Tag Archives: Sinners

Beasts vs Sinners (Parallel)

In Canto 22, the fraudulent nature of sinners parallels the deceptive nature of the Evil Claws. Even though it’s revealed in the later Cantos that Malacoda intentionally misguided Dante and Vergil to take the wrong path, the deceptive nature of Malacoda and his beasts is hinted at in the descriptive imagery used in the 5th pouch of the 8th circle. In the 5th pouch Dante describes the submerged sinners as “ dolphins do, when they signal to sailors, arching their spines, to take measures to save their ship”(Canto 22, lines 18-20). The simile has a dual meaning because it’s not only acknowledging the behavior of the sinners but also the behavior of the beasts. The demons are pretending to help Dante cross the 8th Circle hence they’re acting as “dolphins” leading Dante and Vergil who represent the sailors however, the beasts are really like the sinners themselves who trick and deceive people.  Dante elaborates that “so from time to time, to lessen the pain, a sinner would show his back and hide it in less than a flash.” (Canto 22, lines 21-23). Dante implies that a sinner shows glimpses of their true nature.

Both, the beasts and the sinner from Navarre show that they can’t deny their nature. The beasts are compelled to sadistically torture the soul from Navarre. They say “O Ruby Face, see you get your nails in him, and tear his skin off!’ All those cursed ones were shouting at once.” (Canto 22, lines 39-41). The moment that the beasts first saw the damned soul, their first instinct was to tear the soul apart. This raises the questions that if the souls have this little patience with the damned soul, how long will it be before they succumb to their  violent nature and do the same to Dante and Vergil. The sinner from Navarre also can’t help but use trickery to escape his circumstantial problems. In the real world, he “took to barratry” (Canto 22, line 52) to escape the financial problems caused by his “wastrel” (Canto 22, line 50) father. Likewise, he tricks the Claws into hiding near the back and escapes. Dante narrates that “The Navarrese chose his moment well, planted his feet on the ground, and escaped their design.” (Canto 22, line 120-122). The Navarrese previously denied any intentions of running away or procuring  any more “suffering for his own kind” (Canto 22, line 109). However, when he was presented with the opportunity to escape, he took it, true to his nature. Both the Beasts and the Navarrese are susceptible to their deceptive natures

Both the Navarrese and the Claws have the capacity to betray their own accomplices. Dante uses an extended metaphor that “as sometimes one frog stays while the other jumps” (Canto 22, lines 29-31) to foreshadow that the beings will deceive or turn against their own kind. In the metaphor, Dante specifies that these frogs are “at the edge of a ditch” (Canto 22, line 24). The frogs have a dual meaning. They represent the sinners in the pool pitch who are physically turning but also reflects their nature to turn against people that trust them. The frogs are at the edge because the depth of the edge is unknown just as their true is unforseen. The Navarrese sinner betrays his accomplices when he says “Tuscans or Lombards, I can make them come;” (Canto 22, lines 96-98). He offers his friends to the beasts so that they can reduce his punishment. He claims that “for one that I am, will make seven come as I whistle, as is our custom to do so, when one is a lookout.” (Canto 22, lines 102-104). There is an obligatory and almost militaristic bond between these men, yet he’s ready to violate that trust and betray them for his own safety. Likewise, when the sinner escaped, the Beasts turned against each other. Dante narrates that “The heat was a quick ungrappler; but not for that could they come forth, they had so enlimed their wings.” (Canto 22, lines 141-143). They were so physically tangled in their fight that even the heat from the pitch couldn’t pull them apart. They demons attacked their own fellows instead of working together. Thus, the sinners and the Claws don’t have it in their nature to be loyal to their kind.

Virgil’s reassurance towards Dante

Throughout the Inferno, Virgil always helps, reassures, and gives Dante confidence in any given circumstance. Virgil also tends to baby Dante when Dante does something to please him. In Canto 23, Virgil and Dante managed to slip away from Barbariccia and the other demons that were distracted by the demons Calcabrina and Alinchino fighting. Virgil and Dante saw this as their final opportunity to leave but Dante is terrified that the demons will come and look for them since they slipped away. Virgil reassures Dante by carrying him across. In lines 37-43, Dante says “ My leader seized me quickly, like a mother who is awakened by the noise and sees the flames burning close by, who takes up her son and flees, caring more ofr him than for herself, not stopping even to put on her shift:”. Virgil reassures Dante that nothing is going to happen to them by showing him this kind of affection. Similarly, in Canto 24, Virgil pushes Dante to get moving and helps him down the rocky bank. Dante mentions that if it weren’t for Virgil, he probably would’ve given up by now. In lines 23-27 “… he opened his arms and took hold of me. And like one who uses judgement as he acts, always seeming to look ahead, so, carrying me up to the top…”, Virgil carries him again to get to the summit of the bridge. Without Virgil being there, Dante would have been completely lost and hopeless throughout each circle of hell. Additionally, in Canto 19, Virgil also happily carries Dante like a baby across the bridge. Virgil was proud of him for not sympathizing with the sinner Pope Nicolas III. Evidently, there is a recurring theme of Virgil carrying Dante in these three cantos. Nonetheless, Virgil’s reassurance is shown in the beginning of the Inferno in Cantos 2 and 8. In Canto 2, Virgil reassures Dante that everything will be okay in his journey by telling him that he was sent by his beloved Beatrice. In lines 133-136, Dante says “Oh full of pity she who has helped me! And you courteous, who have quickly obeyed the true words she offered you!”. Dante is eternally grateful to have received Virgil as his master and guide throughout his journey. Furthermore, in Canto 8, thousands of enraged sinners try to bar Dante from getting into the city of Dis because of his “alive-ness”. Virgil reassures Dante that they will get into the city of Dis. Virgil at first fails but then succeeds in the beginning of Canto 9. In lines 121-123 of Canto 8, Virgil tells Dante “And to me he said: “You, though I am angered, do not be dismayed, for I will overcome this test, however they scurry about inside to prevent it”. Virgil’s ego does take over here, but he was successful either way when they both got into the city of Dis. Thus, Virgil’s reassurance and encouragement has helped Dante face numerous obstacles throughout the Inferno.

