We are still on the seventh circle but now the third ring which is just on the edge of the abyss where Dante and Virgil must go down to reach the eighth circle of Hell. In Canto XVI Virgil had used the cord around Dante’s waist to signal something in the abyss at the waterfall. Dante is looking down into the murky air of the abyss and sees a shape coming up like a diver coming up from the ocean floor.
“Behold the beast that has the pointed tail,
That crosses mountains, leaves walls and weapons broken,
And makes the stench of which the world is full!”
So did my leader address me, then paused to beckon
Him ashore near where the causeway came to an end.
And fraud’s foul emblem came closer, till he had taken
His head and chest from the deep to rest on land
Before us, not drawing his tail up onto the bank.
His face was a just man’s face, outwardly kind,
And he was like a serpent all down his trunk.
He had two paws, both hairy to the armpits;
His back and breast and both sides down to the shank
Were painted with designs of knots and circlets.
No Tartar or Turk has ever woven a cloth
More colored in field and figure, nor were the nets
Arachne loomed. The way beached boats are both
On land and partly in water, or the way
The beaver squats to battle fish to the death
In the deep-drinking German’s land – so lay
That worst of beasts upon the edge of stone
That bounds the sand. His tail was quivery
And restless in the void where it hung down
Squirming it’s venomed fork with an upward twist,
Armed like a scorpion.
Geryon is the guardian of the Eighth circle of hell. Geryon was the grandson of Medusa on his father’s side, but also of Titans (giant deities) on his mother’s side. He had three heads and three pairs of legs, and is known to have extraordinary strength. I.e. he was a giant with three heads and three conjoined bodies. In Hercules’ tenth labor, he kills Geryon. Dante transforms this three-bodied man into a three-part monster with the head of a man, body of a serpent, and tail of a scorpion. Geryon is a representation of the circle of fraud (“fraud’s foul emblem”) who will serve as a vehicle of transition to the eighth circle. We get a description of Geryon in detail. He has a human face that looks “outwardly kind”. His human face, neck and shoulders then move into his chest and arms that are like a bears. His arms end in paws and are “hairy to the armpits”. His body from the chest down was serpentine with a scorpion tail and covered with colorful “designs of knots and circlets”. Dante compares his hide to a woven “cloth more colored in field and figure” than any “Tartar or Turk” had ever designed or Arachne had ever woven. Tartars are an ethnic group of Turks. Turks were the great weavers of Dante’s time.
In Book Six of his epic poem Metamorphosis, Ovid recounts how the talented mortal Arachne, who was a Lydian maiden, the daughter of Idmon of Colophon, a famous dyer in purple, was so good at weaving that she invented linen cloth and nets. She boasted that her skill was greater than Athena’s, goddess of wisdom and crafts, and refused to acknowledge that her skill came from the goddess. She was tricked into a weaving contest with an old woman who was really Athena in disguise. Arachne’s weaving depicted ways that the gods, particularly Zeus, had misled and abused mortals, tricking and seducing many women. When Athena saw Arachne had not only insulted the gods but done so with a work far more beautiful than Athena’s own, she was enraged. She ripped Arachne’s work to shreds and hit her on the head three times with her shuttle. Arachne hanged herself out of shame. Athena cursed her and she was transformed into a spider. – Wikipedia
Dante’s Geryon is an image of fraud, combining human, bestial, and reptilian elements. His tripartite form renders him ‘the counterfeit of Christ, three-in-one rather than one in three’. His human face that looks just and kind is the mask of a fraudster. Notice when he comes up from the abyss, he docks his body with only his face, neck and shoulders being seen. The rest of his body is below the stone edge with his scorpion tail “quivery and restless in the void where it hung down squirming its venomed fork with an upward twist”. Like any conman he only presents a benign, honest-looking, kindly face but his con has a deadly sting.
This foul beast is such an attack on the mind, that Dante can only describe it as he sees it. He can’t fully process it in his mind. It’s a shock. As his mind struggles to process what he is seeing, he makes comparisons to humanly recognizable things like a serpent, a scorpion, a Turkish rug, a beached boat, a beaver squatting on the bank. As Dante is fixated on this horrible beast much like a deer in headlights, Virgil has to recall his attention and he tells him to go talk to some men over on the edge in a corner.
“Now we must incline
Our path a little – as far as the evil beast
That crouches over there,” my master said.
