We need to remember that we are still in the circle of the Violent here in Canto XV. We've seen those who were violent toward others immersed in a boiling river of blood. We've seen those who were violent toward self, as in suicides, who were denied the physical bodies they destroyed by being incarnated as shrubs and trees. We've seen those who were violent toward God through blasphemy who continued to rail against God, refusing to change, repent or retract. Now we come to those who were violent toward nature, God’s creation, through Sodomy. Once more, I strongly encourage any who might be following this blog to read the primary material and the accompanying commentary.
While there are subtle hints about this sin of Sodomy throughout Canto XV, it is never mentioned directly. For instance, Prof. Hollander notes that the verses 18 and 19 are reflective of the type of ‘cruising’ done by hidden homosexuals of Dante’s time, looking for action in the dark of night away from prying eyes.
16 Here we met a troop of souls
17 coming up along the bank, and each one
18 gazed at us as men at dusk will sometimes do,
19 eyeing one another under the new moon.
The act itself within the Medieval Church goes against the command of God from the very beginning of creation, to be fruitful and multiply, to bear fruit from the earth and bear fruit from the womb. Hence in Dante’s moral landscape, we see a barren desert with fire falling rather than rain, which of course will yield no fruit or growth. Here we find the sinners running after one another in a never ending chase of futility. As we will find in the circle of the Usurers, that the act itself is not the issue, but the intention and the result, whether it honors God’s call to integrity, fruitfulness and fullness of life.
Today’s critics might be dismissive of this approach, claiming that Dante is homophobic and shaming him for “outing” Brunetto in such a way in this Canto. Yet Dante suffers no such simplistic categorization easily. Here we have the dearest and most heart-felt description of any person in the Inferno by Dante the Poet AND Dante the Pilgrim. The very bending at the waist, as in honor, to converse with Brunetto shows respect.
43 I did not dare to leave the higher path
44 to walk the lower with him, but I kept
45 my head bowed, like one who walks in reverence.
Later he thanks and honors Brunetto for his guidance in his life, which was surely brief due to their age difference, but surely great, due to Brunetto’s legacy to Florence and the education of the entire society. One can read in a variety of sources of Brunetto’s gifts to Florence. I will not duplicate what they say. But Dante honors and respects this mentor of his.
82 'For I remember well and now lament
83 the cherished, kind, paternal image of You
84 when, there in the world, from time to time,
85 'You taught me how man makes himself immortal.
86 And how much gratitude I owe for that
87 my tongue, while I still live, must give report.
And yet…
Brunetto is in Hell, however. One might forget that if one only focuses on this mutual admiration society that we have going in this Canto. “Dante! My star pupil! You Rock!” “NO, Brunetto, my even greater teacher! You TOTALLY Rock!”
The subtlety, wisdom and hidden truth comes through if one reads with wise eyes and humble hearts. Brunetto most certainly tries to help him see that he, Dante, is surely better than all those others who don’t really appreciate him and his gifts and ‘good deeds.’
61 'But that malignant, thankless rabble
62 that came down from Fiesole long ago
63 and still smacks of the mountain and the rock
64 'rightly shall become, because of your good deeds,
And, as we just saw, Dante thanks Brunetto for helping him become the great writer he is. Dante the Pilgrim begins, briefly, to agree with Brunetto. Yessir. I am great, aren’t I?
84 when, there in the world, from time to time,
85 'You taught me how man makes himself immortal.
And yet, Dante the Poet [and Dante the Theologian] assumes that we know where true immortality is to be found… indeed, Dante is on this journey because his prior training through and with Brunetto led him to being lost in the first place. The full force of this truth comes to the forefront of this magnificent and complex Canto XV when we compare it to the opening of the Commedia, Canto I:
1 Midway in the journey of our life
2 I came to myself in a dark wood,
3 for the straight way was lost.
4 Ah, how hard it is to tell
5 the nature of that wood, savage, dense and harsh --
6 the very thought of it renews my fear!
7 It is so bitter death is hardly more so.
He reached this stage of life as a result of attempting to become “immortal” according to the priorities and dictates of Brunetto, and other mentors and teachers like him. Dante the Pilgrim will not even speak the name of his wiser and heaven-sent guide, Virgil, in the presence of the damned and yet, beloved, guide Brunetto. One has the sense that Dante the Pilgrim does not want to diminish his old mentor, Brunetto, by mentioning the greatness of his current mentor and guide, Virgil. Dante the Poet does not diminish the respect of either one for the other, but due to the marvelous contrasting of immortality, honor, love and integrity of life, Dante the Poet has created a multi-layered masterpiece in this Canto XV. We make these discoveries ourselves. He, of course, gives us a final view of Dante the Poet’s old mentor with a wry, sardonic, but ultimately tragic conclusion.
119 Let my Treasure, in which I still live on,
120 be in your mind -- I ask for nothing more.'
121 After he turned back he seemed like one
122 who races for the green cloth on the plain
123 beyond Verona. And he looked more the winner
124 than the one who trails the field.
Brunetto wants only to be remembered by his earthly writings and not his Godly, humble love. And we see simply his naked backside dashing away to follow the crowd. What has he won? What can Dante the Pilgrim learn from him now?