Cantos XVII and XVIII The Usurers and Panders, Seducers, and Flatterers

Canto XVII

Geryon, the monster called up from the Circles of Fraud, alights on the edge of the precipice. While Virgil talks to him, Dante goes to look at the shades of Usurers seated on the burning sand. The Poets then mount on Geryon's shoulders and are carried down over the Great Barrier to the Eighth Circle.

Canto XVIII

Dante now finds himself in the Eighth Circle (Malbowges), which is divided into ten trenches (bowges) containing those who committed Malicious Frauds upon mankind in general. The Poets walk along the edge of Bowge i, where Panders and Seducers run, in opposite directions, scourged by demons; and here Dante talks with Venedico Caccianemico of Bologna. As they cross the bridge over the bowge, they see the shade of Jason. Then they go onto the bridge over Bowge ii, where they see Thais, and Dante converses with another of the Flatterers who are here plunged in filth.

Cantos XV and XVI The Sodomites and the Waterfall

Canto XV

While crossing the Sand upon the dyke banking Phlegethon, Dante sees the Violent against Nature, who run perpetually, looking towards the human body against which they offended. He meets his old teacher, Brunetto Latini, whom he addresses with affection, regret and deep gratitude for past benefits. Brunetto predicts Dante's ill-treatment at the hands of the Florentines.

Canto XVI

Dante is already within earshot of the waterfall at the end of the path, when he meets the shades of three distinguished Florentine noblemen and gives them news of their city. At the edge of the cliff, Virgil throws Dante's girdle into the gulf below, and in answer to this signal a strange form comes swimming up towards them.

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So have a bit of a cough hanging on still, but overall, we're all doing much better. And, in case you're curious, my knee is slowly improving. I still have a good deal of recovery to go, but each new week is now the best week I've had since last November.

And now they're coming for churches. Curiously, I haven't heard of any mosques or synagogues coming under attack recently. Probably just a coincidence. God be with you. May this country return to truth and to God, and may God save us.

Cantos XIII & XIV The Suicides and the Blasphemers

Canto XIII

The Poets enter a pathless Wood. Here, Harpies sit shrieking among the trees, which enclose the souls of Suicides. Pier delle Vigane tells Dante his story and also explains how these shades come to be changed into trees and what will happen to their bodies at the Last Day. The shades of two profligates rush through the wood, pursued and torn by black hounds. Dante speaks to a bush containing the soul of a Florentine.

Canto XIV

In the desert of Burning Sand, under a rain of perpetual fire, Dante finds the Violent against God, Nature, and Art. The Violent against God lie supine, facing the Heaven which they insulted; among these is Capaneus, blasphemous and defiant in death as in life. The Poets pick their way carefully between the forest and the hot sand till they come to the edge of a boiling, red stream. Here, Virgil explains the origin of all the rivers of Hell.

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I apologize for the late post. At our house, we're currently coping with a mildly sick me, a significantly more sick toddler (not dangerous, just unpleasant) and a wife who had to stay up much of the night comforting said toddler. We're all okay, just inconvenienced. It may even be the dreaded Covid19, but I will not get tested unless I must for some reason, because being officially classified seems likely to bring on a host of unnecessary inconveniences.

Take care, folks. I'm hoping that after the election things will calm down somewhat. I said that 2020 was going to be wild because of the upcoming election, but Mother of God, I had no idea how bad it was going to be.

Cantos XI & XII The Cliff and the Circle of the Violent

Canto XI

While the Poets pause for a little on the brink of the descent to the Seventh Circle, Virgil explains to Dante the arrangement of Hell.

Canto XII

At the point where the sheer precipice leading down to the Seventh Circle is made negotiable by a pile of tumbled rock, Virgil and Dante are faced by the Minotaur. A taunt from Virgil throws him into a fit of blind fury, and while he is thrashing wildly about, the poets slip past him. Virgil tells Dante how the rocks were dislodged by the earthquake which took place at the hour of Christ's descent into Limbo. At the foot of the cliff they come to Phlegethon, the river of boiling blood, in which the Violent against their Neighbors are immersed, and whose banks are guarded by Centaurs. At Virgil's request, Chiron, the chief Centaur, sends Nessus to guide them to the ford and carry Dante over on his back. On his way, Nessus points out a number of notable tyrants and robbers.

