![](3D"page16_files/image001.png")
Tue= sday, October 28, 2008
6:3= 0 PM
Summary: Canto XXVI
Having recogni= zed these thieves as Florentines, Dante sarcastically praises Florence for earn= ing such widespread fame not only on Earth but also in Hell. Virgil now leads h= im along the ridges to the Eighth Pouch, where they see numerous flames flicke= ring in a deep, dark valley. Coming closer, Virgil informs Dante that each flame contains a sinner. Dante sees what appear to be two souls contained togethe= r in one flame, and Virgil identifies them as Ulysses and Diomedes, both sufferi= ng for the same fraud committed in the Trojan War.
Dante desires = to speak with these warriors, but Virgil, warning him that the Greeks might disdain Dante's medieval Italian, speaks to them as an intermediary. He succeeds in getting Ulysses to tell them about his death. Restlessly seeking new challenges, he sailed beyond the western edge of the Mediterranean, whi= ch was believed to constitute the rim of the Earth; legend asserted that death awaited any mariner venturing beyond that point. After five months, he and = his crew came in view of a great mountain. Before they could reach it, however,= a great storm arose and sank their ship.
Pa= sted from <http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/inferno/section10.rhtml>
![](3D"page16_files/image002.png")
![](3D"page16_files/image003.png")
![](3D"page16_files/image004.png")
![](3D"page16_files/image005.png")