Italian 4140

Dante and His Times

Midterm Review II

I) As usual, be sure you are able to place the sinner with the Canto and punishment (and explain what the retribution consists of, and whether it is by analogy or contrast – or both).

II) Canto XIV: Violent against God – Blasphemers are the first we meet, but all three (blasphemers, sodomites, usurers) are punished in the same general way, although some sit, some walk, some lay in the sand as ashes and fire fall onto them.

Dante’s reverence for his city (which sort of sets up Brunetto Latini’s diatribe later) concludes the meeting with the Florentine suicide, and moves us into the description of the barren and scorching desert of the violent against God. The three levels can be distinguished as:

- violence directly against God – blasphemy

- violence against nature, God’s child – sodomy

- violence against art and industry, to god’s grandchild – usury

The punishment is that the sand is burning, and fire comes raining down on the souls. The souls have to sit on the sand and stay put, and these are the souls of the blasphemers (as we shall see Capaneus). The theory of retribution here is that they have to lay supine, facing the Heavens against whom they hurled insults, and bear the direct force of the fire. The fire is apparently reminiscent of the biblical fire that fell upon Sodom and Gomorrah.

Meeting with Capaneus, one of the 7 Kings who besieged Thebes. As he was scaling the walls of the city, Capaneus defied Zeus and was struck dead by his lighting. Notice that here Capaneus, even though he is a pagan and was punished by Zeus, suffers as if he were a Christian. He holds the punishment in scorn, but the rain of fire does not seem to ripen him (what does this mean “ripen” him? Well, his pride is considered a sin of immaturity, so to ‘ripen him’ means it would make him lose that aspect of his being. Capaneus, like Farinata, seems to hold the punishment in disdain. He is very proud, and will stand up and keep believing in himself as he did once. Continues to defy Jove.

The explanation for the flow of the rivers in hell.

The spring gives water that is then divided (like the water of the Bulicame among prostitutes).

The story of the giant of Crete (vv. 94-120) is not really clear.

Saturn is the mythical god of Crete, and is the husband of Rhea, hence father of Juppiter (“cradle of her son” vv. 100-101) – the myth is that Saturn had been prophesized to be dethroned by one of his sons, and Rhea protected Juppiter who eventually would dethrone him. The old man is an embodiment of the ages in Ovid (gold, silver, brass and iron) as well as of a biblical dream. But he stands on a foot of clay (this was also one of the wonders of the world). The cracks from the different ages pour water, from which we get the rivers of hell (Acheron, Styx and Phlegethon, as well as Cocytus). Dante wonders where is the stream that connects Styx to the lower waterways. This is a very complex situation. Virgil tells him that they have not come full circle, and they might yet meet it, and that the stream they see now, is the connecting stream between Phlegethon (the river of Blood where the Violent against others are immersed) and Cocytus¸which will be in the lower spheres. Lethe, instead, is the river in which the souls of purgatory purify themselves.

III) Canto XV: Brunetto Latini – Violent against God – Sodomites. An important canto which shows a few things, and contains another invective against Florence and the Etruscan spirit of the Florentines (Fiesolani) vs. the “Romanitas” that Brunetto (whose name “Latini” suggests a connection to Rome) tried to instill through his lessons in the Florentine (and only Dante has received). Important to notice that sodomy here is never really spoken of directly, though it is alluded in some ways, almost as if Dante were trying to make a point that he is uncomfortable speaking of it.

Meeting with Brunetto, who gets a whole canto. Why so much space devoted to Brunetto?

- because he was his teacher

- because he wrote a treatise (Tesoretto) which sets some of the rules that Dante followed

- because he tried to teach Romanitas

- because he inspired Dante to pursue the way to “glory” (“come l’uom s’etterna), even though it was limited to human glory, not the more divine one followed by Dante.

- as a way to explain the negative aspects of Florence

- maybe because there was an episode in their lives where Dante felt uncomfortable or had been approached by Brunetto (vv. 23-24, he seizes him from the hem of his clothes, an approach that suggests attempt at his virtue)

“Ser” is respectful, as is the “Voi”… “Ser” was appropriate for Brunetto, as a notary. Extreme respect between the two characters, with Brunetto calling Dante “Son” and Dante bowing his head to be closer but also as a sign of deference to his former teacher. Brunetto wants to know why he is here before his day and who is his guide. Dante explains why he is here (he had lost his way, but does not reveal the identity of Virgil… as if he was trying to protect his teacher from knowing that he had another mentor). Notice also that in the Tesoretto, Brunetto himself had claimed to have lost himself in a wood, thus revealing Dante’s source for the initial episode.

vv. 61à Brunetto begins an invective against the Florentines. Dante’s way of attacking the Florentines, in particular those who are more uncouth and who do not descend from a Roman/Mythical bloodline. Dante’s response is one that focuses on his abilities and on the honor that has been bestowed on him. Brunetto points to Dante that most of the sodomites are clerks and men of letters… interesting suggestion.