Progression of the Recognition of Sin

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 8th 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 6th 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 8th 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 3rd canto, and not one is recognized. The contrast between this canto and the 8th 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 8th 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 8th circle.

Cato vs Capaneus : Dry Desert

          In the 7th circle (3rd subcircle) of Dante’s inferno, Dante contrasts Cato and Capaneus to emphasize that sinners are responsible for maintaining their own hell in the afterlife. Cato and Capaneus were both pagans that displayed virtues such as honesty and bravery which enhanced their political careers. Cato was a Roman statesman and warrior during the late Roman republic. He was notoriously known for refusing bribes and condemning corruption. He committed suicide because he didn’t want to submit to Julius Caesar’s tyrannical forces. Capaneus was one of the many warrior Kings that attempted to take over Thebes. Unlike his comrades, he didn’t want to deceitfully attack in the night, he wanted to fight openly in the day. He was killed by Zeus because he climbed a city’s wall and openly challenged Jupiter (Zeus) to fight him, to which Zeus responded by throwing a lightning bolt at him. While Cato doesn’t appear in Cato 14, the 7th circle is set in a “course, dry ground” (Canto 14, line 13) that was similar to the one “trodden by the feet of Cato” (Canto 14, line 13) in his real life and also the one that Capaneus “lies” (Canto 14, line 46) on in the afterlife. The importance of the course, dry ground is that it can’t grow any vegetation. Cato and Capaneus’ lives are like the dry ground because they’re pagans so it’s difficult for their life to grow into something meaningful because they’re already condemned. However, Dante claims that “The floor was course, dry sand, not made differently from that once trodden by the feet of Cato.” (Canto 14, line 12-14). The “floor” actually refers to the Libyan Desert that Cato crossed with his army. Dante deliberately mentions Cato because while he’s a pagan who shares very similar characteristic with Capaneus, he’s not in the 7th circle of hell. Dante refers to the desert to show that when Cato crossed it with his army to fight for freedom, inevitably leading to his suicide, his virtues outweighed the punishment of his religious beliefs. Thus, Dante uses the word “once”  not only as an indicator of time, but to show that Cato was “once” in the “desert” in hell, but he was able to grow out because his virtues provided him with the opportunity to achieve redemption at one point (despite being a pagan). However Capaneus isn’t able to outgrow his ill vices, thus he’s still trapped in hell’s version of a desert. Dante describes him as “scornful and frowning, so the rain does not seem to ripen him.”(Canto 14, lines 46-47). Instead of repenting for his blasphemy, he’s condemning the Gods even more for his condition. Dante uses botanical imagery when he uses terminology “ripen” to describe Capaneus’ lack of character development in hell. While the rain tortures the other souls to repent, it has no effect on Capaneus thus he can’t grow into anything else. Capaneus claims that “As I was alive, so am I dead” (Canto 14, line 50). He possessed disdain for the Gods during his life and he still has the same feelings for them in his afterlife. Thus, he is responsible for his own stagnation in hell because he refuses to repent. Virgil even claims that “O Capaneus, since your pride is not extinguished, you are punished more;” (Canto 14,line 62-63). Despite Capaneus’ virtues as a military leader, his blasphemy outweighed his virtues, and his continuous defiance in hell further condemns and prolongs his suffering. Thus, the desert setting only reiterates that sinners like Capaneus are responsible for their own hell because they can’t cultivate virtues like repentance that can possibly lessen their punishment.

 

References :

“Ante-Purgatory.” Dante’s Inferno – Main Page, University of Texas at Austin, danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/purgatory/01antepurgatory.html.

Additional Note: I have the online pdf version of the book and it doesn’t allow for page numbers to be displayed (it gives me alphabets instead) so I couldn’t include the page numbers).