06 - Inferno XII, XIII, XV, XVI
This lecture focuses on the middle zone of Inferno, the area of violence (Inferno 12-16). Introductory remarks are made on the concentration of hybrid creatures in this area of Hell and followed by a close reading of cantos 13 and 15. The pilgrim’s encounter with Pier delle Vigne (Inferno 13) is placed in literary context (Aeneid III). The questioning of authority staged in this scene resurfaces in the circle of sodomy (Inferno 15), where the pilgrim’s encounter with his teacher, Brunetto Latini, is read as a critique of the humanistic values he embodied.