From Canto 21, Virgil and Dante were crossing the bridge into pouch five of circle eight. Virgil advises Dante to hide behind a rock while he tries to negotiate their passage with Malabranche (Sparknotes). Malabranche offers 10 demons to help them with their passage. This pouch contains the Barterers. Barolini states that Barratry “is the corruption of civic governance, and the result of barratry is the corruption of the social order” (Barolini). In canto 22, Dante and Virgil are walking with the ten demons. However, Dante’s attention “was all given to the pitch, to see every condition of the moat and of the people burned in it” (Inferno 22, 16-17). As Dante is observing the sinners, he notices their actions common to a dolphin. Martinez and Durlings note to lines 19-21, states that the traditional idea of how dolphins would warn the sailors when there was a storm approaching. Martinez and Durling bring up the point through their notes how Dante are continuously comparing the sinners to animals (Martinez and Durling, note to lines 19-21, canto 22 p.57102c). All throughout canto 22 Dante is continuously stating animal- like images of the sinner. Now the protagonist- barrater is known in the commentary tradition as Ciampolo (Barolini). I learned some background information regarding Ciampolo’s story when reading Barolini’s notes. She states that “Ciampolo’s story suggests the difficulty of maintaining equilibrium- toward material goods in such an environment. He was the son of a ribaldo, of a man who is not poor but who had on inheritance to squander and who destroyed first his means and then himself” (Barolini). Barolini also states that the story of Ciampolo’s father, like Ciampolo’s own, suggests the pressures generated by life in an environment where financial prudence was much less valued than “largesse” in spending (Barolini). When Virgil asks Ciampolo if there are any Italians in this pouch, “Ciampolo offers to betray his fellows in order to betray the devils, who betray each other in their eagerness to betray the sinners and in their eagerness to have Ciampolo betray his comrades” (Barolini). When reading this idea made by Barolini, I researched more on a different analysis of Ciampolo’s behavior in this canto. I read that Ciampolo’s episode is linked in the bolgia of barratry to political subversion and universal corruption (Falvo). The author of this source states that “this idea is supported by the image of the pitch… the sinof barratry that has spread to a whole community of people has become a paradigm for universal corruption and degradation, so will the punishment of this sin affecting the sinners and their persecutors, become the emblem of a moment in retributive justice” (Falvo). There is a them of deception in this canto. Ciampolo’s use of language shows an example of Dante’s idea of how the sinners speeches provide another way of understanding the punishments of Hell and show that pnishing sin does not always help the sinner understand the nature of what he or she has done wrong (Course Hero). Ciampolo’s promise of contriving greater sorrow for his companions was his way of challenging the devils at their own game of cruelty and deception (Falvo). When Ciampolo bluffed, it portrayed Ciampolo’s victory and Alichino’s defeat (Falvo). To Dante, this was acted out as a “ludo”, or sport/ theatrical play (Martinez and Durling, note to line 118, canto 22 p.57102e). The sinners have their own communications and codes of governance, all rooted in malice and betrayal (Barolini).

I found this image in the image section of the Barolini website. It shows the sinners in the tar- like substance. If you look closely it looks like Virgil and Dante are hugging each other as they watch in fear the exchange between Ciampolo and the demon.

Sources:
Alighieri, Dante, et al. Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri : Inferno, edited by Ronald L. Martinez, Oxford University Press USA – OSO, 1996. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/huntercollege-ebooks/detail.action?docID=693941.

Barolini, Teodolinda. “Inferno 22: Diabolic Sport.” Commento Baroliniano, Digital Dante. New York, NY: Columbia University Libraries, 2018. https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/dante/divine-comedy/inferno/inferno-22/

Falvo, Joseph D. Decameron Web | Society, Brown University, www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/LD/numbers/02/falvo.html.

“Inferno Themes.” The Logistic Model Has Good and Bad Features PROS CONS Mathematically Tractable, College Life, www.coursehero.com/lit/Inferno/themes/.

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