Dante’s Inferno Canto XVIII-XXV

Canto XVIII 8th circle Malebolge

The eighth circle is divided into ten moats

In the first chasm, they see demons whipping running spirits

These are the panderers (pimps) and seducers

The spirit of Venedico de’ Caccianimico speaks to Dante

He pimped his own sister, Ghisola.

His father Alberto was head of the Bolognese Guelphs. He himself was a leading Guelph, exiled in 1289, and a follower of Marquis Obizzo Il d’Este of Ferrara.

He is in the eighth circle, first chasm, of pimps, go-betweens, and panders.

Whipped in the other direction are the seducers

Here is Jason, who seduced and abandoned both Hypsipyle and Medea

Hypsipyle had saved the Argonauts

And Medea had made it possible for Jason to capture the golden fleece.

In the second ditch, they see spirits sunk in excrement

These are the flatterers

Alessio Interminei hails Dante

He points out Thais, who flattered her lover

Canto XIX Circle 8, Chasm 3

Here are the simonists

Simon Magus disputed with St. Peter.

The simonists are inverted into rocky cracks; their feet are in flames

The cracks remind Dante of baptismal fonts

Dante addresses one simonist whose legs are writhing in particular agony

This simonist thinks Dante is Pope Boniface VIII, come to push him deeper into the fissure

The man identifies himself as Pope Nicholas III

Nicholas III

Nicholas III (1277-1280) 3 years He fixed his seat in the Vatican and lived there most of the time. For that purpose he had a palace built which was the early nucleus of the Vatican buildings. He built also the gardens and the famous "Passetto do Borgo.” He was considered nepotistic and miserly.

Nicholas tells Dante that after Boniface will come Clement

Dante speaks hotly against simony

Neither St. Peter nor St. Matthew, nor any of the apostles, asked money for their services

But Simon Magus fell straight to Hell

Dante speaks of the Revelations of St. John the Divine

He compares corrupt popes to the whore of Babylon.

Dante traces the evil back to the donation of Constantine and Pope Sylvester I

Pleased, Virgil carries Dante to the 4th chasm

Canto XX: Circle 8, Chasm 4

Dante describes the seers and sorcerers

Their heads are on backwards, and their tears flow to their butt cracks

When Dante weeps in pity, Virgil scolds him for feeling for those who scorned God’s judgment

Virgil points out

Amphiaraus

And Tiresias

The Theban seer. He spent seven years in the form of a woman after striking a pair of coupling snakes. On striking them again he was changed back. He was therefore called upon, by Jupiter, to judge an argument, between himself and Juno, as to whether men or women get the most pleasure from lovemaking. Deciding in favour of women, and so Jupiter, Juno struck him blind, Jupiter giving him the power of prophecy to compensate for his blindness.

Aruns

The Etruscan seer who in Lucan’s Pharsalia i 584-638 prophesied the Civil War in Rome that ended in Julius Caesar defeating Pompey the Great.

And Manto, daughter of Tiresias

Though Virgil’s native Mantua was named for her, it was built after her death, without sorcery.

He points out Eurypylus, a seer in the Trojan war

"Now indeed I see how worthless the seers' doings are, and how full of falsehood ... Why do we consult prophets? We ought to sacrifice to the gods and ask a blessing, but leave divination alone; for this was invented otherwise, as a bait for a livelihood, and no man grows rich by sacrifices if he is idle. But sound judgment and discernment are the best of seers." [Messenger. Euripides, Helen 745-755]

Michael Scott

Michael Scott of Balwearie (c1190-1250) studied at Oxford, Paris and Toledo. He followed the Emperor Frederick II to his court, though he died in Scotland. He was a translator of Aristotle, and a famous astrologer.

Astrologer Guido Bonatti

The private astrologer to Guido da Montefeltro. He came from Forlì and was a tiler by trade. He wrote Liber Introductorius ad Judicia Stellorum (c1170) and was credited with aiding Guido’s victory over the French Papal forces at Forlì in 1282.

And finally, Asdente

A shoemaker of Parma. Asdente, “the toothless,” whose real name was Benvenuto, practiced as a soothsayer. He died c1284.

Virgil says they must hurry on

Canto XXI: Circle 8, Chasm 5

The next bolgia is full of boiling tar

Nothing can be seen but bubbles

Suddenly, a demon carrying a sinner runs up

The sinner is thrown into the pitch, while other demons jab at him.

These are the grafters, who used positions of public trust to make money

Dante hides in fear

Virgil scolds the demons and demands an escort

Malacoda provides the escort

One demon makes a trumpet of his butt

Canto XXII: Circle 8, Chasm 5

Escorted by ten demons, Dante observes sinners arching above the boiling pitch, then quickly sinking.

Dante asks Virgil to speak to one of the sinners who was hanging on a demon’s

pitchfork

The sinner is Ciampolo

He sold favors while in the employ of Theobaldo II, who was Count of Champagne and King of Navarre.

As demons tear at him, Ciampolo names other Italians who are in the tar

• Friar Gomita• Don Michel Zanche

Ciampolo breaks free of the demons

The demons quarreled, and the poets moved on

Canto XXIII: Circle 8, Chasm 6

Fearing their escort, the poets run and slide to the next bank themselves

Below them, they see hooded figures circling slowly

Their monkish robes are golden on the outside, but lined with heavy lead

These are the hypocrites

Two spirits approach Dante

They are Catalano and Lederingo, members of the “Jovial Friars,” who were supposed to protect the weak, but misused their positions.

Dante notices a spirit pinned to the ground

It is Caiphas

Caiphas convinced the Romans to crucify Christ

Caiphas was supported by his father-in-law Annas

The friars tell Virgil that there is a way out without summoning the demons

Virgil is angry, but the hypocrites remind him that Satan is the father of lies.

Canto XXIV: Circle 8, Chasm 7

After an exhausting climb, the poets reach chasm seven

Dante sees masses of snakes

The snakes encircled thieves

A serpent bites a sinner, who bursts into flame, burns to ashes, and is then painfully reconstituted

Virgil asks the man his name, it is Vanni Fucci

When Dante, who knew Vanni, asks about his crime, Vanni turns to him, saying he robbed a church

Fucci then prophesizes the future of Florence

Canto XXV: Circle 8, Chasm 7

At the end of his speech, Fucci aims an obscene fig gesture at God

Dante sees Cacus, part dragon and part man

Cacus, a centaur, stole Hercules’ cattle

Cacus runs off

Three spirits appear. One a serpent, attacks another

Dante describes the double transformations of Cianfa Donati and Brunelleschi Agnello

And in detail, the exchange between Francesco de Cavalcanti and Buoso