Once they have escaped the demons, Dante and Virgil find themselves in Bowge vi of Circle VIII. Here they come across a sad company of souls
Who trod their circling way with tear and groan
And slow, slow steps, seeming subdued and faint
They all word cloaks, with deep hood forward thrown
Over their eyes, and shaped in fashion quite
Like the great cowls the monks wear at Cologne;
Outwardly they were gilded dazzling bright,
But all within was lead, and weighed thereby,
King Frederick's copes would have seemed feather light.
Canto XXIII, 59-66
These are the Hypocrites - they intentionally and knowingly deceived others about who they were. All gilded on the outside, but really something quite different on the inside. And so their punishment fits their sin: they wear beautiful cloaks which cover their eyes (they deceived other mens' eyes) but the cloaks are really a heavy lead, and they must trudge in their true garment forever.
In a most striking scene, Dante and Virgil come across the figure of Caiaphas, the high priest who counseled that it was better "for one man to die for the nation." Caiaphas is seen crucified upon the ground. Over his crucified soul the rest of the hypocrites trudge. Virgil in particular is said to "marvel at him, thus racked forever on the shameful cross" (XXIII,124). Apart from the shocking image this presents in and of itself, Virgil - the figure of human reason - still marvels at the cross. In Dante's poem Virgil is said to have made a journey through hell once before, and now in his cecond journey through hell Virgil sees the things which have taken place since Christ came into the world. At another leve, I wonder if this is not also meant to convey that the cross, in any appearance, is still a "folly" to human reason and wisdom.
In Cantos XXIV-XXVI they meet the Thieves. As we noted earlier, property was considered an extension of one's personhood in Roman and subsequent medieval times. Hence to damage or steal another man's material goods was to do "injury" to that man himself. The thieves' punishment is rather grotesque: they are changed into different forms, intermingling their human and brute forms with one another. Sayers adds a helpful explanatory note. "In this canto we see ow the Thieves, who made no distinction between meum and tuum - between mine and thine - cannot call their forms or their personalities their own". Since they did not recognize the distinction between what is mine and what is yours on earth, they are denied the ability to have those distinctions in the afterlife. They cannot hold even their own bodily shapes.
More properly, what we see here is not, again, a punishment imposed upon the Thieves, but merely the logical extension of what it means to be a Thief. Having this in mind is the key to understanding the "punishments" of the Inferno. The principles by which one engages in Thievery - taking what is not yours - is simply brought to its logical conclusion.
In Canto XXVI we run across the figure of Ulysses, who not only was a thief himself, but also counseled others to commit fraudulent acts. Thus we have the "Counselors of Fraud" - men who encouraged and manipulated others into committing a fraudulent act. These are a more notorious form of thief, and so are placed lower down.
:-) I knew you were a hip guy!
I hope your services go well and all the blessings of Easter,
Erin
Posted by: Erin | March 20, 2008 at 09:24 PM