So we descended on the right, and paced
Ten steps along the edge to keep well wide
Of sand and flames. Coming to where he was,
I saw on the sand just on from where we stood
Some people sitting near the open space.
The master said, “To experience this ring
Fully, go forward: learn what their state is,
But let your conversation not be long.
Till you return, I’ll parley with this beast,
So we may borrow his shoulders.” I went along
The seventh circle’s margin alone, and passed
To where those doleful people sat.
Dante, the poet, contrives some suspense here. He starts the Canto with the description of Geryon and then Virgil has Dante, the pilgrim, go off to talk to the usurers. He introduces this dragon of horror, only to go aside to talk to the usurers for a few minutes before the action begins.
Their woes
Burst from their eyes, their hands were doing their best
To shield them from the torments, shifting place
From here to there – one moment from falling flames,
The next, the burning ground: just like the ways
Of dogs in summer when they scratch, sometimes
With paw and others with muzzle, they behaved
As though fleas or flies or gadflies bit their limbs.
When I grew closer to the people grieved
By the flames falling on them, I did not find
Any I recognized, but I perceived
Each had a purse hung round his neck – adorned
With certain colors and a certain device,
Which each of them with hungry eyes consumed.
Looking among them, I saw a yellow purse
That bore a lion in azure. Looking farther,
I saw another, blood-red, that showed a goose
Depicted in a color whiter than butter.
Then one of them – whose wallet, which was white
Displayed a pregnant sow portrayed in azure –
Said to me: “What are you doing in this pit?
Be off with you! And since you are living, know
My neighbor Vitaliano will come to sit
Here on my left. These Florentines din me so
Because I am a Paduan; often they cry,
‘Bring on the sovereign knight whose sack will show
Three goats!'” With that, he twisted his mouth awry
In a perverse grimace, and like an ox
Licking its nose, thrust out his tongue at me.
The usurers are the last sinners in the circle of violence. The English word “usury” derives from the medieval Latin noun “usuria”. It is the excessive charging of interest on money loaned. It is compensation for the use of money. If I need $100 real fast, Iand don’t have time to work for it, then I can borrow it for a fee. A normative fee for the use of the money is charged and is called interest. A small interest charge may be alright but when someone takes advantage of the person’s desperation for the $100, they overcharge on interest.
Remember we are in the seventh circle which punishes the violent. We saw the punishment for those who were violent against others, those who were violent against self and we left off with those who are violent with God. The violent against God were the blasphemers who were violent against God’s person. We also saw the violent against God’s child, Nature, with the sodomites and homosexuals. But how do usurers come into being violent against God? They are violent against God’s grandchild, Art or techne.
It allows humans to make money from money rather than only through the sweat of their labor. Usurers make money a productive substance which, by its nature, is unproductive.
Ring 3: Violence against God, 1) in His person and 2) in His possessions (Canti 14-17). A further complexity, to which I return below, is that for the purposes of this taxonomy God has two “possessions” (nature and art), and that therefore there are three kinds of violence against God, rather than two. – DigitalDante.columbia.edu
In the last section of Inferno 11 Dante returns to the third kind of violence, violence against God, and to the implications built into the idea of “violence against God in His possessions”. For the purposes of this taxonomy God has two “possessions”: 1) His “daughter”, nature, and 2) nature’s daughter, God’s “grand-daughter”, namely human art. The word “arte” in verse 103 is to be construed as all human techne — thus art in its broadest sense, including all human work, skills, crafts, and endeavors. Violence against nature is sodomy, while violence against human art is usury. – DigitalDante.columbia.edu
…Rather this was about using others merely for one’s own desire, without any shared fruit (bearing life together) as a result of the union. Hence, usage that diminishes the other, whether from nature or faith or profit or empty, fleeting pleasure, is seen as a far greater sin than the act of a moment in anger or despair, like murder or suicide. To turn all of creation or our community of faith or our family and friends into a self-referent resource to serve only our needs or fill our pockets or feel that they all OWE US is seen by Dante the Poet to be the worst of the worst in the circle of violence. – Kelby Cotton at perpetualastonishment.weebly.com
