Inferno, Canto 28

The Text of Canto 28 (Open PDF)

Summary

From the bridge over the Ninth Bowge the Poets look down upon the Sowers of Discord, who are continually smitten asunder by a Demon with a sword. Dante is addressed by Mahomet and Pier da Medicina, who send messages of warning to people on earth. He sees Curio and Mosca, and finally Bertrand de Born.

The Prepatory Lecture

Click here if video doesn't appear.

Questions for Reflection

• In this grisly canto, we encounter the schismatics and the sowers of discord. What is their contrapasso and how is it a fitting revelation of the nature of this sin?
• What is Dante saying about the social and political power of poetry by devoting so much of this canto to a poet, Bertran de Born?
• What connection does Dante seem to be making between language and violence? By focusing on Bertran, is Dante setting himself up by way of contrast as a poet of peace?
• Bertran is the only soul in Inferno to use the term contrapasso (28.142). Does this mean that his punishment is unique from the other punishments in hell, or somehow exemplary of hell’s justice? Or might Dante use this term here ironically to interrogate the very structure of justice and vengeance he has created in his Inferno?

Canto 28 © Jan Hearn

The Images

The Sowers of Discord. Three types are shown: fomenters of (1) religious schism (Mahomet; Ali), (2) civil strife (da Medicina; Curio); (3) family disunion (Mosca; Bertrand). They appear in the Circle of Fraud because their sin is primarily of the intellect. They are the fanatics of party, seeing the world in a false perspective, and ready to rip up the whole fabric of society to gratify a sectional egotism.

The Sundering Sword. The image here is sufficiently obvious. Note how it is adapted to suit the various types of crime.

Mark Vernon's Lecture