Canto XXXI: Summary:
The Central Pit of Malebolge, The Giants; Dante to the reader describes the scene, “Here it was less than night and less than day; my eyes could make out little through the gloom, but I heard the shrill note of a trumpet bray louder than any thunder. As if by force, it drew my eyes; I stared into the gloom along the path of the sound back to its source. After the bloody rout when Charlemagne had lost the band of Holy Knights, Roland blew no more terribly for all his pain.”
Virgil takes Dante by the hand, and says, “The better to prepare you for strange truth, let me explain those shapes you see ahead: they are not towers but giants. They stand in the well from the naval down; and stationed round its bank they mount guard on the final pit of Hell.”
Dante to the reader describes his feelings, “Just as a man in a fog that starts to clear begins little by little to piece together the shapes the vapor crowded from the air―so, when those shapes grew clearer as I drew across the darkness to the central brink, error fled from me; and my terror grew.”
Dante to the reader describes the scene, “For just as Montereggione the great towers crown the encircling wall; so the grim giants whom Jove still threatens when the thunder roars raised from the rim of stone about that well the upper halves of their bodies, which loomed up like turrets through the murky air of Hell.”
Dante to the reader describes the giants, “His face, it seemed to me, was quite as high and wide as the bronze pine cone in St. Peter’s with the rest of him proportioned accordingly: so that the bank, which made an apron for him from the waist down, still left so much exposed that three Frieslanders standing on the rim, one on another, could not have reached his hair; for to that point at which men’s capes are buckled, thirty good hand-spans of brute bulk rose clear.”
Canto XXXI: Analysis:
The Central Pit of Malebolge, The Giants; Dante to the reader regarding Virgil explains with an analogy, “One and the same tongue had first wounded me so that the blood came rushing to my cheeks, and then supplied the soothing remedy. Just so, as I have heard, the magic steel of the lance that was Achilles’ and his father’s could wound at a touch, and, at another, heal” (1-6).
“Achilles’ Lance” is a magic lance left to Achilles by Peleus, his father. In Ovid’s Metamorphoses, XIII, 171 ff., it describes Achilles’ lance. Sonneterrs of Dante’s time made frequent metaphoric use of this lance. For example, similar to the lance’s ability to cure and heal, so could the lady’s look destroy with love and with a kiss make whole.
Dante to the reader describes the scene, “Here it was less than night and less than day; my eyes could make out little through the gloom, but I heard the shrill note of a trumpet bray louder than any thunder. As if by force, it drew my eyes; I stared into the gloom along the path of the sound back to its source. After the bloody rout when Charlemagne had lost the band of Holy Knights, Roland blew no more terribly for all his pain” (10-18).
“Roland” was the nephew of Charlemagne (17). Roland was the hero of the French epic poem, the Chanson de Roland. Roland protected the rear of Charlemagne’s column on the return march through the Pyrenees from a war against the Saracens. When Roland was attacked he was too proud to blow his horn for help, but as he was dying he blew such a prodigious blast that he heard Charlemagne eight miles away. The “Holy Knights” are a sworn band of men at arms (17).
“As [Dante] stared through that obscurity, [he] saw what seemed a cluster of great towers” in the Central Pit of Malebolge (19-20). Whereat [Dante] cried: “[Virgil], what is this city?” (21) Virgil to Dante replied, “You are still too far back in the dark to make out clearly what you think you see; it is natural that you should miss the mark: You will see clearly when you reach that place how much your eyes mislead you at a distance; I urge you, therefore, to increase your pace” (22-27).
Virgil takes Dante by the hand, and says, “The better to prepare you for strange truth, let me explain those shapes you see ahead: they are not towers but giants. They stand in the well from the naval down; and stationed round its bank they mount guard on the final pit of Hell” (29-33).
Dante to the reader describes his feelings, “Just as a man in a fog that starts to clear begins little by little to piece together the shapes the vapor crowded from the air―so, when those shapes grew clearer as I drew across the darkness to the central brink, error fled from me; and my terror grew” (34-39).
Dante to the reader describes the scene, “For just as Montereggione the great towers crown the encircling wall; so the grim giants whom Jove still threatens when the thunder roars raised from the rim of stone about that well the upper halves of their bodies, which loomed up like turrets through the murky air of Hell” (40-45).
“Montereggione is a castle in Val d’Elsa near Siena. In 1213, Monterggione was built. The castles walls had a circumference of more than half a kilometer and were crowned by fourteen great towers, most of which are now destroyed.
Dante to the reader describes as he steps closer to the giants, “I had drawn close enough to one already to make out the great arms along his sides, the face, the shoulders, the breast, and most of the belly. Nature, when she destroyed the last exemplars on which she formed those beasts, surely did well to take such executioners from Mars. And if she has not repented the creation of whales and elephants, the thinking man will see in that her justice and discretion: for where the instrument of intelligence is added to brute power and evil will, mankind is powerless in its own defense” (46-57).
Dante to the reader describes the giants, “His face, it seemed to me, was quite as high and wide as the bronze pine cone in St. Peter’s with the rest of him proportioned accordingly: so that the bank, which made an apron for him from the waist down, still left so much exposed that three Frieslanders standing on the rim, one on another, could not have reached his hair; for to that point at which men’s capes are buckled, thirty good hand-spans of brute bulk rose clear” (58-66).