Today’s credit cards charge usurious interest. Let’s say that I can get $100 from my bank at an interest rate of 3% so that I repay the bank $103 for the use of the $100. But if I use a credit card, the credit card company charges me 30% for the use of the $100 and I have to pay $130 back to the credit card company. This high interest is a form of usury. And this doesn’t take into account that credit card companies will also charge high late fees if you are 1 day late on a payment and they will further increase your interest to 35% for a late payment. You can be in over your head before you know it! Then you can’t afford to pay the $175 back for the use of the $100. And it begins to escalate and spiral upward to where they demand double and triple the money you initially borrowed. College loans are one of the worst forms of modern usury. I know a young person who worked all through college and still had to take out college loans in order to graduate. After graduation they got married and worked. They had 4 children. Both parents worked but they couldn’t afford the college loans. Every time they were late, the interest rate and late fees caused the amount to go up and up. It eventually quadrupled and there is no paying it back now. It’s out of the question. Another form of usury is rent-to-own. Let’s say a person agrees to rent a home with the option of using their rental money to purchase the home after some time. They get to move into a home with low money down and they believe their payments are used towards purchasing the home. Until they are 1 day late on the rent. Then the owner swoops in, evicting them. According to the signed contract, they lose their initial money they put down on the house. The owner made up front money, monthly rent and still owns the house. So he/she goes on to the next gullible person who falls for the rent-to-own trick. Car leases can be usurious. It’s no money down or low money down, low payments for 3-4 years and then you have the option of paying off the car or turning it in, adding cash and getting another lease. You car has depreciated 3-4 years but they are going to charge you the difference from the new retail price, less what you’ve made in payments (those low payments). Let’s say the car was $30,000 brand new and you paid $2,000 down and made low lease payments of $200/month for 3 years (that payment also includes interest) which is $7,200. Part of that $7,200 was interest so you don’t get to take all of that $7,200 off. Let’s say they allow you $6,000 off and the original $2,000 down payment off the $30,000 original price of the car. That means you will need to pay off $22,000 in order to own the 3 year old car. If you do that you either have to bring them a check for $22,000 or you have to get a used car loan for the $22,000. Will the bank lend you that much money on a 3 yr old car? If they do, you have to pay interest on it so that’s an added expense. How long will the bank lend you money for a used car? Does that make your payment higher? OR you can bring it back in to the dealership, give it to them, pay another $2,000 down, and drive off with a new leased car only to go through it all again in 3 years. They make money coming and going and it just depends on how desperate you are for the car.
Usury takes advantage of people who are in a desperate situation to some degree. It is not a life necessity to graduate college. People can go on to have a good life even without a college degree and a much better life if they don’t go into debt. But college and universities prey upon high school teenagers and their gullible parents. The college and universities get their money whether it’s through scholarships, grants, college loans or Mom and Dad’s checkbooks. So they aren’t interested in HOW the kid gets the money. They are only interested in convincing the kid and his parents that they MUST go to college so they can get their money. They create the NEED for college and make Mom, Dad, and Junior think it’s a necessity. People fall into it. They really do believe Junior’s life is ruined if he doesn’t go to college. It’s a social status; it’s peer pressure; and it’s a marketing ploy. Universities hire experts who professionally market them to the teenagers and their parents. High school guidance counselors are recruiters for colleges and universities.
College loans are not a life necessity. But there are some real life necessities that are financed by usurious credit cards. For instance, if you are hospitalized, they won’t let you leave the hospital without making a loan to cover the balance of your bill. We have good insurance and my husband has a good job and excellent credit rating. One time he was hospitalized with meningitis and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. He was in the hospital for a week. Before they released him, they called me into the hospital business office to discuss the balance left after the insurance paid. It was several thousand dollars which we did not have on hand. I had to take out a loan with a credit card right there in the hospital office so they got their money. The interest rate was very high. It was usury. But I couldn’t take him home without doing it. Fortunately we were able to pay it off quickly. But that’s taking advantage of a life necessity, a desperate person, with usury.
You may also have heard of loan sharks. They also take advantage of people with high interest rates. They will confiscate something if you don’t pay up, on time. They will threaten to kill you if you don’t pay up, on time. They will force you to do things you wouldn’t do, like sell drugs to your friends, if you don’t pay up, on time. They will prey on you, beat you up, force you into prostitution, or sell drugs. These are the worst kinds of usury on the streets. They use violence to force you. But some people, who can’t get conventional loans, are so desperate that they take the chance and borrow from a loan shark.
