La Divina Comedia: Inferno
Canto XVIII
By Allison Tucker
Summary:
Dante and
Virgil descend to the eighth circle of Hell known as Malebolge. The
eighth circle was for fraudulent and malicious behavior. It is divided into ten
areas. Canto 18 describes the first two. In the first area or ditch, Dante
learns about people who were basically pimps. These people forced others into
doing things for their benefit. In the second ditch, Dante and Virgil come
across souls who are doomed because of their false flattery behaviors on
Earth. These souls are forced to be in
human waste forever.
Sins of this
Canto:
The sins of this Canto are
fraudulent and malicious behavior. These
sins are described as false flattery and prostitution. In the first ditch of the eighth circle,
Virgil and Dante come across souls who forced other people to do things for
money. In the second ditch of the eighth circle, Virgil and Dante are struck by
a terrible odor. “The banks were encrusted
with a mold from the breath from below that condenses there, which assailed
both eyes and nose (Dante 279)." In
this second ditch, these souls were guilty of false flatteries. “I am submerged
down here by the flatteries with which my tongue was never cloyed (Dante
281).” Their sins were of being
dishonest to others.
Punishment/Cantrapasso:
Since the souls in the first
ditch had forced other people into prostitution and worse, they were forced to
go from one edge of the ditch and be hit with a whip by a demon. They then ran to the other side and were hit
by another demon’s whip. In Hell, they
were forced to do things they did not want to do, just as they had forced others
to do for their personal gain on Earth.
In the second ditch, the dead were forced to be in their own
waste. “There we came; and from there I
saw, down in the ditch, people immersed in dung that seemed to have come from
human privies (Dante 281).” They were
all full of shit, so they had to live in it.
Important
Characters:
|
The Panders(fraudulent)
|
“Pimps” Made women become
prostitutes.
|
|
The Seducers (malicious)
|
Tried to seduce people by false
flattery.
|
|
Jason
|
First ditch. Wasn’t remorseful or
showed any pain.
|
|
Hypsipyle
|
Young girl who Jason left after
she became pregnant.
|
|
Alessio Interminei of Lucca
|
Dante recognizes him in the first
ditch. Covered with poop. There because of false flattery.
|
Imagry Quotes:
“The banks were encrusted with a mold from the breath from below that
condenses there, wich assailed both eyes and nose” (Dante 279).
“The bottom is so deep that no vantage point is sufficient without
climbing on the back of the arch, where the ridge is the highest” (Dante 281).
Mommy Virgil:
“My poet moved toward the left, and I followed him” (Dante 275).
Multiple Choice
Questions:
1.
Who dropped off Virgil and Dante to the eighth
circle?
a.
Gerion
b.
Geryon
c.
Gerison
2.
What was the eighth circle called?
a.
Malebolge
b.
Bologna
c.
Neither A or B
3.
How many valleys is the eighth circle divided
into?
a.
8
b.
13
c.
10
4.
Who were the souls in the first ditch?
a.
Malebolge
b.
Fraudulent
c.
Malicious
5.
Why were they in the first ditch?
a.
They stole
b.
They used other people
c.
They hoarded
6.
What was their punishment in the first ditch?
a.
whipped
b.
burned
c.
buried
7.
Who was Jason?
a.
Got his sister pregnant
b.
Got his girlfriend pregnant
c.
Got his cousin pregnant
8.
What were the souls covered in in the second
ditch?
a.
poop
b.
blood
c.
poop and blood
9.
Why were the souls in the second ditch?
a.
Dishonest
b.
Bad tempered
c.
False flattery
10. Who did
dante see in the second ditch?
a.
Alessio
b.
Luca
c.
Jason
Higher Order Thinking Questions:
1. Why do you think the malicious were forced to
be in waste? What is symbolic about it?
2. What is the symbolism of the demon whipping
the sinners?
3. What do you think the relationship between the
10 pits and the Ten Commandments is?
Dante,
Alighieri, Robert M. Durling, and Roland L. Martinez. The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri. New York: Oxford UP, 1996.
Print.
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