Andrea de’ Mozzi, bishop of Florence moved to Vicenza for his abuses…

IV) Canto XVI: More Sodomites (Guido Guerra, Tegghiaio Aldobrandi and Iacopo Rusticucci – the latter suggesting that his sodomy is due to a “fierce wife that harms me more than anything else”).

Three more Florentines bent on insulting the city (someone from our depraved city” (are they implicating themselves, or are they just accusing the city of being depraved). Notice Virgil’s strange reaction here: the suggestion is that Dante needs to show them courtesy, even though he is not a sinner, and they are in this circle. There seems to be a slight contradiction or problem in the way Dante approaches the sodomites; some commentators have suggested that Dante uses so much courtesy to these men because there is some affinity that he feels for them, and this is quite a change in the treatment of this sin in the Middle Ages… it suggests that Dante was possibly unsure about his sexuality. Remember the imagery of naked wrestlers, another image that suggests sodomite sexuality

Theory of Retribution: Face making motion contrary to feet: here the idea is that the face moves against the body – almost as if to replicate the sin of these people.

Dante is as explicit about his emotions toward these people, where he claims that he would jump in with them to embrace them, and he is “greedy” to embrace them, which is very interesting given the context of those with whom he talks.

Guglielmo Borsiere (“purse holder”) had told them that the city of Florence was losing some of its courtesy, given the new people who are there. Be able to talk about the “new people and the rapid gains”… the traditional aristocracy finds itself displaced and challenged by the new people… Here we get a sense that Dante is in a process of transition. He was a Guelph, originally, and the Guelphs were much more interested in the independence of the city-state. Yet, here he almost appears as a ghibelline…

End of the canto: when he takes the cord that reminds us of Franciscan monks: possible allusion to a vow he had made.

- It protects him from the leopard, temptation of the flesh… but now he doesn’t need it, since he has been through all of this part of the Inferno and he has steeled himself to its difficulties.

- The monster that arrives will be Geryon, the monster embodying Fraud, and he will be monstrous because he is much bigger and more disgusting than anything that they have seen so far.

V) Canto XVII: Entrance in the circle of Fraud:

Introduction of Geryon is a very allegorical, as he is presented as a beast with a face of “a just man” (v. 10), and the rest of the torso as a serpent (11-12) but also some other beast (vv. 13-15: two paws, hairy to the armpits, back and breast and both sides painted – allegory: fraud comes and blinds you with its artful deceit), and then it has the tail of a scorpion (v. 27) with which it stings and surprises you.

Virgil knows that Dante has not finished seeing the subcircle of the violent against God, because he has yet to talk with the money-lenders so he sends Dante to see them, while he ensures safe passage. The first AND ONLY time in the Inferno that Dante goes without Virgil – what is the symbolic meaning? (Possibly that usury was never a sin that Dante felt had a hold on him, so he could go by himself).

Sinners: they are unrecognizable (charred by the fire), but they each carry a bag, and they feast their eyes on the special emblem on their bags (supposedly, this is due to their sin, a parallel retribution punishment, as they are obsessed with the coat of arms and moneybags – these are people who are arriviste, they were social and financial climbers).

Dante starts “naming” families by describing their coats of arms: first (blue lion on yellow field) the Gianfigliazzi (prominent Black Guelph family); next (white goose on red field) the Obriachi family, bankers and money lenders of Ghibelline extraction; then (fat blue sow in white field) the Scrovegni family of Padova, possibly Reginaldo Scrovegni (“of the sow”) the family that commissioned Giotto’s fresco’s in Padua in the chapel by the same name. The last man claims that a neighbor, Vitaliano (del Dente) will have to sit next to him. And he also announces that the reigning knight (70-72) will come down – Giovanni di Buiamonte de’ Becchi, the commissioner and chief of police in Florence , and then sticks his tongue out and, like a pig, licks his snout (allegorical depiction of an insatiable appetite for money).

