Tuesday,
October 28, 2008

6:30 PM

Summary:
Canto XXVI

Having recognized
these thieves as Florentines, Dante sarcastically praises Florence for earning
such widespread fame not only on Earth but also in Hell. Virgil now leads him
along the ridges to the Eighth Pouch, where they see numerous flames flickering
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 together in
one flame, and Virgil identifies them as Ulysses and Diomedes, both suffering
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, which
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.

Pasted
from <http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/inferno/section10.rhtml>