Commentary: Inferno IX, 55-105
Canto IX of Dante’s Inferno takes places at the gates of the city if Dis, the entrance to the 6th Circle of Hell. It follows on directly from the previous Canto, in which Dante’s guide Virgil unsuccessfully attempts to secure them passage to the city. Dante is afraid, but is comforted by the now humbled Virgil, who assures him that there journey cannot be interrupted, foreseeing the appearance of an Angel from Heaven who will open the gates for them. As we anticipate the arrival of the Angel through the thick fog, heavily obscuring Dante’s view (and consequentially our view), it is in fact three fearsome Furies who appear; mythological creatures who are half woman and half serpent. The Furies call for Medusa to appear and turn Dante to stone, and it is here that a key passage begins, one of the most dramatic exchanges in the poem which documents the arrival of a Messo da Ciel who comes to allow the poets access to the city. The passage seeks to advance the story, not dwell on the past, whilst containing several underlying messages.
With the threat of being turned to stone, Virgil quickly instructs Dante to turn away and close his eyes; “Vogliti ‘n dietro e tien lo viso chiuso; ché se’l Gorgón si mostra e tu’l vedessi”. Through the personal pronoun ‘tu’ we know that he is addressing Dante. With the use of imperative forms (‘vogliti’, ‘tien’) and elision (‘’n’, ‘’l’), Dante conveys the urgency of Virgil’s speech due to the clear and present danger. In fact, the urgency is such that Virgil turns Dante round himself and puts his own hands over those of Dante. The two of them huddled together represents the solidarity between them on such an arduous journey, the guide and the tourist essentially brought to the same level, particularly due to Virgil’s own failings in Canto VIII. In this way Dante also is hinting at himself being a literary equal of Virgil, showing both of them fearful of the same threat. Dante’s portrayal...