Dante’s family had also been involved in money-lending so he knew what he was talking about. Banks and money lending was rather new to Dante’s generation. Noble families had assets but they were often non-liquid. Land, crops, livestock, jewels, rentals. When they needed cash, they had begun looking towards these money-lenders and “banks” for liquid cash. It was also very dangerous to carry money on trips. So they would deposit money with a “bank” and carry paper to where they were going and then cash it in when they got there. They paid “fees” for this convenience. This had become big business in Florence. It’s also how the Knights Templar became so wealthy.
The issue of usury is complexly interwoven with the growth of capitalism in the Italian city-states, where the great merchant banking houses are part of the new growth of trade and cultural exchange that liquidity promotes. – DigitalDante.columbia.edu
Why would God see this as a violence against His possessions? Money lenders and usurers can prey upon the vulnerable. Overcharging and taking advantage of people is a type of theft. Let’s look at a story about how Jesus dealt with people like this.
Matthew 21:12-13 (BSB) 12 Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves. 13 And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”
Mark 11:15-18 (BSB) 15 When they arrived in Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves. 16 And He would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 Then Jesus began to teach them, and He declared, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” 18 When the chief priests and scribes heard this, they looked for a way to kill Him. For they were afraid of Him, because the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.
Luke 19:45-48 (BSB) 45 Then Jesus entered the temple courts and began to drive out those who were selling there. 46 He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be a house of prayer.’ But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” 47 Jesus was teaching at the temple every day, but the chief priests, scribes, and leaders of the people were intent on killing Him. 48 Yet they could not find a way to do so, because all the people hung on His words.
John 2:13-17 (BSB) 13 When the Jewish Passover was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts He found men selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and money changers seated at their tables. 15 So He made a whip out of cords and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle. He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those selling doves He said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn My Father’s house into a marketplace!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for Your house will consume Me.”
Let’s pull apart the facts from the 4 accounts in the four gospels.
- Jesus and His disciples arrived for Passover in Jerusalem
- Jesus entered the “temple courts”
- He found Money changers and those selling sacrificial animals and other merchandise
- He made a whip of cords
- He drove them out
- Overturning their tables and pouring out their coins
- He drove out the livestock
- “My Father’s house is called a house of prayer!”
- “How dare you turn My Father’s house into a den of thieves, a marketplace?”
- Jesus taught in the temple courts
- The Chief priests and scribes felt threatened and began to plot to kill Him
Passover was a big religious celebration for the Jews. It commemorates when the Israelites were slaves in Egypt. Moses had been empowered by God to lead them out. Pharaoh was reluctant and God sent plagues to motivate him to let them go. The last miracle was the Angel of death going throughout the land killing all the firstborn. God had warned Moses and told him how to protect the Israelites and their firstborn. They were to kill a spotless lamb and paint their door lintels with the blood of the lamb and the Angel of death would skip that household. Meanwhile the Israelites were to pack and get themselves together and be ready to leave. Sure enough, it was so traumatic that Pharaoh agreed to let the Israelites go. In fact, the Egyptians, by this time, were so anxious for them to go they loaded them with whatever they wanted and the Israelites left the land of Egypt as wealthy families!
Celebrating the Passover drew thousands and thousands of pilgrims who would make the trip to Jerusalem to celebrate and part of the celebration was to offer sacrifices to God. They would go to the Temple in Jerusalem and give the priests a sacrificial animal to be sacrificed to God on their behalf. As you can imagine, it would be a little difficult taking livestock on their trip to Jerusalem. So the priests had set up a system of convenience. They allowed merchants to offer livestock for sale. If the sacrificial animal you brought with you didn’t meet the criteria of the priests, i.e. perfect without spot or blemish, then they would reject your sacrifice and offer to sell you one that did meet the criteria… at a profit. Or if you didn’t bring one, you needed to buy one when you got there and this convenience came at a price. And if you came from a foreign country and your money was in foreign coin, then you needed a money changer to give you the value of your coin in the current coin, for a fee, of course.
The priests were allowing money changers and merchandisers into the courts of the Temple of God and allowing the price gouging because they got a cut from it! The High Priest and the priesthood had become ensconced in the “system” and were making a good profit out of it. It gave them power.
But here comes Jesus, a carpenter’s son, who claims to be the Son of God. He comes in and sees what is happening and reacts by causing disruption. You can imagine the people who were there would have found this immensely popular because they had been gouged and overcharged for generations. But the High Priest and the priesthood system were threatened. Their profits were being threatened. Their hold on the people was being threatened. Jesus will even claim that there will no longer need to be a priesthood and Temple because the people could go through Him and have straight access to God. The New Covenant would make the old way obsolete. You can see how threatening this was to the entrenched and corrupted priesthood.
