Like the beginning of the other two main sections of Hell, a familiar mythological monster rules the entrance of the particular souls in this sphere. In Canto XVII, the monster Geryon symbolizes Fraud, the sin of the souls in Circle VIII. Furthermore, like Fraud, his innocent face fools the onlooker long enough to be stung by his scorpion-like tail.
Again, Dante alters the figure of a mythological creature from its traditional form (one of the poet’s favorite literary devices), functioning to make Hell a place where traditional expectations may not exist. Geryon is the mythological king of Spain who was killed by Hercules, and he was traditionally represented as having three heads and three bodies.
Dante the Pilgrim is indeed beginning to understand the true nature of sin as he confronts the Usurers, the sinners in the final round of Circle VII. He does not linger among them, insisting on their names, but coolly observes them and moves on.
Dante the Poet places these sinners in dire circumstances, and tells none of their names, hiding them from Earth, making sure that none were remembered. The faces of the Usurers lack individuality because their concern with money made them lose their individuality. However, the signs and symbols on the sinner’s purses indicate their families.
As the sinners’ sins become more vulgar and base, the language in the poem becomes more graphic, so as to illustrate the misery of the usurers. In this canto, the Usurers are described as dogs in summer, and their very nature and description is disgusting. The power of the language increases as the poem goes on, which Dante illustrates in later cantos.