They mount the beast, and Virgil tells him to put himself in front to protect him from the possible hit. Dante once more fears his ability to withstand the test, but Virgil supports him and they get going. Dante’s description of the ride, with the aide of two myths from the metamorphoses (Phaeton and Icarus, the first wanting to ride the chariot of his father, Helios – Sun, led it to scorch earth and sky, vv. 106-108; the second when he did not heed his father’s warning, vv. 109-111). Very vivid and interesting for a man who lived at a time when flying was not an option for men.

V) Canto XVIII: Entrance to Malebolge – 8^th circle: fraud

Notice that here it’s no longer the poetic “I” that talks, but an omniscient narrator – again, the craftiness of the author who can switch such registers. Malabolgia corresponds to “evil” “sacks” – greed that motivates most fraudolents.

10 valleys where are housed the different varieties of “simple” fraud (concentric circles). The valleys are guarded by walls. The description here is supposed to render the idea of a spider’s web, as there are walls that cross the circles and allow for one to walk downward.

More similes in this canto, because he is attempting to explain this new world. The simile of the Romans in the year of the Jubilee (vv. 28-33), is suggestive because it gives the idea that Dante did participate to the Jubilee. Here we have the first descriptions of the devils as we know them, with whips, chasing the sinners and pushing them in a herd.

Dante “recognizes” a sinner without much help from Virgil. Notice also that Dante’s own language is much more biting at this point. Venedico Caccianemico is in the panderers and seducers subcircle of fraud: the canto emphasizes the falsity of fraud also at the level of the words… falsity is part of fraud and also of the panderer.

Caccianemico’s moment of glory when he is recognized. But here he is not so keen on being recognized. Tale of his sister has to deal with the fact that supposedly he allowed Obizzo d’Este into her bedroom for money.

Indictment of Bologna as a city of panderers (PIMPS): a typically Bolognese sin, and the one he is punished for here.

Seducers:

Jason, the noble king, who robbed the Colchians, with the help of Medea, daughter of the king, of the Golden Fleece (Ram). He is still regal in his bearing. Dante mentions his deceitful behavior toward Hypsipyle, whom he seduced (the Argonauts had married the women of the island of Lemnos, who were supposed to kill all their men… the Argonauts lived with them), then left married and pregnant. He deceived the girl who had deceived all other women. And he deceived Medea, whom he left to marry Glauce, daughter of the kind of Corinth: Medea killed her and her two children on the other woman’s wedding day.

They get to the next circle, where they hear the whimpering of the flatterers, who are encrusted with mold (and other gross stuff). Actually, these people are immersed in DUNG (Retribution: worthlessness of their flatteries has been transformed from upward to lower body waste – wasted breath, wasted excrement). Dante is much, much more explicit in the description of punishment, there is a much more descriptive side to him.

He encounters Alessio Interminei da Lucca. He explains why he is in this mess, because he had too many flatteries.

Dante also sees the whore Thais, who was a character in the play who flattered her lover.

VI) Canto XIX: Simoniacs – Nicholas II – Boniface VIII prophecy – Clement V (Avignon)

This Canto is interesting because of what it tells us about Dante and the church.

Address to Simon Magus… Simon came from Gitta (in the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies, II, xxii, called (Getthon) in the country of the Samaritans. He listened to Philip's sermons, was impressed by them, and like many of his countrymen was baptized and united with the community of believers in Christ. But his conversion was not the result of the inner conviction of faith in Christ as the Redeemer, but rather because he hoped to gain greater magical power and thus to increase his influence. When the Apostles Peter and John came to Samaria to bestow on the believers baptized by Philip the outpouring of the Spirit which was accompanied by miracles, Simon offered them money, desiring them to grant him what he regarded as magical power, so that he also by the laying on of hands could bestow the Holy Ghost. Under the influence of Peter's rebuke Simon begged the Apostles to pray for him (Acts, viii, 9 29). However, according to the unanimous report of the authorities of the second century, he persisted in his false views. The ecclesiastical writers of the early Church universally represent him as the first heretic, the "Father of Heresies".

Punishment: They stand upside down (a mocking parallel to the crucifixion of St. Peter. But also the reverse of baptism, where the baptized stood from the waist up to join the faith. They are pushed down into the ground by the next arrival until they are fully submerged in the ground.

Virgil carries Dante into the “purse” – one of only 2 times this happens. Why does he carry him? Sense that he should not walk on his own into this kind of misfit group, especially given his aversion for the sin they commit.

