Magyar Filozófiai Szemle, 2021
2021 / 2. szám - József Nagy: Lectura Dantis: Canto XII and Canto XVII of the Inferno
LECTURA DANTIS: CANTO XII AND CANTO XVII OF THE INFERNO 139 VIII. 156) the anatomy of the Minotaur remained an open question, and in certain periods it was the opposite version (man headed bull) that prevailed, so it is this version which appears - with the exception of one codex-illustration, which shows the image of the Minotaur in harmony with classical iconography - in the illustrated manuscripts of the Comedy. The Italian names of the two hybrid figures of Minotauro and Centauro could also inspire mediaeval poets to present the Minotaur as a man headed bull. Still, on the basis of the writings of Johannes Balbus (tl298), as well as the researches of Achille Tartaro (1936-2008) we know that the “classical” version of the Minotaur (bull headed man) was also continuously present in mediaeval thought, thanks - among others - to the works of Statius, which were fundamental also for Dante (cf. Statius, Thebaid XII. 668-671, moreover Achilleid, I. 191-192; see Caruso 2000. 167). When Virgil and Dante meet the Minotaur, they abash him: their appearance makes recall Minotaur his fatal confrontation with Theseus (cf. v. 14—27): at that point the monster bites himself (cf. v. 14), which can be interpreted as a contrappasso, for Minotaur’s cannibalism (antropofagia) here turns to be self-mutilation (autolesionismo). The reference to Theseus was important already in Canto IX of the Inferno (there, according to what the Furies [Erinyes] told, Dante dared to descend to Hell because previously the Furies themselves and Medusa did not appropriately punish Theseus who had also descended to Hell; cf. Inf. IX. 52-54), and in Canto XII this reference is made in a dramatic moment, when the pilgrim and his guide have to negotiate the difficult passage on the slide between the 6th and the 7th circle. Also in this episode the humble Christian pilgrim (Dante-protagonist) is compared to the Pagan Theseus, who in reality was a mortal enemy and the murderer of the Minotaur and of the centaurs at the danger-fraught wedding of Pirithous and Hippodamia (cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses, XII. 210-532), to which Dante himself makes reference in Inf. XXIV. 121-123 (cf. Caruso 2000. 167-168). Virgil, countervailing the blemish on his honour as a guide (when the demons prevented Dante and Virgil to enter Dis), seems, in verses 26-27 of the present Canto (“Run to the passage; it is well thou descend while he is in fury”) to have the capacity of a magician: so Virgil as a magician is able to neutralize the Minotaur with his above mentioned mantra-like utterance, and urges Dante because this magic formula has a short effect (cf. Caruso 2000. 168). 4. The river Phlegethon and the expiation of the violents against their neighbours in it; the general role of the centaurs At the moment of the passage of Dante and his guide along the ravine, Virgil encourages the pilgrim to observe the unfolding sight: “But fix thine eyes below, for the river of blood draws near in which are boiling those that by violence