L ' I N F E R N O

108
INF C12 103-105 / DANTE INF C12 103-105 / KLINE
Io vidi gente sotto infino al ciglio; I saw see people immersed as far as the eyebrows,
e 'l gran centauro disse: «E' son tiranni and the great Centaur said: These are tyrants
che dier nel sangue e ne l'aver di piglio. who indulged in blood, and rapine.
SOME WORDS FROM [INF C12 103-138] ORIGINALLY SPOKEN BY NESSUS.
VIRGIL:
INF C12 106-108 / DANTE INF C12 106-108 / KLINE
Quivi si piangon li spietati danni; Here they lament their offences, done without
quivi è Alessandro, e Dïonisio fero mercy. Here is Alexander, and fierce Dionysius of
che fé Cicilia aver dolorosi anni. Syracuse who gave Sicily years of pain.
DIONYSIUS OF SYRACUSE: THE ELDER, TYRANT OF SYRACUSE (405-367 BC). HE LED THE GREEK CITIES OF SICILY IN
RESISTANCE TO THE CARTHAGINIANS.
INF C12 109-111 / DANTE INF C12 109-111 / KLINE
E quella fronte c'ha 'l pel così nero, That head of black hair is Azzolino,
è Azzolino; e quell' altro ch'è biondo, and the other, which is blonde,
è Opizzo da Esti, il qual per vero is Obizzo da Este, whose life
AZZOLINO (EZZELLINO) III DA ROMANO, THE TYRANT (1194-1259): LORD OF VERONA, VICENZA & PADUA, CALLED ‘THE
SON OF THE DEVIL’, IMPERIAL VICAR UNDER FREDERICK II. POPE ALEXANDER IV DECLARED A CRUSADE AGAINST HIM & HE
WAS DEFEATED AT CASSANO ON THE ADDA & SUBSEQUENTLY DIED. HE WAS THE HEAD OF THE GHIBELLINES IN NORTHERN
ITALY.
OBIZZO DA ESTE, OBIZZO II OF ESTE, FOURTH MARQUIS OF FERRARA, WHO HAD LED THE GUELPH CRUSADERS AGAINST
EZZELINO. OBIZZO, DYING IN 1293, WAS SAID TO HAVE BEEN MURDERED BY HIS SON & SUCCESSOR AZZO VIII (FROM 1293-
1308), WHOM DANTE CALLS HIS STEPSON IN REFERENCE TO THE UNNATURAL NATURE OF THE CRIME. HIS DAUGHTER
BEATRICE MARRIED NINO DE’ VISCONTI OF PISA, THEN GALEOZZO VISCONTI OF MILAN.
DANTE versifies:
INF C12 106-108 / DANTE INF C12 106-108 / KLINE
Quivi si piangon li spietati danni; Here they lament their offences, done without
quivi è Alessandro, e Dïonisio fero mercy. Here is Alexander, and fierce Dionysius of
che fé Cicilia aver dolorosi anni. Syracuse who gave Sicily years of pain.
INF C12 109-111 / DANTE INF C12 109-111 / KLINE
E quella fronte c'ha 'l pel così nero, That head of black hair is Azzolino,
è Azzolino; e quell' altro ch'è biondo, and the other, which is blonde,
è Opizzo da Esti, il qual per vero is Obizzo da Este, whose life
INF C12 112-114 / DANTE
fu spento dal figliastro sù nel mondo. was quenched, in truth, by his stepson, up in the
Allor mi volsi al poeta, e quei disse: world. Then I turned to the poet, and he said:
«Questi ti sia or primo, e io secondo». ‘Let him guide you first, now, and I second.’
INF C12 115-117 / DANTE
A little further on, Nessus paused, next to people who seemed to be sunk in the boiling stream up to their throat.
VIRGIL:
INF C12 118-120 / DANTE INF C12 118-120 / KLINE
Mostrocci un'ombra da l'un canto sola, He showed us a shade, apart by itself, saying: That
dicendo: «Colui fesse in grembo a Dio one, Guy de Montfort, in God’s church, pierced
lo cor che 'n su Tamisi ancor si cola». that heart that is still venerated by the Thames
– Henry’s, the nephew of the king.
GUY DE MONTFORT: SON OF SIMON DE MONTFORT, EARL OF LEICESTER. HE AVENGED THE DEATH OF HIS FATHER AT THE
BATTLE OF EVESHAM (1265) WHERE EDWARD (LATER EDWARD I) DEFEATED THE ENGLISH BARONS, WHEN, IN 1271, WHILE
VICAR GENERAL OF TUSCANY HE MURDERED HENRY, HIS COUSIN, THE SON OF RICHARD, EARL OF CORNWALL, THE NEPHEW
OF THE ENGLISH KING, IN THE CHURCH OF SAN SILVESTRO AT VITERBO. HENRY’S HEART WAS PLACED IN A GOLD CASKET &
SET ON A PILLAR BY LONDON BRIDGE, OR IN THE HAND OF HIS STATUE IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
INF C12 121-123 / KLINE
Then I saw others, who held their heads and all their chests, likewise, free of the river: and I knew many of these.
INF C12 124-126 / DANTE INF C12 124-126 / KLINE
Così a più a più si facea basso So the The blood grew grows shallower and
quel sangue, sì che cocea pur li piedi; shallower, until it only cooked cooks their feet,
e quindi fu del fosso il nostro passo. and here was is our ford through the ditch.
VIRGIL CROSSES THE FORD, FOLLOWED BY DANTE, WHO VERSIFIES.