Dante: Malebolge

Lesson Nine:

Cantos XVIII- XXXI - Circle Eight: Malebolge
Grammar Lesson: Active and Passive Constructions

Unlike the other circles, this lovely piece of real estate has a name-- "Malebolge"-- variously translated as "evil pockets," "evil ditches," or "evil pouches."

In Pouch One demons spur and drive the Panderers and Seducers.

Pouch Two contains the Flatterers who are sunk up to their necks in excrement.

Pouch Three holds the Simoniacs (sellers of church favors). These sinners are positioned upside down in "bins" that resemble baptismal fonts. The soles of their feet are set ablaze. They stay in this position until new sinners arrive, then they drop down into the rock crevices for all eternity.

In Pouch Four Dante sees the Fortunetellers. These sinners have their heads on backwards and must walk "backwards" for all time. In life, they attempted to "see" the future, now in death they must see the past. It is here that Dante sees Tiresias, the soothsayer from the ancient Greek myths.

Pouch Five holds the Grafters. They are immersed in sticky tar pitch-- a perfect punishment for their lives of "sticky fingered" crime. These sinners are watched over by demons armed with murderous hooks and claws-- used to ensure that the sinners stay put in the pitch!

In Pouch Six Dante sees the Hypocrites who now wander through all eternity weighed down by heavy weighted robes -- robes which, on the outside appear golden and bright, but on the inside lack any sort of luster.

The Thieves are punished in Pouch Seven. The thieves are provided with a particularly complicated punishment. They are at first surrounded by monstrous snakes that coil around each sinner=s hands, binding him fast. When thus immobilized, another reptile darts out to strike the sinner=s throat, causing the sinner to explode into flame. But the punishment is not over yet--- from the flaming ashes, the sinner re-emerges to undergo the torment again and again.

The Evil Counselors are punished in Pouch Eight, hidden in great cups of flame that symbolize their guilty consciences. Here Dante sees Ulysses and Diomede, the instigators of the Trojan Horse ploy.

Pocket Nine holds the sowers of religious, political and family discord. In life thee people ripped apart peace and placidity; now in death they are ripped apart physically. Dante sees Mahomet, who, in Dante=s view represents religious schism. Mahomet=s torso is ripped by a sword slice. As he approaches, Dante observes that Mahomet is "mangled and split open." Dante then sees Bertrand de Born, a French troubadour/knight traditionally blamed for the rift between Henry II and his son. As he comes closer, Dante sees that de Born=s head has been severed-- as he advances he holds his head before him like a lantern. This is surely one of the most horrifying scene in the whole poem!

In Pocket Ten Dante views the falsifiers--alchemists, evil impersonators ( NOT Elvis impersonators!), counterfeiters, and false witnesses. These sinners, who in life, corrupted all, now are made to endure every sort of corruption and pain. Darkness, dirt, filth, disease, hunger, thirst and noise surround them. Dante and Virgil now move on past a vast horde of Giants who guard the "Central Pit" of Malebolge.

To Infernal Grammar Lesson 9: Active & Passive Voice

To The Inferno Lesson 10: Cocytus and Fraud

Back to The Inferno Guide