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Happy Independence Day, everyone. I wonder how many more times this will be celebrated before the U.S. finally breaks up. I think we're in fingers & toes number at the moment . . . maybe just fingers.

If you live in a place that is relatively sane, enjoy your fireworks show. God be with you, and God bless America

C.S. Lewis's miniature Divine Comedy

So today I'll be highlighting C.S. Lewis's own fictional tour of Heaven and Hell known as The Great Divorce.

The narrator of the story finds himself in a dim bleak town at a bus stop. He boards the bus with several other people, and finds out they are leaving Hell for a brief tour of Heaven. Hell is depicted as bleak, empty, sterile and uninteresting. There are, as of yet at least, no horrific torments, just emptiness and the shriveled souls who dwell there being unable to escape themselves.

Heaven, on the other hand is full of life and color, and, to the infernizens (my own coinage) literally painful. Throughout the course of the short novel, the damned meet the blessed and are confronted with the nature of their sins, as well as the choice to abandon them. One does so, and becomes one of the blessed himself, racing off into deeper heaven to join in the great dance.

If you haven't already read this book, I highly recommend it. Honestly, it's one of Lewis's works that can bring me to tears, even having read it before. Lewis spends relatively little time describing Hell itself, but plenty on the people who make it Hell. Effectively, he covers the entire range of The Divine Comedy, though. The reader goes all the way from Hell through Purgatory and into Heaven.

Cantos IX and X The City of Dis and the Heretics

Canto IX

Dante, alarmed by Virgil's anxiety, tactfully enquires of him whether he really knows the way through Hell, and gets a reassuring answer. The Furies appear and threaten to unloose Medusa. A noise like thunder announces the arrival of a Heavenly Messenger, who opens the gates of Dis and rebukes the demons. When he has departed, the poets enter the City, and find themselves in a great plain covered with the burning tombs of Heretics.

Canto X
As the poets are passing along beneath the city walls, Dante is hailed by Farinata from one of the burning tombs, and goes to speak to him. Their conversation is interrupted by Cavalcante dei Cavalcanti with a question about his son. Farinata prophesies Dante's exile and explains how the souls in Hell know nothing about the present, though they can remember the past and dimly foresee the future.

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This may be just because this has been such a strange and dangerous year, but someone said they suspected the riots were about to reignite this weekend, and now I'm infected with foreboding about that. I guess the best thing to do is to pray and place ourselves in God's hands, and do as much as we can to protect ourselves and our loved ones. Unfortunately, I feel woefully unprepared in that latter category and don't really have a good idea how to change it.

We struggle not against flesh and blood, and, for that matter, our salvation is not of politics and this world. God be with you.

Cantos VII & VIII The Hoarders & Spendthrifts and the Wrathful

Canto VII

At the entrance to the Fourth Circle, the poets are opposed by Pluto, and Virgil is again obliged to use a "word of power". In this circle, the Hoarders and Spendthrifts roll huge rocks against each other, and here Virgil explains the nature and working of Luck (or Fortune). Then, crossing the circle, they descend the cliff to the Marsh of Styx, which forms the Fifth Circle and contains the Wrathful. Skirting its edge, they reach the foot of a tower.

Canto VIII

From the watch-tower on the edge of the marsh a beacon signals to the garrison of the City of Dis that Dante and Virgil are approaching, and a boat is sent to fetch them. Phlegyas ferries them across Styx. On the way, they encounter Filippo Argenti, one of the Wrathful, who is recognized by Dante and tries to attack him. They draw near to the red-hot walls of the City and after a long circuit disembark at the gate. Virgil parleys with the fallen angels who are on guard there, but they slam the gate in his face. The two poets are obliged to wait for Divine assistance.

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And the silencing continues. Most of us here were frequent commenters at The Federalist. Now, alas, that is gone, with all its amusing arguments. We'll see if they ever get something back. I must say, it is genuinely amusing to hear the tepid Federalist characterized as "far right". (If they were counting the comments section, though, they may be right.)

On the other hand, one of ours has started his own blog, so check it out please, at From Outside the Wall.

Love your families. Pray for our leaders. Go to church this weekend if you can. God be with you.