Dante's Divine Comedy

• 1. The first 27 lines of Canto XVII are given over to a description of Geryon. Esolen’s note on that mythological figure are enlightening. It is noteworthy that Virgil identifies him with the number three twice in the Aeneid. Perhaps more pertinent to our purposes, Ovid describes him as “in tribus unus erat”: “he was one in three.” How does Dante describe him in line 7?

Dante calls the monster the “disgusting likeness of deceit.”

Further, note that lines 1 and 3 are examples of anaphora, meaning they begin with a parallel set of words. What are those words?

“Behold the beast”

Can you identify a biblical reference that uses the same verb to identify an individual?

John 19:5 – “Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”

What three verbs does Virgil use in speaking of Geryon in lines 2 and 3?

“scattering,” “smashing,” and “sickens”

Fraud makes all physical barriers and defenses (mountains, walls, and armor) useless.

Now consider Ovid’s descriptive phrase of Geryon. What do you make of Dante’s purpose in using this language?

Christ, the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, is God incarnate. Christians regard God as the Holy Trinity: three persons in one. Ovid’s description inverts that doctrine to “one in three.” You may do so far as to connect Geryon with the Beast in Revelation who is also a creature of fraud: he who scatters believers, smashes his enemies, and sickens the world.

How is Geryon physically described in lines 10-27? Use specific physical details.

He has the face of an honest man (lines 10-11).

His trunk is serpentine (line 12).

His arms are covered in fur (line 13). [recalling the first deceiver, the serpent in Eden]

His tail is that of a scorpion (line 27)

Geryon is a sort of triple hybrid similar to the manticore described in Pliny (and recorded in Pier delle Vigne’s Trésor). It combined parts of a man, a lion, and a scorpion.

Compare Geryon’s description to that of the locusts in Revelation 7 and 10.

⁷ The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men.

¹⁰ They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months.

In addition, Dante’s referring to Geryon as a beast recalls Revelation 11:7

⁷ When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.

Note in lines 14-15 the “whorls and knots” that cover Geryon’s “back and his breast and both his sides . . . particolored all in whorls and knots.” Do you detect any similarity to the leopard in Canto I, line 42? If so, then what do both the leopard and Geryon embody?

The sins of fraud

Consider the two similes in lines 19-27. What aspect of Geryon does the first simile evoke?

Because he is compared to a beached boat, he is portrayed as immobile (not moving).

What aspect of Geryon does the second simile evoke?

Because he is compared to a beaver’s tail being used to trap fish, he is portrayed as a kind of trap himself.

What aspect does the final comparison regarding his tale imply?

It is described as both “like a scorpion’s flail” and, in fact, a scorpion’s tale.

• 2. Re-read lines 36-45. When was the last time Virgil left Dante alone?

He did so when he went to negotiate with the Fallen Angels to allow his and Dante’s passage through the gates of Dis. (1`

How is the event a first in the poem?

This is the first time Dante has interacted with sinners on his own.

What can you say about the contrapasso among the usurers?

You might say that the usurers caused money to race from hand to hand but were themselves stationary, unmoved movers hunched over the desks in the pursuit of gain.

What is the only means of identifying the sinners punished in this Round?

By the emblems on their purses.

What common trait do all of these three emblems – as well as that of the “coming” usurer – include?

All four are animals:

• A lion (lines 59-60) appears on the purse of a member of the Gianfigliazzi family of Florence.
• A goose (lines 62-63) appears on the purse of the Obriachi family who were Florentine Ghibellines.
• A sow (lines 64-65) appears on the purse that probably belongs to Reginaldo degli Scrovegni, a Paduan who practiced the sin on a large scale. [The surname derives from the Italian word scrofa, meaning “sow.” A penitential desire to make up for the paternal usurious practice reputedly moved his son, Arrigo, to endow the construction of the Scrovegni Chapel, its walls devoted to Giotto’s frescoes, one of the most beautiful interior spaces in the Western world.]
• Three goats (lines 71-73), the only identification of a Florentine usurer yet to come to Hell, probably Giovanni Buiamonte, a Ghibelline.
• Only Vitaliano, who is directly named, is not identified by a family crest.

How does Scrovegni’s facial gesture underscore the bestial nature of even the usurers? (lines 73-75)

Dante compares the sinner’s tongue sticking out to an ox licking its nose, a low action in contrast to his undoubted high economic status.

• 3. What does Dante mean by the metaphor, “now we go down the pit by stairs like these”?

He refers to Geryon who will fly them down to the Eighth Circle.

Look back at lines 37-42 which we compared to VIII.104-108 earlier. In both cases, what has Dante not shared with us – because he can’t?

In Canto VIII, Dante does not share Virgil’s (unsuccessful) negotiations with the Fallen Angels; in Canto VII he does not share his guide’s (successful) negotiations with Geryon.

What is the tone of Dante’s description of their flight on Geryon’s back? (lines 85-90)

His shaking as if suffering from a fever indicates his terror at the prospect, but he also feels enough shame regarding his fear that he puts on a brave front.

Note, however, that he begs Virgil to “hold on to me tight.” (line93)

What is the significance of lines 95-96?

Allegorically, the image is one of reason protecting the pilgrim from the threat of fraud.

What is the purpose of the allusions in lines 106-111?

They are both mythological allusions to ill-fated flights of two sons, one the son of Daedalus the great mythological inventor and designer and the other a son of Apollo. Both flew up into the sky but fell to their death.

Surely, the pilgrim is contemplating a similar fate for himself.

It is noteworthy that in Ovid’s telling of the myth of Phaethon, the foolhardy son of Apollo loses control of his father’s chariot (the sun), terrified by the Scorpion (the constellation of Scorpio).

The reference to Icarus is the final allusion to Cretan myths in the Seventh Circle which started with the Minotaur.

How does the final simile (lines 127-136) manage to soften the terrifying nature of Geryon?

The simile compares him to bird, much smaller than himself. Some critics see a touch of comedy in this in contrast to Dante’s fear on the trip down.