Original Text(~250 words)
It hath been heretofore my chance to see Horsemen with martial order shifting camp, To onset sallying, or in muster rang’d, Or in retreat sometimes outstretch’d for flight; Light-armed squadrons and fleet foragers Scouring thy plains, Arezzo! have I seen, And clashing tournaments, and tilting jousts, Now with the sound of trumpets, now of bells, Tabors, or signals made from castled heights, And with inventions multiform, our own, Or introduc’d from foreign land; but ne’er To such a strange recorder I beheld, In evolution moving, horse nor foot, Nor ship, that tack’d by sign from land or star. With the ten demons on our way we went; Ah fearful company! but in the church With saints, with gluttons at the tavern’s mess. Still earnest on the pitch I gaz’d, to mark All things whate’er the chasm contain’d, and those Who burn’d within. As dolphins, that, in sign To mariners, heave high their arched backs, That thence forewarn’d they may advise to save Their threaten’d vessels; so, at intervals, To ease the pain his back some sinner show’d, Then hid more nimbly than the lightning glance. E’en as the frogs, that of a wat’ry moat Stand at the brink, with the jaws only out, Their feet and of the trunk all else concealed, Thus on each part the sinners stood, but soon As Barbariccia was at hand, so they Drew back under the wave. I saw, and yet My heart doth stagger, one, that waited thus, As it befalls that oft...
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Summary
Dante witnesses a bizarre and violent scene in the fifth ditch of Hell, where corrupt public officials are boiled in pitch and tormented by demons with colorful names like Barbariccia and Graffiacan. The demons behave like a twisted military unit, complete with their own crude hierarchy and brutal discipline. When they capture a sinner trying to surface for air, Dante learns he's a corrupt official from Navarre who served King Thibault but turned to embezzlement. The man reveals he was recently with Friar Gomita of Sardinia, another notorious grafter who sold justice for money. In a desperate gambit, the Navarrese official offers to call up more sinners for the demons to torture, claiming he can whistle for seven Italian spirits. The demons debate whether this is a trick, and their disagreement reveals the fragility of their authority. When they finally agree to let him try, the clever sinner immediately dives back into the boiling pitch and escapes. Enraged by being outsmarted, two demons turn on each other in fury, grappling and falling into the boiling lake themselves. The scene dissolves into chaos as more demons rush to help their trapped comrades. This episode shows how corruption creates a world where everyone deceives everyone else, where authority figures become as savage as those they punish, and where the systems meant to maintain order collapse into violence and confusion. Even in Hell, the corrupt continue their schemes, and even the enforcers of punishment become victims of their own brutal methods.
That's what happens. To understand what the author is really doing—and to discuss this chapter with confidence—keep reading.
Terms to Know
Grafters
Public officials who take bribes or embezzle money meant for the public good. In Dante's time, these were magistrates, tax collectors, and government clerks who skimmed off the top or sold favors. They're punished by being boiled in pitch because their corruption was sticky and hard to wash off.
Modern Usage:
We see this in politicians who take kickbacks, city officials who award contracts to their buddies, or DMV workers who take cash to skip the line.
Malebranche
The name of the demons who guard this circle, meaning 'evil claws.' They're organized like a corrupt police force or military unit, with ranks and crude discipline. They use hooks and claws to keep the sinners submerged in boiling pitch.
Modern Usage:
Any group of enforcers who become as corrupt as the people they're supposed to control - think dirty cops or prison guards who abuse their power.
Barbaricchia
The leader of the demon squad, whose name means 'curly beard.' He acts like a sergeant commanding his troops, giving orders and maintaining brutal discipline among his subordinates.
Modern Usage:
The middle manager who rules through fear and intimidation, keeping everyone in line through threats and displays of power.
Pitch punishment
The sticky black tar that corrupt officials are boiled in represents how their corruption stuck to everything they touched. They can't surface without being clawed back down, just like how corruption traps people in cycles of dishonesty.
Modern Usage:
When someone gets caught in a web of lies or corruption where every attempt to come clean just makes things worse.
Friar Gomita
A real historical figure mentioned by the Navarrese sinner - a corrupt friar from Sardinia who sold pardons and legal favors for money. He represents religious corruption, where even holy men abuse their positions for profit.
Modern Usage:
Televangelists who fleece their congregations, or any religious leader who uses their position to get rich or cover up scandals.
Contrapasso
Dante's principle that punishment should mirror the crime. The grafters are stuck in pitch because their corruption was sticky and trapped others. They hide underwater like they hid their crimes in life.
Modern Usage:
The idea that what goes around comes around - corrupt people eventually get trapped by their own schemes.
