perfect and appealing facial and outer
features with its ugly body in order to symbolize how frauds trick others by
putting on a superficially pleasant exterior only to conceal their evil
intentions. In lines 10 and 11, Dante says, “The face [the beast] wore was that
of a just man, so gracious was his features’ outer semblance.” However, these attractive
characteristics are only a front for the beast’s ugly side. It has “the body of
a serpent … two paws, with hair up to the armpits … [and a] back and chest …
adorned with twining knots and circlets” (XVII. 151. 12-15). The mention of the
knots even point to an earlier chapter, where the knots are seen as symbols of
faults. The beast’s worst and most distinguishing feature is its “quivering” “pointed
tail” “which had a tip just like a scorpion’s” (XVII. 151. 1, 25, 27). His tail
poses a danger to Dante as he rides on the beast’s shoulders because it has the
potential for harm. The tail being the most dangerous and distinguishing part
of the beast is fitting because the worst frauds deceive others at the last
minute, when the victim least expects it and after trust has been gained.
In Canto XVIII, Dante describes the structure of
Malebolge in great detail. It is a giant circular pit split into 10 pockets,
each designated for a different type of fraud. Each of these pockets are
surrounded by moats which separate them from one another. Dante spends so much
time describing the format of Malebolge because fraud was thought of as the
worst possible type of sin. Describing this level as “a broad and yawning pit” “made
all of stone the color of crude iron” invokes dread the reader.
Canto XX describes the pocket of fraud in which Diviners,
Astrologers, and Magicians are held. Part of their punishment here is having
their head turned backwards. This is significant because these people were seen
as those whose lives skewed people’s vision of God and His creation. In lines
29 and 30, the guide asks, “For who can be more impious than he who links God’s
judgement to passivity?” Because these frauds have corrupted visions of God’s
judgement, their head has been set backwards because it corrupts their vision.
Now instead of having a view placed before God’s, it is now clearly behind.
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