dChan
danielfaggot ID: d5387d Jan. 23, 2020, 6:21 p.m. No.7894558   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4582

Dante takes a step backward in his learning process in this canto. For the first time in Malebolge, Dante feels pity for the sinners in this circle, and Virgil chastises him for his behavior. Perhaps Dante wasn't ready to see the true nature of sin in those earlier cantos. Also possible is that Virgil is fallible and can also feel pity for some of the souls in Hell but not for those in the final circles.

 

In keeping with Dante's theme of Divine Retribution, the Fortune Tellers and Diviners have their heads on backwards and their eyes are full of tears. These are the souls who, on Earth, tried to see too far ahead of them, and thus will spend eternity forever looking behind with blurred vision. Following the teachings of the papacy, the theme of religion is broached, because the papacy did not approve of sorcery in any form.

 

For the first time, Dante violates his own concept of judging each spirit by the standards of the time in which he lived. Here he condemns the Greek prophets, who were held in high esteem in their own time. It is interesting that the Old Testament prophets are not here, and Dante offers no explanation for their absence.

 

Glossary

 

Thebans citizens of Thebes, one of the chief cities of ancient Greece.

 

Amphiareus one of the seven captains who fought against Thebes.

 

Tiresias Greek Mythology. a blind soothsayer of Thebes.

 

Aruns a soothsayer from Etruria.

 

Luni an ancient Etruscan city.

 

Manto sorceress after whom Mantua is named.

 

Bacchus Greek and Roman Mythology. the god of wine and revelry.

 

Mantua commune in Lombardy, Northern Italy; birthplace of Virgil.

 

Eurypylus Greek augur.

 

Michael Scot Irish scholar; dealt with the occult.

 

Guido Bonatti court astrologer and military adviser.

 

Cain with his bush of thorns the moon.

danielfaggot ID: d5387d Jan. 23, 2020, 6:23 p.m. No.7894582   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>4592 >>4653

>>7894558

Like the rest of the sinners in Hell, the Grafters also experience Dante's concept of Divine Retribution. Because they had "sticky" hands in life, stealing and embezzling money, they are damned to spend eternity in sticky pitch, and just as their dealings were hidden from the world in life, their souls are hidden beneath the pitch in death. On Earth, Grafters took every opportunity to take advantage of others, and they are now overseen by terrible demons that use every opportunity to take advantage of them.

 

Virgil's behavior changes in these deeper circles. No longer does he coddle and behave tenderly toward Dante. In fact, he rebukes Dante twice in Canto XXI, once for hiding behind the rocks (where Virgil placed him) and once for being afraid of the demons. Dante seems almost reluctant to continue the journey, literally and spiritually, and Virgil, as human reason, is frustrated with him.

 

All that is known about the Grafter from Navarre is what he says of himself. He, as the other sinners in Hell, is unchanged and shows no remorse for his sins; as he was in life, so he remains in Hell. The scene of this sinner and his escape from the demons functions to allow the poets to progress on their journey; there is no other real reason for its presence in the narrative.

 

Glossary

 

Santa Zita the Patron Saint of Lucca.

 

Bonturo politician of Lucca.

 

Pisan a person from the city of Pisa of Pisa.

 

Sardinia Italian island in the Mediterranean, south of Corsica; or the region of Italy comprising this island and small nearby islands.