Similes In Dante's Inferno

Liars, counterfeiters of money, and impersonators are all sinners in the eighth circle of hell in the tenth pouch, where they each suffer from some type of physical or mental disorder as their punishment. Dante describes all of their horrid and gruesome punishments with his clear imagery, as he does in most Cantos. However, what makes this Canto special is the numerous amount of references to Ancient Greek mythology and the many similes. Dante’s use of said similes and mythological stories represent how clearly he is able to describe things outside of his use of imagery alone, and it shows how much he was influenced by Virgil. Dante starts off this Canto retelling two Greek mythological stories. First, he tells the audience about how Jupiter
One of them is Myrrha, who is from another Ancient Greek story. Griffolino describes the story to Dante, where Myrrha, “went to him, and there she sinned in love, pretending that her body was another’s,” (Canto 30, lines 40-41). Yet another Ancient Greek story helps to support how Dante was influenced by works done by Virgil. Soon afterward, Dante notices, “a soul shaped like a lute,” (Canto 30, line 49). This is another simile that gives one a clear picture of the soul’s, or Master Adamo’s, disproportioned body. The lute is also a reference to Ancient Greece, where the instrument was played often and even popped up in many mythological stories. Master Adamo is one of the counterfeiters of coins that Dante meets, and he suffers from special punishments because of his circumstances, and dropsy, or edema, for his sin of
Lying next to Master Adamo are “two poor souls… streaming like wet hands in the wintertime,” (Canto 30, lines 91, 93). This illustration shows how the two people are literally smoking and smelling because of their extremely high fever, punishment for lying. One of the liars hear the insult of Master Adamo calling them smelly and “his fist struck out at his [Master Adamo’s] distended belly, which responded like a drum reverberating,” (Canto 30, lines 102-103). This simile isn’t visual like the others, instead one can clearly hear the disturbing sound that the bloated man’s stomach makes. As the three bicker, one of the liars says to Master Adamo, “it wouldn’t take too much coaxing to convince you to lap the mirror of Narcissus dry,” (Canto 30, lines 128-129). Narcissus was a character from a Greek mythology story where he was obsessed with his reflection in the water, and the reference clearly shows the audience how obsessed with water the man is. The use of these similes and the Greek stories intensify the way one can picture things, as opposed to using the imagery