INFERNO, Episode 41. Angry Among The Angry: Inferno, Canto VIII, Lines 31 - 63

We’re crossing Styx—and a figure rises up out of the muck to threaten our pilgrim and his guide, Virgil. This passage is one of the most dramatic we’ve yet encountered in Dante’s COMEDY. It’s full of Bible verses, personal vendetta, and lyrical language. More importantly, our poet is discovering something that will win him fame for 700 years. He’s discovering that all theology and philosophy, all the politics and loss, needs to be subsumed into the larger framework of storytelling. THIS is what he finally learned from Virgil, his master.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we walk slowly through Dante’s COMEDY. We’ve come to the fifth circle of INFERNO, the wrathful—and curiously, this is the passage where the pilgrim gets angry among the angry.

Why? And what does his anger do for the poem? Let’s take a slow walk through the passage and find out.

Here’s my English translation of the passage for this episode: INFERNO, Canto VIII, lines 31 - 63:

Inferno, Canto VIII, Lines 31 – 63

As we were crossing the dead muck,

A figure covered in mud rose up in front of me

And said, “Who are you, who comes here before your time?”

And I to him, “If I come, I won’t stick around.

But who are you, who have become so gross?”

And he replied, “You see that I’m one who wails.”

And I to him, “With wailing and mourning,

Damned spirit, may you stay here!

For I recognize you, even if you’re covered in filth.”

Then he reached with both his hands for the boat,

But my wary master shoved him back,

Saying, “Over there with the other dogs!”

Then he put his arms around my neck,

Kissed my cheek, and said, “Indignant soul!

Blessed is she, who was pregnant with you.

“In the world above, he was puffed with pride.

Not one good thing graces his memory.

That’s why his shade is so furious.

How many up there think of themselves

As great muckety-mucks yet will lie like pigs in this muck,

Leaving behind nothing but horrible contempt.”

And I: “Master, I’d really like to see

This one dipped deep in the broth

Before we leave this lake.”

And he to me, “Before the shore

Lets itself be seen, you’ll be satisfied.

Such a desire should be fulfilled.”

Right after that I saw the muddy people

Rip apart that gentleman so badly

That I still praise God and thank him for it.

They all cried, “Get Filippo Argenti!”

And this crazy Florentine spirit

Chewed himself with his own teeth.