1. Canto 15
Abraham Anderson
May 4, 2009

2. Canto 15
Crossing the stream, Virgil and Dante enter the Second Zone of the Seventh Circle's Third Ring, where the Sodomites—those violent against nature—must walk continuously under the rain of fire. One of these souls, Brunetto Latini, recognizes Dante and asks him to walk near the sand for a while so that they may converse. Latini predicts that Dante will be rewarded for his heroic political actions. Dante dismisses this prediction and says that Fortune will do as she pleases. Virgil approves of this attitude, and they move on as Latini returns to his appointed path.

3. Brunetto Latini was a Florentine Guelph, renowned for both his writing and his politics; he taught at the university where Dante studied and helped foster Dante's career. Although Latini provided him in life with kindness and counsel, the poet Dante rather ungratefully places him in Hell, and implicitly accuses his teacher of homosexuality or pedophilia, situating him among the Sodomites.

5. Dante is in the third ring of the seventh circle
Dante is in the third ring of the seventh circle. These sinners have committed violence against God. The sinners are called Sodomites. They are described as gay men from the church and literates. The souls are punished by having to move on hot sand, and rain of flames falling on them.

6. Landscape of Canto 15
There is a bank of sand. The falling flakes of fire keep the sand perpetually hot, ensuring that the souls burn from above and below. This scenery reminds me of the hot Sahara desert in our times.

8. Dante talks to Brunetto Latini while Virgil observes the sodomites in the rain of fire.
Brunetto Latini in the rain of fire; Dante and Virgil continue their journey.