Dante and Virgil now descend to a new region of Hell: the 10 malbowges of the Eight Circle. These are a series of steep ridges which descend into the bottom of the pit. In this section of Hell we will see a deeper kind of sin. Here we will find those who had to use all their human powers to commit their sins. These sins are no "accidents" or mere impulsive sins. These are sins which require us to use our specifically human powers: intellect, speech and persuasion, knowledge and so forth. To use the extreme example from criminal law, think of the difference between a "crime of passion" and premeditated murder. These are the sins in which we abuse the very gifts which make us human.
In Canto XVIII Dante encounters the panders and seducers. These are the people who have either exploited the sexual appetites of others, or who "pimped", and then those who used to deceit to satisfy their own sexual appetites. Remember that the lustful were much higher up in Hell. Here the difference is that the other person is merely seen as an object for one's own material prosperity, or simply as an object to satisfy one's own desire. This is what makes then different from the merely lustful. They are exploiters of others. Just where would Dante place certain people of the internet age - both the users and providers? Just as the lustful ran to and fro endlessly, so the panders and seducers are forced to run - in opposite directions.
Two things about their running: they are sparked onward by demons who encourage them with whips, and they are running counter one another. First, we see the appearance of demons. These sins have something of the demonic about them. They are not merely "animal-like" sins; they are more deeply spiritual than that. And so they are accompanied by teh presence of demons to signal their severity.
Second, the running in opposite directions is a bit of a theme which will be seen again. In these malbowges we find people who turn things into their opposites: flatterers who use words for profit or deception, instead of using words for their God-intended purpose; Simoniacs who sell the things of God - sacraments and offices:
O Simon Magus! O disciples of his!
Miserable pimps and hucksters, that have sold
The things of God, troth plight to righteousness,Into adultery for silver and gold.
XIX, 1-4
The Simoniacs are buried upside down into the living rock. They turned the things of God upside down, and now they themselves are turned upside down. In antithesis to the "blessed feet which bring good news", the feet of the Simonicas are covered in fire. Interestingly, Dante comments on the donation of Constantine, lamenting the place of greed, money and temporal power in the Church:
Ah, Constantine, what ills were gendered there,
No, not from they conversion, but the dower
The first rich Pope received from thee as heirXIX, 112-114
Going from opposite directions, then to upside down, next we have the Sorcerers, whose bodies are twisted backward. There heads have been turned 180 degrees,
And backwards each must needs creep with their feet,
All power of looking forward being denied.XX, 12
Here we meet some of the famous pagan seers of old - those who had sought to look into the future. Dante condemns here all those who seek the powers of God for their own purposes. And now, those who sought to look forward into the future for their own gain, are now forced to forever look backward.
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