“The bronze pine cone in St. Peter’s” was originally part of a fountain (59). During Dante’s time, the bronze pine cone stood in front of the Basilica of St. Peter. However, the bronze pine cone is now inside the Vatican. The bronze pine cone is nearly thirteen feet high, but shows signs of mutilation. Therefore, at one time the bronze pine cone was taller. “Frieslanders” are men of Friesland, and were considered the tallest in Europe (63). “Thirty good hand-spans” refers to the spread of an open hand (66). According to the Dante Society edition of the “Comedy,” it equates ten palms to be four meters or 158 inches. However, 15.8 inches seems to be an excessive hand span.
The Brute bellowed chant, “Rafel mahee amek zabi almit” (67). Virgil to the Brute screamed in his direction: “Babbling fool, stick to your horn and vent yourself with it when rage or passion stir your stupid soul. Feel there around your neck, you muddle-head, and find the cords; and there’s the horn itself, there on your overgrown chest” (70-75). Virgil to Dante regarding the Brute says, “His very babbling testifies the wrong he did on earth: he is Nimrod, through whose evil mankind no longer speaks a common tongue. Waste no words on him: it would be foolish. To him all speech is meaningless; as his own, which no one understands, is simply gibberish” (76-81).
“Nimrod” was the first king of Babylon (77). Nimrod was supposed to have built the Tower of Babel. Nimrod was punished by the confusion of his own tongue and lack of understanding. The Tower of Babel was not built for worship and praise of Yahweh, but instead was dedicated to the glory of man to make a name for the builder, Nimrod. This displeased Yahweh. Yahweh is the personal name for God in the Hebrew Bible.
Virgil and Dante moved on, “Bearing left along the pit, and a crossbow-sho0t away we found the next one, an even huger and more savage spirit” (82-84). Dante to the reader contemplates and describes, “What master could have bound so gross a beast I cannot say, but he had his right arm pinned behind his back, and the left across his breast by an enormous chain that wound about him from the neck down, completing five great turns before it spiraled down below the rim” (85-90).
Virgil to Dante says, “This piece of arrogance dared try his strength against the power of Jove; for which he is rewarded as you see. He is Ephialtes, who made the great endeavour with the other giants who alarmed the Gods; the arms he raised then, now are bound forever” (91-96). Please note: “Ephialtes” is the son of Neptune and Iphimedia (94). With his brother, Otus, Ephialtes warred against the Gods striving to pile Mt. Ossa on Mt. Olympus, and Mt. Pelion on Mt. Ossa. Apollo restored order by killing the two brothers, Ephialtes and Otus.
Dante to Virgil replies, “Were it possible, I should like to take with me the memory of seeing the immeasurable Briareus” (97-99). Please note: “Briareus” is another giant who rose against the Olympian Gods (99). Briareus is the son of Uranus and Tellus. In the “Aeneid,” Virgil speaks of Briareus as having a hundred arms and fifty hands.
Virgil to Dante explains, “Nearer to hand, you may observe Antaeus who is able to speak to us, and is not bound. It is he will set us down in Cocytus, the bottom of all guilt. The other hulk stands far beyond our road. He too, is bound and looks like this one, but with a fiercer sulk” (100-105).
“Antaeus” is the son of Neptune and Tellus (100). In battle, Antaeus strength grew each time he touched the earth. Antaeus was invincible until Hercules killed him by lifting him over his head and strangling him in mid-air. In “Pharsalia” by Lucan, Antaeus great lion-hunting feat in the valley of Zama is described. During a later era, in the valley of Zama, that is where Scipio defeated Hannibal. Antaeus did not join in the rebellion against the gods, and therefore, Antaeus is not chained.
Dante to the reader describes the environment, “No earthquake in the fury of its shock ever seized a tower more violently, than Ephialtes, hearing, began to rock. Then I dreaded death as never before; and I think I could have died for very fear had I not seen what manacles he wore. [Virgil and Dante] left the monster, and not far from him [they] reached Antaeus, who to his shoulders alone soared up a good five ells above the rim” (106-114).
Virgil to Antaeus request, “O soul who once in Zama’s fateful vale―where Scipio became the heir of glory when Hannibal and all his troops turned tail―took more than a thousand lions for your prey; and in whose memory many still believe the sons of earth would yet have won the day had you joined with them against High Olympus―do not disdain to do us a small service, but set us down where the cold grips Cocytus. Would you have us go to Tityos or Typon?―this man can give you what is longed for here: therefore do not refuse him, but bend down. For he can still make new your memory: he lives, and awaits long life, unless Grace call him before his time to his felicity” (115-129).
“Cocytus” is the final pit of Hell (123). “Tityos or Typhon” are the sons of Tellus (124). Tityos and Typhon offended Jupiter, who had them hurles into the crater of Etna. Below the crater of Etna, is where Lake Tartarus was supposed to lie.
Dante watches Antaeus without delay reach out the hands which Hercules felt, and raise Virgil. Virgil to Dante calls, “Come, and I will hold you safe” (134). Virgil took Dante in his arms and held him. Dante makes a metaphor to describe the situation, “The way the Carisenda seems to one who looks up from the learning side when clouds are going over it from that direction, making the whole tower seem to topple―so Antaeus seemed to me in the fraught moment when I stood clinging, watching them below as he bent down; while I with heart and soul wished we had gone some other way, but gently he set us down inside the final hole whose ice holds Judas and Lucifer in its grip. Then straightened like a mast above a ship” (136-146). Please note: In order to understand this metaphor, the reader needs to know that “Carisenda” is a leaning tower of Bologna (136).
Work Cited:
Alighieri, Dante, “The Inferno,” Trans. John Ciardi, Signet Classics, New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., New York, New York, 2009, Print.
