Canto Analysis: Canto 17

The Inferno: Canto XVII

By: Regan Bloss

Summary:

Dante and Virgil watch a horrible creature rise before them after Virgil threw one end of Dante's belt into a ravine filled with dark water. The creature turns out to be a serpent with two hairy paws and the face of a man. He is later addressed as Geryon, and as Dante and Virgil approach him, they descend into the third zone of the third ring in the seventh circle of hell.

Dante doesn’t converse much with the usurers because he understands the reason for their condition. Instead he observes their suffering and returns to Virgil after a short while. Finally, Virgil arranges for Geryon to fly both him and Dante to the eighth circle of hell.

Additional Points of Analysis:

ü  As Dante and Virgil leave the final zone of the seventh circle of hell, they also leave the hell of the violent and bestial- the sins of the lion- for the hell of the fraudulent and malicious- the sins of the Leopard.

ü  Geryon represents this transition by being the symbol of fraud and the method of transportation to the eighth circle of hell (see character analysis for details).

ü  Like Dante, the Bible despises usurers by saying “If he has exacted usury Or taken increase -- He shall not live! If he has done any of these abominations, He shall surely die; His blood shall be upon him.” [New King James Bible Ezekiel 18:13]

ü  Dante constantly alludes to Greek Mythology in this canto, with references to Geryon, Arachne, and Phaethon (see character analysis for details).

Sin in Question:

The third zone, which is located in the third ring of the seventh circle of hell, is inhabited by usurers, or those who had been violent against art. The usurers, like their names suggests, also probably had something to do with the stealing of money, or the “ripping” of someone off. This sin is the transition to the final circles of hell, which is reserved for the fraudulent.

Punishment for Sinners:

Like the other sinners of the third ring in the seventh circle of hell, the usurers are punished by having to endure the deathly hot desert and its never-ending rain of fire. The difference however, between the usurers and the blasphemers and sodomites punishment, it that the usurers have to wear leather purses with their family coat of arms or emblem on it. Dante notices that the eyes of the sinners are gushing with tears because the final part of their punishment is having to gaze at their family coat of arms for an eternity.  

Moreover, while Dante does not recognize any of the usurers, he does recognize some of the coats of arms on the purses around the usurer’s necks. These coats of arms are symbolic of well-known Florentine families.  

Punishment’s link to Contrapasso:

This punishment is without a doubt contrapasso, and follows the law of retribution, because sinners here, who have dismembered themselves from their families and who have stolen money from others, are now being subject to intense shame as they have to gaze upon their family emblems forever. This shame is attributed to all of the money they stole, and all of their violence against art.

Character Analysis:

Geryon	-Serpent with two hairy paws and the face of a human. He is the guardian of the Eighth circle of hell and his ability to change the number of heads he has is symbolic of fraud (Greek Mythology). Geryon signifies the transition to the final two circles of hell- malice and fraud. He is also symbolic of fraud because he deceives people by hiding his spiked tail. -Geryon is also described in Virgil's Aeneid as a "three-bodied shade," and a cruel king slain by Hercules. -Geryon offers some of the best evidence of Dante's attention to realism.
Vitaliano	Only usurious sinner to be named.
Arachne	Great mortal weaver who boasted that her skill was greater than Minerva, or Athena, the goddess of wisdom and crafts
Tartars	Turkish ethnic group briefly referenced
Phaethon	Young demigod son of Helios and Klymene who begged his father to let him drive the chariot of the sun.

Higher-Order Discussion Questions:

1. Being that the punishment given to the usurers- those who are violent against art- is not really representative of contrapaso in the most straightforward way. What other punishment could be given to the Usurers? Why is that punishment linked to the law of retribution- contrapasso? And why is your punishment better than the one made by Dante?

2. Why do you think Dante chose to have usury as the transitional link between the hell of the violent and bestial- the sins of the lion- to the hell of the fraudulent and malicious- the sins of the Leopard? Explain using causational links and evidentiary support from the novel.

3. We learn in canto 16 that Dante once thought to capture the leopard with a cord, which he now gives to Virgil to summon Geryon, the "image of fraud." What connections do you see among Geryon, the cord, and the leopard? How might this new information help us to interpret the three animals--the leopard, the lion, and the she-wolf--from canto 1?

Works Cited: "Dante's Inferno." The University of Texas at Austin. ITS Liberal Arts, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. <http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/index2.html>.