The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: The InfernoDante Alighieri
ReligionJewish
The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: The Inferno
Dante Alighieri
Epic poetry, Italian -- Translations into English; Hell; Italian poetry -- To 1400 -- Translations into English
[819] _Should I thy name, etc._: 'Should I put thy name among the other
notes.' It is the last time that Dante is to offer such a bribe; and
here the offer is most probably ironical.
[820] _Not silent keep, etc._: Like all the other traitors Bocca finds
his only pleasure in betraying his neighbours.
[821] _The Frenchmen's money_: He who had betrayed the name of Bocca was
Buoso of Duera, one of the Ghibeline chiefs of Cremona. When Guy of
Montfort was leading an army across Lombardy to recruit Charles of Anjou
in his war against Manfred in 1265 (_Inf._ xxviii. 16 and _Purg._ iii.),
Buoso, who had been left to guard the passage of the Oglio, took a bribe
to let the French army pass.
[822] _Beccheria_: Tesauro of the Pavian family Beccheria, Abbot of
Vallombrosa and legate in Florence of Pope Alexander IV. He was accused
of conspiring against the Commonwealth along with the exiled Ghibelines
(1258). All Europe was shocked to hear that a great churchman had been
tortured and beheaded by the Florentines. The city was placed under
Papal interdict, proclaimed by the Archbishop of Pisa from the tower of
S. Pietro in Vincoli at Rome. Villani seems to think the Abbot was
innocent of the charge brought against him (_Cron._ vi. 65), but he
always leans to the indulgent view when a priest is concerned.
[823] _Soldanieri_: Deserted from the Florentine Ghibelines after the
defeat of Manfred.
[824] _Ganellon_: Whose treacherous counsel led to the defeat of Roland
at Roncesvalles.
[825] _Tribaldello_: A noble of Faenza, who, as one account says, to
revenge himself for the loss of a pig, sent a cast of the key of the
city gate to John of Apia, then prowling about Romagna in the interest
of the French Pope, Martin IV. He was slain at the battle of Forlì in
1282 (_Inf._ xxvii. 43).
[826] _Frozen in a hole, etc._: The two are the Count Ugolino and the
Archbishop Roger.
[827] _Tydeus_: One of the Seven against Thebes, who, having been
mortally wounded by Menalippus the Theban, whom he slew, got his friends
to bring him the head of his foe and gnawed at it with his teeth. Dante
found the incident in his favourite author Statius (_Theb._ viii.).
[828] _I in the world, etc._: Dante has learned from Bocca that the
prospect of having their memory refreshed on earth has no charm for the
sinners met with here. The bribe he offers is that of loading the name
of a foe with ignominy--but only if from the tale it shall be plain that
the ignominy is deserved.
CANTO XXXIII.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account