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August 9, 2010
Danteblogging - Canto XXXI
Canto XXXI
Canto XXXI is a transition canto between the last of the Malebolge and the bottom of Hell, where the traitors are punished. The mechanism here is again the cooperation of a monster. In Canto XVII the pilgrims rode flying Geryon. Here Virgil talks Antaeus, giant opponent of Hercules, into lifting them down the cliffs between the last of the Malebolge and frozen Cocytus. He does it with an interesting offer - Dante, who is living, can offer Antaeus a morsel more of recognition:
Don't make us seek Typhon or Tityus.
This man can give you what you long for here,
so bend and do not turn your face askew,
For in the world he can still bring you fame.
The sin of the giants is to have tried to replace the gods - or to have rivaled God, in the case of Nimrod the Mighty Hunter, builder of the Tower of Babel. Antaeus complies, silently.
Dante compares the giants to city towers - most specifically to the Garisenda tower in Bologna (one of Bologna's twin towers) and to the watch towers circling a fortress at Montereggioni (near Siena). The 16th C illustration I uploaded certainly picks up on the latter.
Image from Alessandro Vellutello's 1544 commentary - I think I found it at Wikimedia, though I've downloaded a number of versions this summer to turn into presentations in the fall.
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Posted by CrankyProfessor at August 9, 2010 8:16 AM