The Sorcerers, the Corrupt and the Hypocrites

Still seething with anger at the corruption within the Roman Church, Dante and Virgil walk the path to the fourth of the Rotten Pockets of the Eighth Circle of Hell (for the precursor to this story, please click here). Deeper and deeper into the regions of Hell where the fraudulent meet their judgement they descend, as the very air of Hell grows heavy upon their shoulders, until Dante arrives at the summit of a steep drop, where at the bottom more sinners lurk.

The Nine Circles of Hell
Painting by Sandro Botticelli.

Just within sight, our pilgrim spies the valley floor awash with tears, tears shed by the mournful spirits of the damned within. Movement suddenly breaks the deathly stillness of the pit. Shades begin to move far below. Slowly and clumsily a fresh array of souls march across the pocket, oddly deformed though they are. Gazing at their sorry, weeping faces, Dante's eyes move down over their broken forms, revealing their cruel punishment. Twisted and contorted beyond nature, these poor souls see only behind them, whilst their bodies face the fore. Cascading down their front, their hair, down their back, their tears, these are the souls of the sorcerers and the false prophets. Here the punishment is an ironic taunt of the condemned's crime in life. For while the soothsayers claimed foresight of the future in life, here they see only the past in Hell. Amongst the many suffering spirits from ancient and modern times, Dante spots many he and Virgil recognise. One such shade that ambles before them is the blind seer Tiresias, the man blessed with prophecy by Zeus, the very man who revealed to Oedipus his dread fate in Thebes, many thousands of years ago (in a story told on this site, please click here). Having once briefly been transformed into a woman, Tiresias held the secret knowledge of both man and woman, and was revered for the unique revelations this brought unto him, even by the gods. The gods questioned Tiresias about goddesses, and goddesses of gods, until argument broke out upon Olympus' snowy peaks. In a rage, Hera struck Tiresias blind, but in compassion, Zeus imparted within Tiresias the power of foresight. A gift for which he now pays (rather unfairly) in Hell. Many others who placed faith in the words of the Oracle of Delphi in ancient times follow in his wake, stricken with grief at their sad fate. But the hour grows late and the Moon speeds its passage across the skies.

A Barrator is cast into the boiling pit of tar
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

Crossing over a bridge of crumbling stone, the two poets stumble upon the fifth of the Rotten Pockets of Hell. Dante is struck by how thick the darkness is that closes in. His mind suddenly turned to the pitch used to coat the hull of a ship, he sees a vast lake as black as night. Bubbles boil to the surface of the infernal waters, but before he can consider too long, a nightmarish apparition swoops upon them, leathery wings spanning wide, evil horns sprouting from its form. A sinner is borne upon its shoulders, terror upon his face, as the winged demon mercilessly casts him into the accursed pit. More of the foul demons pass into sight, all hurling taunts at the souls within the pit. From their words, our pilgrim learns that here are condemned politicians tainted with corruption. Just as their blighted souls and dark dealings spoiled their honour in life, so now they are immersed in sticky and burning tar in death. Their numbers are many, crooked counsellors of the Italian cities alone stretch as far as the eye can see. Men, who for coin can 'change a no into a yes', writhe in agony in the pit, and those who in desperation seek respite from the burning tar are pounced upon by the demons, ever ready with their cruel weapons. These malevolent fallen angels are the Malebranche, whose sole task is to maintain the suffering of their domain. Suddenly, they see before them our two poets. Claiming the authority of the Most High, Virgil steps forward and demands safe passage through the pocket. Arrogant and disbelieving, Malacoda, their fell captain, steps forward. His kin suddenly aware of Dante, and assuming him to have been send for his judgement, pounce upon him. But Malacoda stays their blades, fearful of God's wrath. Virgil and Dante may take their path, he declares, and he will even supply an escort, since he tells them the bridge they seek lies broken, having collapsed many centuries ago.


The dark troop set off alongside the banks of the lake. The damned tremble at their approach, and dive into the tar in terror.The fell creatures drag a poor sinner from the pit, and for the thrill of torture they pierce him with their spears, laughing at his plight. In desperation, the sinner begs to be hurled back to the tar, promising to return with more. Maddened by glee, the demons release him. But the sinner does not return. Enraged that the spirit has once more committed fraud, the very reason for his sentence to Hell, the Malebranche quarrel as to how seek vengeance, before pelting after him. In the struggle, two of the demons fall into the boiling pitch. Sensing trickery in the confusion, Virgil urgently seizes Dante's hand, and they frantically scarper down a vast slope of scree.