Jesus couldn’t be allowed to preach and teach His “blasphemy” in the Temple, in Jerusalem or even in the land! He had to be gotten rid of. Their whole lifestyle and fortune were based on the old system. They didn’t want their Messiah. They were basically thieves. “Thou shalt not steal.”
The people were loving it! They knew how corrupt it was but had no way to stop it. But here was a man who claimed there was going to be a new way. He was going to “drain the swamp” as President Trump says. They were flocking to listen to this man and were hanging onto His teaching. So the priests plotted to have Him killed.
Usury was also mentioned specifically by God in the Jewish writings of the Old Testament.
Deuteronomy 23:19-20 (BSB) 19 Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or any other type of loan. 20 You may charge a foreigner interest, but not your brother, so that the LORD your God may bless you in everything to which you put your hand in the land that you are entering to possess.
Ezekiel 18 (NLT) 1 Then another message came to me from the LORD: 2 “Why do you quote this proverb concerning the land of Israel: ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, but their children’s mouths pucker at the taste’? 3 As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, you will not quote this proverb anymore in Israel. 4 For all people are mine to judge—both parents and children alike. And this is my rule: The person who sins is the one who will die.
5 “Suppose a certain man is righteous and does what is just and right. 6 He does not feast in the mountains before Israel’s idols or worship them. He does not commit adultery or have intercourse with a woman during her menstrual period. 7 He is a merciful creditor, not keeping the items given as security by poor debtors. He does not rob the poor but instead gives food to the hungry and provides clothes for the needy. 8 He grants loans without interest, stays away from injustice, is honest and fair when judging others, 9 and faithfully obeys my decrees and regulations. Anyone who does these things is just and will surely live, says the Sovereign LORD.
10 “But suppose that man has a son who grows up to be a robber or murderer and refuses to do what is right. 11 And that son does all the evil things his father would never do—he worships idols on the mountains, commits adultery, 12 oppresses the poor and helpless, steals from debtors by refusing to let them redeem their security, worships idols, commits detestable sins, 13 and lends money at excessive interest. Should such a sinful person live? No! He must die and must take full blame.
14 “But suppose that sinful son, in turn, has a son who sees his father’s wickedness and decides against that kind of life. 15 This son refuses to worship idols on the mountains and does not commit adultery. 16 He does not exploit the poor, but instead is fair to debtors and does not rob them. He gives food to the hungry and provides clothes for the needy. 17 He helps the poor, does not lend money at interest, and obeys all my regulations and decrees. Such a person will not die because of his father’s sins; he will surely live. 18 But the father will die for his many sins—for being cruel, robbing people, and doing what was clearly wrong among his people.
19 “‘What?’ you ask. ‘Doesn’t the child pay for the parent’s sins?’ No! For if the child does what is just and right and keeps my decrees, that child will surely live. 20 The person who sins is the one who will die. The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child’s sins. Righteous people will be rewarded for their own righteous behavior, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness. 21 But if wicked people turn away from all their sins and begin to obey my decrees and do what is just and right, they will surely live and not die. 22 All their past sins will be forgotten, and they will live because of the righteous things they have done.
23 “Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign LORD. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. 24 However, if righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and start doing sinful things and act like other sinners, should they be allowed to live? No, of course not! All their righteous acts will be forgotten, and they will die for their sins.
25 “Yet you say, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ Listen to me, O people of Israel. Am I the one not doing what’s right, or is it you? 26 When righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and start doing sinful things, they will die for it. Yes, they will die because of their sinful deeds. 27 And if wicked people turn from their wickedness, obey the law, and do what is just and right, they will save their lives. 28 They will live because they thought it over and decided to turn from their sins. Such people will not die. 29 And yet the people of Israel keep saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ O people of Israel, it is you who are not doing what’s right, not I.
30 “Therefore, I will judge each of you, O people of Israel, according to your actions, says the Sovereign LORD. Repent, and turn from your sins. Don’t let them destroy you! 31 Put all your rebellion behind you, and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O people of Israel? 32 I don’t want you to die, says the Sovereign LORD. Turn back and live!
