Cantos VI - XII

"Those bare of head\Were clerics, cardinals, popes, in whom the passion\Of avarice has wrought excess." (VII.40-42)

Dante sees this group of people as he descends into the 4th circle of hell. I find it ironic that he "saw more souls\ than elsewhere, spreading far to the left and right" (23-24). I would have thought the further into hell one goes, the fewer people you would find. Perhaps Dante was sniping at the church, but fact that this level has more people, many of whom are related to the church, is ironic- members of the church are supposed to be the most holy men, teaching the followers of their religion to be virtuous and good. By placing so many religious men, including the most powerful of them, the popes, into hell seems to be a great irony. Perhaps it was meant to be a powerful irony that shows how hard it is not to make it into hell, but due to Dante's experiences with the church, it is not hard to see him subtly pushing his political agenda.


"Now canst thou, son, see the brief jest of the goods that are committed unto Fortune, for which the human race so scramble; for all the gold that is beneath the moon, or that ever was, of these weary souls could not make a single one repose." (VII. 55-59)

The reason behind the presence of the holy men is avarice, better known as greed. This is certainly a nod to the times Dante was living in - where the popes were so corrupted that they would accept monetary payments to "wipe away" sins. This evidence also shows that Dante Alighieri was writing about more than just the events in his journey through Hell, making more likely the fact that he is suggesting a political commentary or position. More striking to me was Virgil's explanation for the cause of the men present to be avaricious in the first place, as it seems contrary to what Christian religion preaches (yay puns!). Virgil explains that fortune is the "god" that doles out the material wealth in life, and is responsible for those who receive fortune and those who don't. My first issue with this is the direct contradiction to the christian faith. I understand that since Virgil was not a christian and was not baptized, he is not punished as one who strayed from God - he is punished as one who was never in God's graces. However, according to the placement of people in hell, those who worship false gods or who are blasphemous are sent to lower circles of Hell. I wonder then, why Virgil was not in one of those circles. Perhaps to be punished for any reason, you have to have had knowledge of the christian faith, and/or have been baptized under it.