Sandro Botticelli, Canto XVIII, colored drawing on parchment, C.1480

Dante and Virgil Traversing the first two Boglia of the Eighth Circle

Early in the Inferno, we can see the idea of recognition and remembrance of sinners. Dante’s interactions early in the Inferno with Francesca and Paulo, as well as his later interactions with Brunetto Latini show that the sinners of the higher Inferno are more focused on their own sufferings and past lives on Earth. Francesca, Paulo, Ciacco, and the other sinners Dante encounters before lower hell even actively want to speak to Dante and tell him of their plight, or ask him about the living.

However as we enter the 8^th circle, we’re welcomed by a new caliber of sin, and a new attitude towards Virgil and Dante. Where sinners like Farinata or Cavalcante in the 6^th circle wanted to speak to the pilgrim, we’re now met by Venedico Caccianemico, and Alessio Interminei of Lucca. Both of these sinners respond in a similar way, and both reside in the first and second (respectively) Boglia of the 8^th circle.

Venedico is initially recognized by Dante as he “thought to hide by lowering his face,”(46-47) and when prompted by Dante, concedes: “Unwilling I say it, but your clear speech compels me, reminding me of the former world.”(52-54) Venedico is so ashamed by his actions in the real world, in which he pimped his own sister. Unlike sinners in higher hell, Venedico shows a higher level of regret for his actions and his state in society that he attempts to avert even the gaze of Dante. Alessio too feels this shame, and a strange perspective on his own sin. He says to Dante: “Why are you so hungry to look more at me than the other filthy ones? . . . I am submerged down here by the flatteries with which my tongue was never cloyed.” (118-126) Alessio not only feels shame, but also uses the metaphor of being “submerged down here by the flatteries with which my tongue was never cloyed,” in which he describes that he’s surrounded by excrement, something his tongue was never disgusted by as a flatterer.

The idea that these sinners now wish to not be recognized for their sin is interesting, not only because of the idea that these sinners are starting to regret their own actions while alive, but also because of the contrast between these circles and the anti-inferno of Canto 3. In the anti-inferno we’re introduced to the neutrals: angels who allied themselves to neither God or Satan, and humans with a lack of affiliation. These souls are punished, but unlike the other souls of the Inferno receive no infamy or praise. Those in Hell, while punished, also receive a degree of infamy and the possibility of remembrance. Those in the anti-inferno are briefly touched upon in the 3^rd canto, and not one is recognized. The contrast between this canto and the 8^th circle where sinners start to wish to remain unidentified is interesting to me. It really illustrates the idea that both calibers of sin are punished in almost an equal regard. Both wish for the opposite, one hoping for recognition, and the other anonymity.

I found this parallel fascinating, because I feel that this exemplifies Dante’s idea of contrapasso, only in this example across the circles of hell. A contrapasso of punishments rather than a contrapasso of sin and punishment. Though I’m unsure if sinners in the anti-inferno would prefer to be punished in the 8^th circle, they certainly want the recognition the Inferno and God’s divine plan give to other sinners, whereas the opposite is true for the sinners in the 8^th circle.