Art Madsen, M.Ed.
Transnational Research Associates
For purposes of concentrating on a prominent thematic device in Dante's Inferno, it would seem advisable to limit this paper's scope to a comparison of two primary, but interrelated, figures appearing in Cantos VI and XV. As a Florentine, Dante both poet and protagonist, had met Ciacco and Brunetto in real life prior to his celebrated descent into Hell. This fact alone provides a unifying force within Inferno. This analysis will seek to demonstrate that Ciacco, Brunetto, and Dante, through interaction in the specified Cantos, furnish texture, unity, and profundity to Inferno, and, in so doing, break with past Medieval literary practices which were comparatively primitive.
The first mention of politics in this work occurs, in fact, in CantoVI. Though the reader may have glimpsed foreshadowing of political content in prior cantos, the figure of Ciacco, "the Hog", looms large amidst the ranks of souls-strewn beneath Dante and Virgil. Dante, the narrator, informs his reader that Ciacco was a Florentine of note and renown. His status in Hell is that of a sinner who is now, unlike others deeper within Satan's realm, awaiting the Last Judgement. In this respect he differs from Brunetto whom we shall encounter nine Cantos later.
He speaks with Dante in a pattern of dialogue which recurs in other Cantos. Information is elicited through questions posed, gestures made and answers given. It is curious to note, in this dialogue, vestiges of Early Medieval stylistic traits which often embodied simple dialogical formats and encounters. Dante is writing in the Mid to Late Italian Middle Ages, and the full blossoming of Italy was still largely ahead of his time. In fact, Dante was arguably an entire century ahead of France, for example, in making these stylistic changes which characterized the dawning of the Renaissance, as recognized by today's critics.
With regard specifically to Ciacco, among his utterances are predictions of on-going strife and violence in Florence. He suggests that one political faction will be expulsed. Dante may have been using this as a device to reinforce in his reader's mind the disastrous events which were unfolding in Florence at the time. In a general sense, it is enlightening to note that most of the events portrayed in Inferno as "predictions" have already occurred in reality. The manner in which they are presented, as if from Hell, is intriguing in itself, all other elements of this masterwork being equal.
Because he is in one of the highest Circles of Hell, Ciacco, like others in his position, wants to be remembered among the living. He requests that Dante remind his friends in Florence of him, presumably requesting their prayers and forgiveness. This pattern recurs in future dialogical material, particularly in Canto XV with respect to Brunetto. In future Circles of Hell, although this does not pertain to Brunetto, the condemned seem eager to be remembered on Earth. Their suffering is so intense and their sins so grievous that "remembrance" is fairly far from their minds.
Realizing that Ciacco's transgressions were relatively mild, and that he would remain in Hell for less than Eternity, Dante and Virgil move deeper into the inferno. They progress through several Circles and arrive at Canto XV where conditions are somber indeed.
Canto XV represents a fulcrum or turning point in Inferno. Having crossed what might be referred to as the River Styx and after confronting a variety of beasts and monsters each of which are tormenting a group of sinners, Dante and Virgil approach, now, the mid-point of their instructive journey.
At this juncture, Dante encounters Brunetto, another formerly influential Florentine whom he had known. So attached had they been in life that Dante refers to him not only as adviser, but as "Master Brunetto." Although he can not speak to the condemned souls around him, he is cast among these souls, all Sodomites. They were a particularly detestable group of sinners -- mostly scholars -- in Dante's time. Interestingly, Brunetto seems not to have committed this heinous transgression of natural law.
Dante, the poet, uses Brunetto to highlight, indeed, feature, many political observations, as he did with the figure of Ciacco. Brunetto observes all that Dante confides to him, and responds by sharing with Dante many insightful predictions, some political, some personal. He foretells the widely acclaimed reputation of Dante in the future; but he also speaks sagaciously of Dante's imminent exile, ostensibly related to political events in Florence.
It is interesting to note that both Ciacco and Brunetto, from their respective positions in Hell, lapse into commentary concerning Florence, a topic of intense interest to 13th century readers (particularly if they were Italian). By providing sociological and political substance to this portion of The Divine Comedy, Dante achieves, partially through Ciacco and Brunetto, a degree of that commodity extolled by literary critics everywhere: high seriousness.
The unifying nature, extending from Canto VI to Canto XV, of Ciacco's and Brunetto's contribution should not be underestimated. Dante, by interacting with them, further enhances the entire narrative sequence, which moves Inferno, as a literary creation, out of the Middle Ages and into the early enlightenment period frequently referred to as, in this case, the era foreshadowing the Early Italian Renaissance.
Events were so tumultuous in Florence that Dante appears preoccupied, at times, with their significance. He even abandons his dire descriptions of Hell during these conversations with Ciacco and Brunetto, which otherwise seem to constitute his primary focus throughout Inferno. Often, he intermingles descriptions of Hell, Sin, and Damnation with images of Florence, as in this quotation from Canto XV:
For let the beasts of Fiesole find forage
among themselves, and leave the plant alone-
if still, among their dung, it rises up -
in which there lives again the sacred seed
of those few Romans who remained in Florence
When such a nest of wickedness was built.
(XV, 118-121)
This admixture of imagery on the part of Brunetto, lends an enhanced flavor and intensity of purpose to Canto XV, as is often the case in that Canto, using Ciacco as a vehicle.
Through inclusion, in Canto VI, of Ciacco, "the Hog," Dante achieves an effect which is replicated in Canto XV. In both sequences dialogue occurs, insight is gained, and thoughts exchanged. Sometimes, it seems as if favors are requested by the Damned, and are granted good naturedly by Dante, under Virgil's guidance. The reader is left pondering whether or not Dante will actually follow through on these promises, inasmuch as, while he proceeds along his journey, he accumulates quite a number of messages to relay to the Living.
Cantos VI and XV seem to produce a movement or on-going effect of ever-increasing despair among the Damned. The relatively light punishment of Ciacco, when compared with the plight of Brunetto, is fitting for the first Florentine whose sins were relatively minor. The fact that Ciacco is condemned merely until the Last Judgement is an interesting twist since, in spite of the saying posted over the Portals of Hell, there seems to remain some hope of salvation for him.
By contrast, clarification of Brunetto's status seems not as readily forthcoming. We realize that not only is he among the Sodomites temporarily, but that he is condemned, for Eternity, to remain in their proximity. The degrading and demeaning nature of treatment in both of these Cantos is, of course, thematically repeated elsewhere in this work; however, the sense of pathos evoked, in the reader's mind, by the plight of both Ciacco and Brunetto would seem to distinguish these two Cantos from others, and they thus contribute to the overall unity and intensity of the work.