Dante again invokes the Muses to help him write what he sees, just as he had done at the beginning of his journey. This time the invocation is longer and even more passionate. He knows that this portion of the journey is going to be harsh and horrible, and he hopes that he has the words for it.
Dante the Poet is fully aware that the noble art of poetry is not designed to describe the horrors of this dreadful abode. Poetry is not usually devoted to harsh and grating and vulgar sounds. Thus, he invokes the Muses of Poetry to help describe horrors in poetic terms.
The geography of the final pit of Hell is explained in these two cantos. There are four rounds in this circle of traitors. The first, Caina, reserved for those who were traitors to their kin, is named for the Biblical Cain who slew his brother, Abel. Remember also that Francesca (Canto V), in her story, says that Caina awaits hers and Paolo’s murderer, Paolo’s brother. The sinners that Dante finds here are two brothers who killed one another in a squabble over their inheritance, hence they must spend all of eternity locked together, bickering and butting heads.
Antenora is named for the Trojan Antenor who was believed to have betrayed Troy to the Greeks—this round is for those who were treacherous to their country. Here, Dante finds sinners deeper in the ice, unable to move their heads, and the sinner Bocca, a Florentine traitor, which reinforces Dante’s political theme as well. Also residing here are Ugolino (a Guelph) and Ruggieri (a Ghibelline), both traitors to their country who conspired with each other to take over a certain faction of the Guelphs. Ptolomea, named for those sinners treacherous to guests and hosts, is the third round. It is named after Ptolomey, a captain of Jericho and son-in-law of Simon the high priest. Ptolomey arranged a banquet honoring Simon and his two sons and then treacherously murdered them, while they were his guests. Here, the sinners lie supine with only their faces exposed, and here Dante discovers two sinners that were so treacherous to guests that they immediately were thrown out of their bodies and into Hell, and a demon was sent to inhabit their bodies on Earth. This action is contrary to Dante’s idea of penitence to achieve Grace—these sinners did not have a chance to give penance, though it is apparent that Dante felt that this sin was bad enough to warrant immediate damnation.
The fourth and final round of the ninth circle, Judecca, is illustrated in the final canto. It is named after Judas Iscariot, who betrayed his lord and master, Jesus Christ.
Dante is indeed ready for the end of his journey. Twice in these cantos he shows no pity or sympathy for certain sinners; once, with a furious temper, he attacks one of the frozen spirits, simply for the satisfaction of knowing its name so he can tell his story on Earth. Unlike the spirits in the upper circles who ask to be remembered, the spirits in this part of Hell want to be forgotten because of their vicious crimes. If Dante treats theses spirits badly, he will show no compassion whatsoever because of the severity of their crimes on Earth.
The famous story of Count Ugolino gnawing on the head and brainpan of Archbishop Ruggieri is at the end of Canto XXXII. Historically, it was publicly known that Ugolino was captured and put to death by Ruggieri, but the manner of his death was so cruel that Dante thought the world should know the tragic story.
Dante, seeing the two bound together, wonders why Ugolino so beastly hungers after his neighbor.
Ugolino had been in prison for several months with his four young sons. One morning he awoke from a terrible dream and heard his children begging for food, and at the same time, he heard the doors of the tower being nailed shut. He knew this was the death knoll for him and his sons, and he had to watch them one by one cry out for food until they were all dead.
This eating and gnawing at flesh becomes central to “little Anselmo’s” request to his father: “Thou didst clothe us with this wretched flesh, and it would be less painful if you eat of us.” But of course Ugolino cannot eat of his own son’s flesh. Then, as he sees each child die one by one, “starvation did what grieving could not do.” Ugolino died and in Hell, is joined together with the enemy who starved his children and who, now, becomes the savage feast for him to munch on for eternity.
Dante cannot fathom what rage justifies such horrible and bestial actions, and he promises to reveal to the world the cause of Ugolino’s savagery. Thus, he relates his story in Canto XXXIII from the viewpoint of the man who has been betrayed. By sympathizing with the victim, it is not apparent that Ugolino, himself, is a traitor who fully deserves his place in Hell. But, the four children are innocents and should not have become Ruggieri’s victims. Furthermore, if Ugolino’s hatred is so extreme, remember that no amount of punishment will satisfy his desire for revenge—it will never be satiated. He can never be revenged.
Ugolino’s punishment is the concept of retaliation. This is a masterful stroke on Dante’s part, for in the very depths of Hell, how else can Dante evoke pity for someone whose crime is as monstrous as was Ugolino’s? Note, therefore, that Ugolino is here in Hell as a traitor because he betrayed his own party to Ruggieri, but also, that he is here in the poem as the betrayed. Ugolino may be said to be both the victim of divine justice and also the instrument of it, in that he also punishes his betrayer, Ruggieri.
It might be interesting to the historical-oriented mind that Ugolino was imprisoned with two middle-aged sons and two grandsons. But, this is history, and Dante changed the story to gain a more imaginative situation.
The law of retribution is the most powerful: In life Ruggieri starved Ugolino; in Hell, Ruggieri becomes food for his victim.