The Hypocrites
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

Not a moment too soon our poets reach the foot of the mount, for far above them, the Malebranche have returned, flailing their wings in anger at their escaped prey. Dante turns, shuddering at the thought of being left alone in this place, when a curious new sight greets his wearied eyes. A great line of souls, shuffling forward with no great speed, their forms all but hidden by strange shining cloaks. Dazzled for but a moment, Dante realised the cloaks gleam as though made of gold, yet the souls are bent over, seeing nothing but the ground. Puzzled at this new ordeal, our pilgrim turns to his master, questioning him on this fate. Hearing Tuscan spoken aloud, a nearby soul raises its head and slowly marches toward them. Another soon follows, the two apparently friends in life. Dante introduces himself as a proud Florentine, and eagerly askes them who they once were. 'Jovial Friars' they once were, of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary (a 13th century military order). Renowned as the Friars were for failing to keep to their monastic vows, Dante realises that here, in the sixth of the Rotten Pockets of Hell, are punished the hypocrites. Gilded and gleaming though their heavy cloaks may be on the inside, within they are lined with lead, its crushing weight barring their passage on into the afterlife. Just as their words masked falsehood within in life, so their outward displays of affluence betray a crippling burden in Hell.

Despairing at their wretchedness, Dante begins to rebuke the deceitful spirits, when suddenly the souls part to reveal a terrible punishment in their midst. Another shade lies there, crucified to the ground, his weak form hammered into the harsh ground. This man is Caiaphas, the man who preached to the Pharisees the inevitability that one man must die for many, but who himself bade Pontius Pilate condemn Christ to the crucifixion. He is cursed here as a seed of evil. Dante notices that even Virgil looks on in amazement, but is puzzled why. Before he can learn why, however, Virgil asks the Friars for a way out of this place. Certainly, they reply, escape is possible, all they must do is climb up the escarpment, and take the bridge that spans this realm. Cursing, Virgil suddenly realised the deceit of Malacoda. The bridge was not broken at all. One of the souls turns sympathetically to Virgil:


                 "And the friar: 'Once, in Bologna, I heard discussed
                           the devil's many vices; one of them is
                           that he tells lies and is father of all lies "

                                                        - THE DECEIT OF HELL

Affronted, and angered, Virgil strides off, Dante in hot pursuit, glad of company, but uneasy that here they begin to penetrate the reaches of Hell where not even his great guide knows all any longer. For they come ever closer to the Pit of Hell now, and Satan's malign influences grow in strength...

United Kingdom

Penguin Classics:
Dante: Inferno (Penguin Classics)
(A nice edition which also has the original Italian on the left hand page opposite the English)

Oxford World's Classics:
The Divine Comedy (Oxford World's Classics)
(Accessible and well annotated, also includes Purgatorio and Paradisio)

United States

Penguin Classics:
The Divine Comedy: Volume 1: Inferno (Penguin Classics) (Pt. 1)
(A nice edition which also has the original Italian on the left hand page opposite the English)

Oxford World's Classics:
The Divine Comedy (Oxford World's Classics)
(Accessible and well annotated, also includes Purgatorio and Paradisio)

The Violent and the Frauds

Filled with grief at the plight of those who took their own life, Dante and Virgil come to the edge of the grand forest of sorrow (for the previous episode in this saga, please click here). The arboreal spirits thin out, and a vast plain emerges before them, a place "whose soil refused any plant". A river of boiling blood separates the second ring from the third, a ring where the violent meet their judgement.

The Violent
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

Beyond the grisly river, our pilgrim enters the third and final ring of the Seventh Circle of Hell. A vast wasteland stretches before him, a blasted land, where no plants grow, only great shifting sands cover the ground. From the skies comes a rain of fire, kindling the sands underfoot. The souls damned to this place scream in agony, as the boiling rain sears their flesh, and the burning sands scorch their soles. Shades try desperately to brush off the fire, but to no avail, the weather is relentless, endlessly spewing its conflagration on the damned of Hell. Dante notices three groups of souls condemned to this place, and enquires of his teacher Virgil of their crime. His master replies, the souls lying down upon the fiery floor are those whose violence was unto God, those who took the Lord's name in vain and blasphemed against his will. Dante spots among them Capaneus, a man who in ancient times, during the siege of the city of Thebes, cursed the name of Zeus. The Thunderer blasted Capaneus with a thunderbolt in retribution, and now he finds himself damned in Hell. Others here crouch upon the sand. These men were usurers in life, Virgil explains. They preyed on the needy, offering money to the poor, then ruthlessly charging extortionate levels of interest. They were violent against nature, betraying the compassion man should feel for his kin. For this they now burn in Hell. There is another group too, one who wander aimlessly through the cruel desert. These are the sodomites, those who needlessly scorned 'Christian nature', now wander without purpose in Hell. Dante spots many men he knew in life, illustrious men of Florence that they were. He is grieved to see that his old mentor, Brunetto Latini, now walks among these shades. Not for the first time our pilgrim sheds a tear for the damned. The two men speak of Dante's future, and Dante remembers the kindness Latini showed him in life, thanking him for showing the true path to immortality. Many more Florentines now approach, rapacious in their extortion of gold, and all revel in the glory of their great city. But time grows short, and a huge form rises out of the abyss, as the two poets continue into Hell.

