ALLISON WARMBIR04/29/09

Canto 16

Summary

Dante is still in the seventh circle, in the third ring with the sodomites

Three men running past identify Dante as a Florentine by his clothing

They reveal their identities as being men of high birth in Florence, and lament of the decadence that was corrupting the great city

Dante realizes that Virgil can read his thoughtsVirgil uses a rope cord to call up a great beast

from the Phlegeton river

New Characters

Three Florentines:Guido Guerra, a

leading participant in the civil strife of Florence

Tegghiaio Aldobrani, an ally of Guido

Jacopo Rusticucci, an ally of Tegghiaio, and who blames his state in hell on his wife

Details of the Sinners

Dante is in the Seventh Circle, Third Ring, and Second Zone of hell

The sodomites are punished here, classified with those who were violent against God

Their punishment is to forever run, naked and wounded across burning sands, beneath a rain of fire

Scenery

The setting is an endless beach of scalding hot sand

Next to the beach is a deep ravine, in which the river Phelegethon flows, cascading into the next zone

This fiery zone is a stark contrast to the woods in the previous ring, and the sticky tar pits in the following circle

Map of Hell