Bolgia+10+--+Falsefiers

= **Dante's Inferno: [|Circle 8, Bolgia 10]: The Falsefiers:** = toc = = = **Introduction:** = As Dante makes his way out of the Ninth Bolgia of Circle 8 (which is largely made up of those who committed some sort of [|fraud]) towards the Tenth Bolgia, he lingers in hope that he will see a [|former friend] and cousin of his [|father], [|Geri Del Bello], but Virgil [|forces] him along, telling him that they are running out of time. Dante and Virgil enter the last Bolgia of the Eighth Circle, home of The [|Falsefiers]. The Falsefiers are divided into four subgroups: the first class encompasses the [|Alchemists], which leaves the [|Evil Impersonators], [|Counterfeiters], and [|False Witnesses] in the remaining classes.



=** Characters: **= The falsefiers are considered by Dante to be a "disease" to society, so they are all [|inflicted by some sort of disease] or affliction as their [|punishment] in [|Hell].
 * -[|Griffolino D'arezzo]** was an alchemist [|who] convinced a man to give him large amounts of money in return for [|flying lessons] . When the other man realized that he would not, in fact, be able to [|fly] and would not be given his [|money] back, he had D'arezzo burned as a [|sorcerer]. Dante, however, chooses not to punish D'arezzo as a [|sorcerer], but rather [|punishes him] for the [|falsification of gold] and money.
 * -Capocchio** was supposedly a friend of Dante's (another example of someone whom Dante respected yet placed in Hell) who was accused of alchemy and was therefore [|burned at the stake].
 * -Gianni Schicchi & Myrrha** are the evil impersonators that Dante meets in Hell; Gianna Schicchi was persuaded to impersonate Buoso di Donati in order to write a will that would favor both he and Donati's son. Myrrha was the daughter of Cinyras, King of Cyprus; she disguised herself out of [|passion for her father] and after the two engaged in sexual relations, he discovered who she really was and threatened to kill her, so she [|disguised] herself once more as a plant.

-**Master Adam** was a counterfeiter who is now punished by having eternal thirst, a punishment much like those who the Greeks believed to be punished in [|Tartarus].
 * -Sinon the [|Greek]** was a falsefier of words; he was a Greek warrior who, during the Trojan War, convinced the Trojans that he had betrayed the Greeks and that the giant wooden [|horse] left behind by the Greeks was a gift. Sinon was part of the downfall of [|Troy].

= **Summary:** = As Dante walks with Virgil through Circle 8, he begins to see that for the most part, the [|puishments worsen] as the levels of [|Hell] progress; remember that he first noticed this as soon as they left [|Limbo] ("I pass from light into the kingdom of eternal night" (154-155)). In Bolgia 10, the punishments of the sinners focus on disease, simply because the people in Bolgia 10 were diseases to society. Those eternally tormented in Bolgia 10 of Malebolge (the term for Circle 8) run [|screaming] at one another, while clawing themselves and each other. Some are tormented by diseases on their skin, including scabs that are ripped open repeatedly by the aformentioned clawing. The inhabitants of this Bolgia are infected with rashes,[| leprosy], and swollen limbs. As was mentioned in the description of the characters, some of the souls are tormented further (by thirst, etc). Dante and Virgil meet many of those tortured in Bolgia 10; when Master Adam tells Dante that Sinon the Greek is also present in this circle of Hell, Sinon becomes infuriated, and the two begin insulting and attacking each other. Dante [|eggs]the two on in their disagreement (another sign that Dante is becoming less compassionate for the sinners as he ventures deeper into Hell) until Virgil becomes angry with his lack of compassion. Dante apologizes, and is instantly forgiven by Virgil due to the actual remorse he felt. The two walk on out of Malebolge where [|Giants] gaurd the edge and continue on into the deepest circle of [|Hell].