Dante’s usurers are cringing on the edges of the seventh circle of Hell. They can’t sit still because of the falling flames and the burning sands (“just like the ways of dogs in summer when they scratch, sometimes with paw and others with muzzle, they behaved as though fleas or flies or gadflies bit their limbs”). They all look alike (“I did not find any I recognized”) so the only way to distinguish one from another is the money bags with the family crests on them. They’ve lost their individuality to money. They each had a purse around their neck. On each purse was the family crest from their families. They had been so greedy and avaricious in life where their only focus had been money. They created their own hell because now they are carrying the weight of that money purse around their necks for eternity. They put money before their family and now, as they stare at their money purses (“each of them with hungry eyes consumed”), they see the family crest. What they gave up for money. Jewish money lenders characteristically wore their money bags around their necks. It was iconic. But Dante doesn’t indulge in anti-Semitism for these usurers are not Jewish. Using the money bags shows that Dante was aware of the stereotype associated with Jewish usurers but he didn’t go there. Instead the family crests reveal great Florentine families who professed Christianity. Although he cannot discern and recognize the individuals, the money bags with the family crests that depict animals, are recognizable.
The family represented by the “yellow purse that bore a lion in azure” is the Florentine Gianfigliazzi family (Black Guelph). This man was Catello di Rosso Gianfigliazzi. He practiced usury in France and was made a knight upon his return to Florence. But he left his family in poverty after his death. The usurer wearing a money bag that is blood red with “a goose depicted in a color whiter than butter” is the Obriachi family (Ghibelline) and thus the man was Ciappo Ubriachi. And the one whose money bag was “white, displayed a pregnant sow portrayed in azure” is the Paduan Scrovegni family (Guelph).
Although Dante goes over to see these usurers, he doesn’t speak to them. The Paduan from the Obriachi family, Reginaldo Scrovegni, speaks but Dante doesn’t acknowledge him or reply. Reginaldo Scrovegni’s son, Enrico, tried to atone for his father’s ill-gotten gain by commissioning the artist Giotto to paint a chapel named for him.
Vitaliano di Iacopo Vitaliani was Scrovegni’s neighbor and Scrovegni says Vitaliano will be joining him soon. The “sovereign knight whose sack will show three goats” was Giovanni di Buiamonte of the Becchi (goats) family. He was highly esteemed in the Florence of his day as “the sovereign cavalier”, and was chosen for many high offices. On the negative side, he was a gambler who lost a lot of money. Scrovegni also predicts Buiamonte will join him in Hell. Vitaliani and Buiamonte were not dead at the writing of Dante’s Comedie and therefore Dante was prophesying and ran the risk of offending these powerful men. By calling Buiamonte the “sovereign knight” Dante mocks the willingness of Florentines to grant a noble title to a banker and a usurer.
On each pouch there is a family emblem representing animals. Dante sequentially observes and describes three of them, one per terzina; a fourth, belonging to a forthcoming inmate of Hell, is described by one of the usurers. We have therefore no family names, but only visible signs of their identity. Technically these emblems cannot be considered periphrases even though they look so; but they could be considered metonymies, since each name (the abstract) is indicated through a picture (the concrete). The only person called by name (Vitaliano) has no emblem. The poet’s and the pilgrim’s disdain for these sinners is shown in the (partial) anonymity in which they are kept, like the ignazi and the avaricious and the prodigal; the poet’s and pilgrim’s sarcasm is shown in the presentation of aristocratic families through animal imagery. The only usurer who cries against Dante plays into his observer’s technique: he indicates through periphrasis (“Paduan”, “Florentines”) and through an emblem (a purse with three bucks) the identity of his companions. At the end of his talk, he twists his mouth and sticks his tongue out like an ox that licks its nose. He becomes an emblem. – Brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies
Dante goes back to Virgil who is waiting for him at the beast. Virgil instructs Dante to hop on the monster and take a ride.
I left those worn-out souls –
And found my leader already on our mount
Seated upon that savage creature’s back.
He said, “Be bold and strong; for now the descent
Must be by such a stairway. The place you take
Should be in front, so I can come between
To protect you from the tail.” Like those who shake,
Feeling the quartan fever coming on –
Their nails already blue, so that they shiver
At the mere sight of shade – such I was then;
But shame rebuked me, which makes a servant braver
In a good master’s presence. I took my seat
Upon those ugly shoulders.
