of Dante’s The Inferno Presented by: Lindsey Boles

The Location: CIRCLE EIGHT of hell Also known as Bolgia Nine

Those who are here are considered The Sowers of Discord Their sin was they rend asunder what God had meant to be united For this, they are hacked and torn Through all eternity by a Demon with a bloody sword

Dante would describe the way he felt as he looked on as: “At grief so deep the tongue must wag in vain; the language of our sense and memory lacks the vocabulary of such pain.”

Dante said nothing he has seen would compare to what he has seen here. Not even these events: The people who have stood on Puglia’s soil and wept for those at the war of the Trojans  Those bodies who felt the wet and gaping wounds of Robert Guiscard’s lances  Those whose bones are gathered yet at Ceperano where every last Pugliese turned traitor  Those from Tagliacozzo where Alardo won without weapons

The souls here are distinguished by three classes  The Sowers of Religious Discord  The Sowers of Political Discord  Bertrand de Born: The Sower of Discord Between Kinsmen

Sowers of Religious Discord Two souls present here are Mahomet and his Son-in-law Ali Mahomet, who was the chief, was cut from his crotch to his chin with his internal organs hanging out Ali, who was ahead of Mahomet, was cut from his topknot to his chin

Those present are sowers of scandal and schism The schism of Mahomet and Ali’s body represent the total schism between Christianity and Mohammedanism, which God had intended for these to be united While there, Mahomet issues a warning to another schismatic, Fra Dolcino. Fra was a member of the Apostolic Brothers, and Mahomet warned unless he wants to be like him, he will think about losing to the Novarese

Sowers of Political Discord The three Dante comes in contact with are: Pier da Medicina Tribune Curio Mosca dei Lambert

These three have unique wounds. They are mutilated according to their sins. Pier da Medicina had his throat slit open, his nose slashed as far as his eyebrows, and he had an ear missing. He is from Italy and has a warning for Messers Guido and Angiolello: they will be victims of a raid Tribune Curio had a bloody stump that took the place of his tongue. He had been the one to settle Caesar’s doubts that day at the Rubicon by telling him: “A man prepared is a man hurt by delay.” Mosca dei Lambert had both his arms hacked through once said, “A thing done has an end.” After saying this he would plant the fields of war with Tuscan dead, which would bring death to all in his clan

Bertrand de Born, Sower of Discord Between Kinsmen His wound would simply be his head cut apart from this body, he would then carry it around the circle by the hair. The head would be stretched out at arm’s length to represent a lantern. His sin was he was the one who set the young king to mutiny, seperating father from son, much like Achitophel set Absalom and David apart. Since he seperated those two, his brain was divided from its source for eternity