Dante’s Inferno Canto XXVI-XXXIV

Canto XXVI: Circle 8, Chasm 8

Dante is ashamed that 5 citizens of his city were such thieves; Florence almost deserves Prato

Dante sees tongues of flame, every flame concealing a sinner

Dante asks about a double flame, and Virgil says it is that of Ulysses and Diomedes

Dante really wants to hear from these guys, but Virgil says only he should ask the questions

Virgil asks Ulysses about his end; Ulysses explains how he led his men to watery destruction

Canto XXVII: Circle 8, Chasm 8

Another flame breaks forth in speech Dante compares to the sound of Perillus’ bull

It is Guido da MontefeltroThe Lord of Urbino. He became a Franciscan friar in 1296. Boniface VIII summoned him from his retreat in 1297 to consult with him about the razing of Palestrina (Penestrino) twenty-five miles east of Rome, held by the Colonna family, who were in rebellion against the Church. Guido, finding it impregnable, advised Boniface to promise immunity and then break it, inducing the Colonna to surrender (in September 1298), then razing the fortress to the ground. Dante regarded Guido highly for his entering the Franciscan order (see his Convivio iv 28). Guido was born in 1223 and died in 1298. His son Buonconte appears in the Purgatorio.

At his request, Dante tells Guido the state of affairs in Romagna

Guido, a former soldier turned Franciscan monk, was promised absolution in advance if he helped Pope Boniface defeat enemies.

When he died, St. Francis came to collect his soul

But a demon claimed he must spend eternity in Hell

Canto XXVIII

The 9th chasm is littered with body parts

Mahomet demonstrates how he rips his own body apart

Running with him is his son Ali

Mahomet tells Dante to warn Friar Dolcino

Piero Medicina, who sowed discord in Romagna, addresses Dante

He tells Dante to warn Guido and Angiolello that Maslatestino plots to murder them

Pier introduces Curio, who advised Caesar to cross the Rubicon

Mosca de Lamberti, who encouraged the murder of Buondelmonti, speaks up

But Dante was especially drawn to a trunk holding up its severed head

Bertran de Born, a talented poet, fomented discord between King Henry II and his son Henry

Henry II

Henry Plantagenet

Henry II was also known for encouraging his knights to murder Thomas a Becket in Canterbury Cathedral.

The sowers of discord, who divided others, spend eternity themselves divided

The poets leave Bertran and move on

Canto XXIX: Chasm 10

Dante lagged behind, staring at a relative who sowed discord

Chasm 10 is that of the falsifiers, stricken with disease, pain and stench

Dante addresses two scabby sinners who sit together

Griffolino responds, explaining he was burnt alive as an alchemist for promising to teach Albero of Siena to fly.

When Dante attacks the Siennese for vanity, the spirit Capocchio speaks up in defense

A Florentine alchemist, Capocchio was also burnt alive

Canto XXX: More falsifiers

Suddenly 2 stinging, biting creatures appear; one stabs Capocchio and carries him off

Griffolino tells Dante that the attacker is Gianni Schicci

Schicci disguised himself as a dying man and forged a will

His story has been made into a comic opera

The other spirit is Myrrha

She disguised herself so she could sleep with her father

She was turned into a tree

Now she is punished as a falsifier

Dante sees one shaped like a lute, heavy with dropsy

It is Master Adam, who counterfeited Florentine coins

Master Adam curses those who induced him to crime. He can barely move, and is thirsty all the time. He too was burned at the stake.

Dante asks about nearby sinners; Adam mentions Potiphar’s wife

She tried to seduce Joseph, and when he refused, accused him of seduction

The other sinner is Sinon, the liar who convinced the Trojans to accept the wooden

horse

Adam and Sinon get into a verbal and physical battle

Virgil scolds Dante for his interest in this scabby pair, and they move on

Canto XXXI: Pit of Giants

Dante thinks he sees towers, but Virgil explains these are giants

Dante compares the size of one giant’s face to that of the bronze pine-cone

The giant babbles, and Virgil identifies him as Nimrod

Nimrod, great-grandson of Noah, was ruler of Babylon

Nimrod is blamed for constructing the tower of Babel

Next they see Ephialtes

Dante wants to see Briarius, another giant who challenged Jove.

Instead, Virgil takes him to Antaeus

Unchained, Antaeus is a giant who fought with Hercules

Antaeus picks up the poets

And gently deposits them in the 9th circle

Canto XXXII: Circle 9

Circle 9 is a frozen river, Cocytus

Embedded in the ice are the traitors

Virgil leads Dante across the ice

The outer circle is Caïna, named for Cain, who slew his brother Abel

The heads of two brothers, Allesandro and Napoleone degli Alberti, embody treachery to kin

Camiccione Pazzi tells Dante about some of the other sinners

Such as Mordred, who killed his uncle King Arthur

Facaccia de’ Cancellieri, who instigated a feud among kinsmen

And Sassol Mascheroni, who killed a kinsman for an inheritance

Moving on to Antenora, Dante kicks one head.

Dante and the head exchange curses; another spirit tells Dante he insults Bocca degli Abati

The new speaker is Buoso de Duera, who names other political traitors

• Tesauro de’ Beccheria• Gianni de’ Soldanier• Ganelon• Tribaldello

Dante sees two heads frozen together, one chewing on the other

The chewer is Count Ugolino

Canto XXXIII: Circle 9

Ugolino, a traitor to Pisa, party, and family himself, tells Dante his story

Archbishop Ruggieri had Ugolino, his two sons and two grandsons, locked in a tower

The tower entrance was sealed

They all slowly starved to death, Uggolino last

Thus he chews on Ruggieri’s head for all eternity

The poets move on to where the heads barely appear above the ice, and a breeze is felt

They are in Ptolomea, where those who betrayed guest friends dwell

Dante promises to remove iced tears if one spirit will talk to him

Friar Alberigo explains that these sinner are so horrible, that their souls arrive in Hell before

their bodies, inhabited by demons, die

This is the case with Branca d’ Oria

Canto XXXIV: Circle 9 Judecca

Judecca, named after the apostle who betrayed Jesus (Judas Iscariot), is the innermost zone of the ninth and final circle of hell. The term also hints at a manifestation of Christian prejudice--which Dante certainly shares--against Judaism and Jews in the Middle Ages: it alludes to the names--Iudeca, Judaica--for the area within certain cities (e.g., Venice) where Jews were forced to live, apart from the Christian population.

Together with Judas in this region of hell are others who, by betraying their masters or benefactors, committed crimes with great historical and societal consequences. Completely covered by the ice--like "straw in glass"--the shades are locked in various postures with no mobility or sound whatsoever (Inf. 34.10-15).

Here, traitors to masters are buried completely below the ice

Virgil tells Dante to gaze at the central figure, giant Lucifer

Satan’s flapping wings create an icy wind

Lucifer has three heads

Each mouth chews a sinner

The center mouth chews Judas Iscariot

Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss

For 30 pieces of silver

The other mouths chew Brutus and Cassius

These men conspired to assassinate Julius Caesar

Virgil tells Dante it is time to go.

To exit Hell, they must climb Lucifer’s body.

The poets climb out of the abyss

They emerge under the stars