Quartan fever is a form of malaria transmitted by the bites of infected female mosquitos where the fever occurs on the 4th day and re-occurs 3 days later, on the 4th day, hence the name “quartan.” Quartan fever is considered to be a less severe form of malaria fever. Fevers in intervals of 72 hours distinguish quartan fever from other forms of malaria where fevers range in 48 hour intervals. Along with bouts of fever that cause paroxysms of chills and nausea, the presence of edema and the nephrotic syndrome has been documented.
The nails become livid during the acute episodes. Prior to fever, the fingernails become pale gray due to a form of true leukonychia caused by the accumulation of parakeratotic cells beneath the nail plate. The pale color of the finger-nails remains throughout the feverish episode. Subungual hemorrhages, striate leukonychia and koilonychias are also described in quartan malaria recalling the “lividitas in unguibus”. – Bianucci, Raffaella & Charlier, Philippe & Perciaccante, Antonio & Appenzeller, Otto & Lippi, Donatella. (2018). Malarial fevers in the fourteenth century Divine Comedy. Internal and Emergency Medicine. 13. 10.1007/s11739-018-1903-1.
We must keep in mind that Dante, the poet, lived in a time where there was no flying in the air. Man had always wished to be able to fly like the birds but had never experienced it and, during these times, could not imagine it ever could be. No airplanes, no airports, no gliders, no hot air balloons, no wing suits, no helicopters, no zeppelins. In Dante’s time there was no way for man to fly. In fact, there was an ancient Greek myth about the disaster of men trying to fly.
Icarus was the son of Daedalus, the legendary craftsman and inventor, and a slave woman named Naucrate. Daedalus was living and working in Athens and he had a young apprentice in his workroom, his nephew, Talus. Talus was an extraordinarily talented boy and Daedalus became envious. One day while on a visit to the Acropolis, Daedalus pushed him off the edge. He went to trial by Areios Pagus, the supreme court of Athens, and was charged with murder. His punishment was to be banished from Athens to the island of Crete. Here he found a generous benefactor in the form of King Minos. Daedalus worked as an architect. He designed and built an enclosure for the Minotaur, a creature with the body of a man and the head and tail of a bull. This monster in truth was the son of Pasiphae, Minos’ wife, but not by the King. So King Minos wanted to hide this monster and Daedalus built the labyrinth where someone could get lost forever. He built it so well, that he, himself, almost didn’t make it out. The Minotaur was kept there and fed with the sacrifice of young people. King Minos had Daedalus and his son, Icarus, imprisoned in a high tower, so that they couldn’t reveal the secret of the labyrinth. They wanted to escape but the only way was by air so he studied the birds. He gathered feathers and joined them with wax to make wings. He made a pair for himself and a pair for Icarus. He warned Icarus not to fly too high as the heat of the sun would melt the wax. So they flapped their wings and took to the sky. In his exhilaration Icarus forgot his father’s warning and flew higher and higher. He didn’t listen to his father’s calls to come back down. Sure enough, the heat of the sun melted the wax and he lost feathers and was soon plummeting into the sea where he drowned. Daedalus made it to Sicily and took refuge with King Cocalus of Camicus. With the King’s help, he constructed a temple dedicated to Apollo and gave his wings as an offering to the god. Keep in mind this story for Dante will bring it up again in Canto XXIX. Daedalus tried to imitate what only God can do. In his hubris, her overstepped his bounds and it cost him his son.
Another admonishing Greek myth about flying was about Phaethon. Phaethon was the son of Apollo and Clymene. He was challenged by his friends so he asked his mother if his father was truly a god. Clymene assured him it was true and told him to ask his father directly. So, he asked Apollo to give him some proof that he was his son. Phaethon asked if he could drive the sun chariot for one day and Apollo agreed. However, when he took the reins, Phaethon was unable to control the horses and the Earth was about to be burned up due to his incompetence. Zeus was forced to kill Phaethon with a thunderbolt.
“Geryon, move ahead – but carefully:
Keep your arcs wide; go slowly when descending;
Be mindful of this new burden that you bear.”
As a boat moves back and back, to leave its landing,
So slowly did Geryon withdraw from shore.
Then when he felt himself quite free, he turned
And brought his tail to where his foreparts were,
And stretching it out he moved it so it churned
The way a swimming eel does; and his paws
Gathered in the air toward him. When Phaethon spurned
The reins, so that the sky as one still sees
Was scorched. I doubt that there was greater fear
(Nor when pathetic Icarus felt his thighs
Unfeathering from the melting was, to hear
His father crying, “You are falling now!”)
