InfernoCanto XXV

• Virgil and Statius resolve some doubts that have arisen in the mind of Dante from what he had just seen. They all arrive on the seventh and last cornice, where the sin of incontinence is purged in fire; and the spirits of those suffering therein are heard to record illustrious instances of chastity.

• Canto 25 in Dante's Inferno is referringto the Eight Circle of hell in the 7th  pocket. In this pocket is where the thieves spend the rest of eternity. It is in this  pocket that the punishment for the thieves is to have snakes which steal the  bodies of the thieves. This punishment is very fitting for the sin. The punishment for having committed this sin is that the thief must always be on the look-out for a snake. The reason this punishment is fitting is because many people think of thieves as snakes. They come and go unnoticed and are able to take what they please. Now, the thieves in turn must play game of who can keep theirbody the longest. In the last instance that Dante presents the reader of a thief being attacked, a snake slithered and sneaked up on two thieves as they watched another being attacked by another snake. The snake came up behind the middle one and bit him. As a result the thief was then paralyzed 

InfernoCanto XXV

Inferno Canto XXV

Thieves• Canto 25 in Dante's Inferno is

referring to the Eight Circle of hell in the 7th pocket. In this pocket ,the thieves spend the rest of eternity. It is in this pocket that the punishment for the thieves is to have snakes which steal the bodies of the thieves. The punishment for having committed this sin is that the thief must always be on the look-out for a snake. The snakes come and go unnoticed and are able to take what they please. Now, the thieves in turn must play a game of who can keep their body the longest.

Characters and new people

• The new character Cacus, is a Dragon with spread wings and breath of fire

• Cacus is the angry Centaur who seeks to punish Vanni Fucci in the pit of the thieves. Dante presents this horse-man as an elaborate monster, with snakes covering his equine back and a dragon--shooting fire at anyone in the way--astride Cacus' human shoulders (Inf. 25.16-24). Virgil explains that Cacus is not with the other Centaurs patrolling the river of blood in the circle of violence (Inferno 12) because he fraudulently stole from a herd of cattle belonging to Hercules, who brutally clubbed Cacus to death (28-33). In the Aeneid Virgil portrays Cacus as a half-human, fire-breathing monster who inhabits a cavern--under the Aventine hill (near the future site of Rome)--filled with gore and the corpses of Cacus' victims. Cacus steals Hercules' cattle--four bulls and four heifers--by dragging them backwards into his cavern (in order to conceal evidence of his crime). When Hercules hears the cries of one of his stolen cows, he tears the top off the hill and, to the delight of the native population, strangles Cacus to death (Aen. 8.193-267).

• The Five Spirits, are Florentine noblemen who (except for Puccio) change to animal shapes; include Agnello dei Brunelleschi, Cianfa die Donate, Buoso Degli Abati, Francesco Guercio dei Cavalcanti, and Puccio dei Galigai

Inferno, Canto XXV.Dante and Virgil observe Vanni Fucci, who defies God; Cacus, Agnello, and

two other Florentine thieves.

Inferno, Canto XXV.The metamorphosis of Cavalcanti and Buoso; another Florentine

thief.

Dante and Subtle Thieves• Dante is deeply discouraged by seeing Virgil so upset, but Virgil recovers as soon

as they reach the place where they have to climb, and turns to Dante "with that sweet look that I first saw at the foot of the mountain" (lines 20-21), back in the Dark Wood. Once again he picks Dante up and lifts him high enough that he can climb on his own, with Virgil's help. It's the hardest climb they've had yet, and Dante sits down exhausted at the top, but Virgil urges him on. Sloth won't win him fame. And Dante pulls himself together and goes on.

• They go over the next high, narrow bridge, but can only see the souls down in the ditch (the Seventh Bolgia) when they come to the other side. There they see shades tormented by serpents. As they watch, one soul is bitten by a serpent, dissolves into ash, and then re-forms. It turns out to be a notorious plunderer and thief named Vanni Fucci, who is so ashamed to have Dante see him here that he foretells the coming victory of the Blacks in Florence, just to wound Dante.

• When he has finished speaking, the thief lifts up both his hands in the obscene gesture called the fig (the fingers in a fist, the thumb thrust through between the index and second finger), defying God. Two serpents choke him and bind his hands, and he goes off. A centaur named Cacus, known for his thievery, pursues him. Three more spirits come in sight, and Dante and Virgil watch as they change shapes with each other, one becoming a serpent