At the start of Canto XII in INFERNO, we’re standing on the edge of the abyss of lower hell with Dante, our pilgrim, and Virgil, his guide. Which means we’re exactly where we were at the start of Canto XI.

In other words, the COMEDY is developing two structures for its forward momentum: discursive and narrative. It’s important to see their interplay—and not to expect the COMEDY to be solely about the plot of the walk across the known universe. It’s also about an intellectual walk—and thus, the discursive elements of COMEDY that will become more and more pronounced as we go along.

This passage features two roadblocks into the seventh circle of hell: the rock slide at the edge of the abyss and the Minotaur, sprawled on the slope. Both are easily navigated—except perhaps as poetic structures, as symbols, as part of the “work” of COMEDY. And yes, Dante wants you to do the work.

So join me, Mark Scarbrough, as I explore the initial descent toward the violent in Canto XII of INFERNO.

Here’s my English translation of this passage from INFERNO: Canto XII, lines 1 - 30.

The spot where we started to descend into the gorge

Was almost alpine and, given what else was there,

Was enough to make any eye shun the sight of it.

 

Like that rockslide that shook the shores of

The Adige on this side of Trento,

Whether because of an earthquake or slippage in the terrain,

 

The one that moved a mass of rocks

From the mountain top, scattering them about

So that they outlined a pathway down for someone up above,

 

That’s what the way down that ravine was like.

What’s more, on the edge of the craggy chasm,

The infamy of Crete was sprawled out,

 

The one who was conceived in an artificial cow.

And when he saw us, he chewed himself

As if he’d been shattered inside by rage.

 

My sage cried out to him, “Maybe

You believe this guy’s the Duke of Athens,

Who handed you your death up in the world.

 

“Get out of the way, beast! This guy didn’t get here

Because he was schooled by your sister.

But he does come to see your pain.”

 

As a bull, jerking loose at the moment

It receives a fatal blow,

That cannot run, but bucks back and forth,

 

So I saw the Minotaur do the same.

And my cautious guide cried out, “Run for the exit!

It’d be great if you could get down while he’s enraged.”

 

This is how we found our way down the rubble

Of all those stones, that moved this way and that

Under the unaccustomed weight of my feet.”