Than mine, perceiving I was in sheer air –
Surrounded by it, and realizing I saw
Nothing at all around me but the beast.
Onward he swam with motion more and more slow
As he wheeled round descending; but that I guessed
Only by feeling the wind against my face
And from below. On our right the sound increased
From the whirlpool roaring horribly under us.
I stretched my head out forward, looking down –
Growing more frightened even that I was,
Because as we descended I heard the din
Of lamentations and I could see the fire.
And so I shook the more tightly holding on.
And I saw then – I had not seen it before –
That he was wheeling and making his descent,
For the great torments now were drawing near
On every side…
So Geryon circled and landed at the foot
Of the jagged rock; and once unburdening
His shoulders of our bodies, he did not wait.
But vanished like an arrow from the string.
Although Dante, the pilgrim, was afraid that this flight would be a mad folly like Icarus and Phaethon, God had ordained this and therefore it does not end in failure.
Canto 17 is saturated with mythological figures whose hubris led to their failure. Whether in art or technology, these figures challenged God, desiring to go beyond what God ordains. We want to outdo God. We think we can do better than He can. We strain against His chords of love. We think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence and therefore we ignore the green grass in our own pasture, to lean against the barbed wire fence in order to reach what is beyond. We hurt ourselves. God has provided all we need but we aren’t satisfied, we want what’s outside the fence too.
At once he starts
to work on unknown arts, to alter nature.
He lays out feathers — all in order, first
the shorter, then the longer (you’d have said
they’d grown along a slope); just like the kind
of pipes that country people used to fashion,
where from unequal reed to reed the rise
is gradual. And these he held together
with twine around the center; at the base
he fastened them with wax; and thus arranged—
he’d bent them slightly — they could imitate
the wings of true birds. – Metamorphoses, 8.233-34; by Ovid, translated by Allen Mandelbaum
Ovid stresses the idea that art and human techne are an imitation of nature. Dante tells us (Inferno, Canto XI) that Nature imitates God and our art and technology, our work and craft, imitates Nature.
Who is the consummate artist of original “real life”? God. God created all we see in nature. God created each individual human being as a masterpiece. God uses all mediums and engages all our senses in His Art! He is aun unmatched artist in even a blade of grass! A single cell is a work of His art.
There are those who, in their hubris and pride, think they can “out-art” God. They will fail just as Arachne, Icarus and Phaeton did. There are those who, out of love for God, use their art to point to God. They use their art for God not in competition to God. These will be blessed. Dante saw his writing and poetry as a means to bring glory to God and he tried to use it for God’s purposes.
Look at just some of the arts that God engages in and praise Him for His excellent greatness!:
He is a sculptor and potter who made his own clay (Genesis 1-2; Jeremiah 18:1-6).
He is a painter who made all the colors (Genesis 1-2).
He is a musician who formed every sound and gave ears to hear with, and a singer (Zephaniah 3:17; Revelation 1:10). Everything He created sings back to Him.
He is a dancer (Psalm 68:24). The procession of God in the sanctuary with the singers and dancers; (Zephaniah 3:17) means: He rejoices over you with songs and dances.
He is a poet – look at the beautiful poetry that He recites to Job (Job 38-41)…and even His creation is an expression worthy of a poem.
He is a writer who has written the greatest bestseller of all time—the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16).
He is a story-teller and an actor: Jesus used parables in the Gospels to convey mysteries, and His prophets used dramatic arts to convey God’s words (Matthew 13:34; Hosea 12:10).
He is an architect of mountains and sky (Psalm 90:2; Isaiah 44:24).
He is a Tailor – a worker of needle and thread. He has woven a garment of light for himself (Psalm 104:2) and has provided a golden wedding garment for his bride (Psalm 45:9, 13-14). He has clothed the lilies with beauty (Matthew 6:25-34).
He is a creator of culinary delights – the earth overflows with His bountiful provisions (Exodus 16:31; Numbers 11:7-8; Psalm 34:8; 119:103; Song of Solomon 2:3).
He is a perfumer, and even His name is a healing ointment that smells Divine (Psalm 45:8; Song of Solomon 1:3; 3:6; 5:1; 5:13).
He is a Carpenter – Matthew 13:55; Mark 6:3.
He is a jeweler – Malachi 3:16-17.
He is an engraver – on His hand – Isaiah 49:16.
He is a flower arranger/landscaper – Luke 12:27
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