The Panderers and Seducers
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

A vast monster rises before them, a fearsome Chimaera of three forms. Bearing the head of an honest man, his docile face belies his monstrous form, the body of a dragon, with a tail crowned with a lethal sting. The monster Geryon is a fitting personification of the crimes of fraud, as souls are deceived by the creature's soft face. Tricking Geryon with his words, Virgil order the beast to bear them down to the Eighth and penultimate Circle of Hell. Deep into the bowels of Hell the monster descends, Dante clinging to his mane. Soon, our two poets make landfall in the Eighth Circle, the infernal prison of the Frauds in Hell. Ten ravines divide this Circle, called the Malebolge ("The Rotten Pockets"), where those who knowingly sowed discord and deception in life are banished. In the first of the Rotten pockets, our pilgrim spies a cruel sight. Two files of naked souls stride alongside each other, one to the fore, the other behind. Bent over with weight of sin, horned demons look on armed with whips. Revelling in cruel pleasure, the demons lash with all their might upon the backs of the souls, the crack of the whip ringing through the air, accompanied by the shout of anguish of the scourged shade. These souls were panderers and seducers in life, using the passion of others to manipulate their path in life, now they are driven through this rotten pocket by these demons on Hell. Dante spots among them a man of Bologna, Venedico Caccianemico, a man he knew in life. But fearing the sting of the lash, the man dares not speak long. Virgil too, points out the hero Jason, who in his quest for the Golden Fleece seduced the sorceress Medea, abandoning her when her use was past.

The Flatterers
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

" Now we could hear the shades in the next pouch
    whimpering, making snorting grunting sounds
    and those of blows, slapping with open palms.

  From a steaming stench below, banks abound
     with a slimy mold that stuck to them as glue,
     disgusting to behold and worse to smell... "
                  - THE TORMENT OF THE FLATTERERS


Crossing into another of the Rotten Pockets, a ghastly stench befouls our pilgrim's nose. Coming to the edge of a huge ridge, Dante and Virgil look down the gorge at a grotesque sight. An ocean of human excrement fills the valley floor, smothering and drowning many unfortunate souls cast within. Dante eyes find the head of a man, so besmirched with faeces he cannot make out his features. The man shouts up, begging why the poet stares at his indignity. Dante knows his voice, it is Alessio Intermenei, a man of Lucca, a man from whose tongue fell unceasingly obscene flatteries in life. Just as these souls spewed vile words in life, so now they wallow in this putrid filth in death. Eyes watering with the evil odour, and his nausea growing, Dante continues on his baleful journey.

The Simonists
Engraving by Gustave Doré.

The Third Rotten Pocket is one Dante takes the utmost pleasure in experiencing. For here are condemned those who committed the sin of simony, corrupt men of the church who gave money for influence, exchanging gold for a position in Saint Peter's Church. This sin takes its name from a soul who is damned here, that of Simon Magus, the man who tried to bribe Saint Peter himself to grant him the power to conjure miracles. A vast expanse of bare rock stretches before the two poets, marked by a series of holes, each no wider than the sinner thrust inside it. To our pilgrim's eyes, they remind him of those pulpits from which his priest would stand and baptise from, now in twisted perversion, those men who corrupted the hierarchy of the church lie upside down within them. From each hole emerges the feet of a sinner, and from each sole bursts purging fire, as the simonist within twitches violently in agony. Our pilgrim hears the shouts of one buried nearby, a man who mistakes Dante for his own successor. The sinner buried within is Pope Nicholas III, a man who gained the Papal throne through gold and nepotism, who lavished positions in the Roman Church upon his own kin above other men. In his infernal jabberings, Nicholas names two of his successors to Saint Peter's throne, destined to be condemned to Hell for their crimes, Pope Boniface VIII and Pope Clement V, both deeply corrupt men, disgraces to the Roman Church. On realising his mistaken assumptions, Nicholas addresses Dante with a haughty speech, showing no remorse for his crimes, condemning others in his stead. Disgusted, Dante reminds the tainted Pope that Peter offered no sum for the keys of Heaven, the price that Christ asked of him was "Follow me" and no more. Berating the corrupt Pope, Dante works up a fury. "You have built yourself a God of gold and silver! How differ you from the idolator?" Dante shouts at him. Mourning the day when the Church first acquired wealth, Dante notices Virgil eyeing him, smiling, admiring his virtue. Seeing his pupil learning from his path, Virgil embraces Dante as a noble man, denouncing the evil within God's representatives on Earth...

United Kingdom

Penguin Classics:
Dante: Inferno (Penguin Classics)
(A nice edition which also has the original Italian on the left hand page opposite the English)

Oxford World's Classics:
The Divine Comedy (Oxford World's Classics)
(Accessible and well annotated, also includes Purgatorio and Paradisio)

United States

Penguin Classics:
The Divine Comedy: Volume 1: Inferno (Penguin Classics) (Pt. 1)
(A nice edition which also has the original Italian on the left hand page opposite the English)

Oxford World's Classics:
The Divine Comedy (Oxford World's Classics)
(Accessible and well annotated, also includes Purgatorio and Paradisio)