User:Christie1123/Malebolge

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Bolgia 7: This bolgia houses the souls of fraudulent thieves. In Canto 24, the thieves are trapped in a self-perpetuating cycle of being bitten and bound by serpents, dragons and other vengeful reptiles. Thieves are bitten by snakes, turning their bodies into ash before spontaneously regenerating their bodies again for further torment. Others are bitten by snakes and are transformed into snakes that, in turn, minister the punishment onto other souls. Here, the souls turn against each other, reflecting how theft breaks the intrinsic bonds of trust and community that holds society together. In Canto 25, the pilgrim witnesses a group of Florentine nobles violently latch onto each other, transmuting their bodies into a monstrous hybrid. These transformations reference poems in the Metamorphoses by Ovid, such as when Salmacis is fused with Hermaphroditus. Just as the thieves robbed others of their property, this punishment robs the fraudulent thieves of their most inalienable properties: their bodies and identity. In this bolgia, the pilgrim also meets Vanni Fucci, a thief who lived in Pistoia. Vanni Fucci delivers a prophecy about Dante's fate in Florence before throwing an obscene gesture towards God and is punished by the centaur Cacus.

Bolgia 8: The eighth bolgia is dedicated to the counselors of fraud- individuals who provided fraudulent advice or used fraud to bring about the downfall of others. Here, the souls are burned in brilliant flames. In Canto 26, the pilgrim and Virgil meet Ulysses and Diomedes. They are placed in this bolgia for using the Trojan Horse as a trap to besiege Troy and also deceiving Achilles to war. Ulysses, in the form of twin flames, tells an altered version of his last voyage: instead of returning to Ithaca, Ulysses and his crew shipwreck in front of Mount Purgatory in a quest for knowledge. Ulysses' last voyage draws many parallels to the pilgrim's journey in the Divine Comedy. Both embark on a journey for the pursuit of greater understanding. In Ulysses' case, his pursuit for knowledge was misguided, which ultimately lead to his spiritual shipwreck. Unlike Ulysses, the pilgrim's journey is ordained by divine powers. Thus, the pilgrim's journey into the self will not end in disaster. In Canto 27, the pilgrim encounters Guido da Montefeltro who was placed in this bolgia for providing fraudulent advice that lead in exchange for a promise of salvation from Pope Boniface VIII. He first asks the pilgrim about the current state of affairs in Florence before narrating what led to his downfall and eventual placement in hell.