Dante places one Pope here (Nicholas II, who was pope from 1277-1280), and two more to go (Boniface VIII, 1295-1303 – REMEMBER the details of Dante’s run ins with this Pope; and Clement V, who will be the pope who moves the Papacy to Avignon in France, where it will stay from 1305 to 1377). Overall 4 popes are in the Inferno and only one in Paradise, just to show the level of corruption Dante felt the church was in.

Dante’s invective against the Pope: the idea is that Dante is gathering strength. Mention of St. Peter and the fact that the did not ask Mattias, the apostle who presumably took Judas’ place (here a traitor who also sells Jesus for money – another example of the way the church has given itself away). Also at vv. 115, mention is made of the Donation of Constantine – which in Dante’s time was believed to be a true document – but was a forged document “found” in 742 AD, that gave temporal/secular power to the church, by assigning it lands.

VII) Canto XX – THE Diviners

This canto is important mostly for the encounter with Tiresias, and for the detailed description of Manto, and how the city of Mantua, Virgil’s birthplace, was founded… Here Virgil corrects his own description of this founding from the Aeneid, suggesting that he too was sometimes thought to be a diviner, but here makes amends to that idea.

Punishment: Their face is turned against their body and they are forced to walk backwards – double punishment of not seeing. Retribution: In life they sought to see what was not in front of them, now they cannot walk forward, and cannot see forward (double punishment – CONTRAST).

Dante cries when he sees how their tears fall down their back (again, a very vivid description of what happens to the tears, almost comical). As much as he was praised for his rage in the previous canto, here Virgil chastises him for crying. Virgil does most of the talking: as if he has to justify the rumors from the Middle Ages that he too was a diviner

Amphiaraus: one of the 7 kings of Thebes

Tiresias: Remember that Tiresias is the one who was asked to judge whether the male or female gods had more pleasure in love, and told the truth – female gods do, even though Hera did not want that truth revealed: so she blinded him, but Zeus gave him the gift of knowing the future. But Tiresias is also the man who tried to separate two snakes making love, and was punished by becoming a woman and, 7 years later, came across the two same snakes, and when he separated them, was returned to his male form.

Virgil’s description of Manto – daughter of Tiresias – and her travels to Italy, until she settled in the geographical area near the Lake of Garda (a region Dante knew well, because by the time he is writing, he is guest of Can Grande della Scala – Big Dog of the Ladder, ruler of Verona, a city that sits on the Eastern side of the Lake). Virgil here says Manto was a virgin (vv. 82), a fact that goes against what he had said in the Aeneid, where he had her offspring found Mantua: so he is correcting himself, and saying that now he can see more truly than before.

List of other people: Eurypylus, Michael Scot, Guido Bonatti and Asdente. Just remember the names.

VIII) Canto XXI- The Barrators – judges and legislators who accept bribes “turn ‘no’ into ‘yes’”

Here Dante refers to his work as a Comedy, and we discussed that this comedy means something that moves from a low and negative point to a high and positive one.

The canto is a general invective against the Black Guelph city of Lucca which, like Bologna before, seems to be singled out for a particular sin. The devils here are quite vocal and disgusting.

Punishment: The sinners are in a boiling pitch; if they surface, the devils “hook” them with grapples and tear at them with their pronged hooks. The idea here is that they cannot “grab” anything but are “grabbed” by the Devils. In life they “grabbed” money in exchange for breaking the law, here they can’t grab anything and they suffer the opposite.

Virgil has to protect Dante from the devils, who act first and ask questions later. Virgil barters with the Devil (in particular, Evil Tail), to whom he says that he already had seen him here before, and that God wills that he allow Dante to come through. There is a suggestion of sexual impotence (vv. 85), but also of very base language, which highlights the rudeness of the Devils.

The devil lies to Virgil (vv. 106-108) and gives him an escort that will bring him forward (he tells Virgil that the passage is broken from the last time he was here, because of Jesus’ resurrection – vv. 112-114 tell us that by dating the descent of Dante).

IX) Last 2 cantos to be done in class on Tuesday.

X) Be prepared to discuss (for possible longer questions or the final essay question):

- Dante’s complex relation with Brunetto Latini and the issue of sodomy

- references to the Church and its bad representatives

- the description of Florence and Florentines, both in the Brunetto canto and the following one with the 3 important political figures who are also sodomites

- descriptions of places and cities (Florence, Bologna, Mantua, Lucca)