At the beginning of Canto XXVI, Dante uses another political prophecy to propel the narrative and his political theme forward. Dante actually wishes this dark prophecy on his city. Because Dante was exiled at the time he wrote Inferno, these events had already come to pass.
The retribution that the sinners of the eighth chasm suffer fits with the sin that they perpetrated in life. They gave evil counsel (particularly to religious leaders), and therefore, misused God’s gifts. These souls worked in hidden ways, and they will spend eternity hidden from sight and burning in flames that symbolize a guilty conscience.
The most dramatic event in Canto XXVI is Dante’s meeting with Ulysses. Note that Ulysses and Diomede are punished for events that would have been acceptable, even praised, in the time in which they lived. Dante again falters from his concept that sinners are only punished according to the social standards of their time. Ulysses carried out the strategy of the Trojan Horse, which led to the fall of Troy and eventually, to the founding of the Roman line by Aeneas. Because Dante is partial to the Roman Empire, he sees this act as evil; however, another poet may see it as virtuous. Ulysses is also in the pit for two other acts: convincing Achilles to go on a journey, which caused Deidamia to die of heartbreak, and stealing a statue of Pallas from the Palladium, thus ensuring the downfall of Troy.
Virgil’s telling Dante not to speak to Ulysses and Diomede is significant, because the two shades would perceive Dante as a descendant of Aeneas (because he spoke Italian) and associate him with the fallen Trojans. Virgil, on the other hand, is a virtuous poet who sang their praises and is thus better suited to speak with them. Also, Dante does not speak Greek. But, Dante does not provide an explanation for how he understands Ulysses.
Dante returns to his religious theme with the soul that the poets address in Canto XXVII, that of Count Guido da Montefeltro, a fallen friar who gave evil counsel to Pope Boniface. Dante does not miss an opportunity to bring attention to his belief that Boniface is evil; his name is scattered over the whole of Inferno, though he is not there presently—he was still alive in 1300.
There is a great deal of symbolism and metaphor in Cantos XXVI and XXVII, perhaps more than anywhere else in Inferno. The language deserves mention: Dante, at this point in the narrative, becomes a better and tighter poet, able to speak in distinctive voices that seem genuine. For example, compare the power of the voice of Ulysses to some of the other stories in the text. Dante’s narration of Ulysses’ last voyage is some of the best poetry and one of the highlights of the entire Inferno.
The story is apparently an invention by Dante, and while beautiful in itself, serves also to display Dante’s increasing sureness of touch in the handling of his material. Ulysses seems to be speaking in his own words, not Dante’s, in contrast with the story of Francesca. The story of Ulysses is the compelling, unembellished yarn of an experienced and courageous sailor.