Characters in This Chapter
Barbaricchia
Demon commander
He leads the demon squad with military precision but shows the same corruption he's supposed to punish. When his subordinates fight each other, his authority completely breaks down, revealing that even Hell's enforcers can't maintain order.
Modern Equivalent:
The prison warden who's as crooked as the inmates
The Navarrese official
Corrupt politician
A smooth-talking grafter who served King Thibault but turned to embezzlement. Even in Hell, he's still scheming and manipulating, proving that corruption becomes a permanent part of someone's character.
Modern Equivalent:
The city councilman who takes bribes and always has an angle
Graffiacane and Calcabrina
Demon enforcers
These two demons get so angry at being outsmarted by the Navarrese sinner that they turn on each other and fall into the boiling pitch. They show how systems of brutal control eventually turn violent and self-destructive.
Modern Equivalent:
Dirty cops who end up fighting each other when their schemes fall apart
Dante (the pilgrim)
Observer and narrator
He watches this chaos unfold with fascination and horror, learning that even Hell's justice system is corrupt and violent. His heart staggers at what he sees, showing his growing understanding of how deep corruption runs.
Modern Equivalent:
The whistleblower who realizes the whole system is rotten
Why This Matters
Connect literature to life
This chapter teaches how to recognize when authority figures have lost moral credibility and are operating purely through force and manipulation.
Practice This Today
This week, notice when someone in authority changes the rules to benefit themselves—watch how it affects everyone else's behavior and trust in the system.
You have the foundation. Now let's look closer.
Key Quotes & Analysis
"Ah fearful company! but in the church with saints, with gluttons at the tavern's mess."
Context: Dante compares traveling with demons to other mismatched situations
This ironic comparison shows how absurd and dangerous his situation is. He's stuck with the very demons who torture sinners, highlighting how he must navigate corrupt systems to reach his goal. It also suggests that sometimes you have to work with unsavory people to get where you need to go.
In Today's Words:
What a crew I'm stuck with! It's like trying to pray with saints while sitting next to drunks at the bar.
"I was with Friar Gomita, he of Sardinia, vessel of every fraud."
Context: The corrupt sinner brags about his connections to other grafters
Even in Hell, this guy is name-dropping and networking with other corrupt officials. It shows how corruption creates its own community where criminals protect and enable each other. The phrase 'vessel of every fraud' suggests someone completely filled with dishonesty.
In Today's Words:
I hung out with Gomita from Sardinia - that guy could run any scam you can think of.
"And I can make seven of my country rise up here, when I whistle, as is our custom when any of us gets out."
Context: The sinner tries to trick the demons by offering to call up more victims
This shows the clever manipulation that got him into trouble in the first place. He's using the demons' greed against them, promising them more victims to torture. It reveals how corrupt people always have another scheme, another deal to offer.
In Today's Words:
I can get seven more guys from my crew to come up here if I whistle - that's how we signal each other when someone surfaces.
Intelligence Amplifier™ Analysis
The Road of Corrupt Authority - When Power Systems Eat Themselves
When those in power abandon principles for personal gain, they create chaos that eventually destroys the very system they were meant to protect.
Thematic Threads
Corruption
In This Chapter
Public officials boiled in pitch for taking bribes and selling justice, while their demon tormentors prove equally untrustworthy
Development
Evolved from individual sins to systemic breakdown—corruption now infects even the punishment system
In Your Life:
You see this when workplace policies exist on paper but management ignores them when convenient.
Authority
In This Chapter
Demons meant to enforce divine justice behave like savage criminals, complete with crude hierarchy and brutal infighting
Development
Authority figures have progressively lost legitimacy—from misguided to actively harmful
In Your Life:
You experience this when supervisors abuse their power and HR protects the company instead of employees.
Deception
In This Chapter
The Navarrese official tricks his captors by promising to call up more sinners, then escapes back into the pitch
Development
Deception has evolved from self-deception to strategic manipulation of corrupt systems
In Your Life:
You use this when you have to work around broken systems by telling people what they want to hear.
Class
In This Chapter
Named officials from specific regions suffer alongside unnamed masses, showing how corruption crosses social boundaries
Development
Class distinctions persist in Hell but become meaningless when everyone is equally corrupt
In Your Life:
You witness this when wealthy people get different treatment in legal or healthcare systems.
Justice
In This Chapter
The punishment system itself becomes chaotic and self-defeating when demons turn on each other
Development
Justice has devolved from divine order to arbitrary violence that serves no purpose
In Your Life:
You feel this when disciplinary actions at work seem random and unfair, making everyone more cynical.
Modern Adaptation
When the Promotion Goes Sideways
Following George's story...
George gets promoted to shift supervisor at the warehouse after the previous supervisor was fired for stealing overtime hours. On their first week, they discover the whole management structure is rotten—supervisors doctor time sheets, warehouse leads take kickbacks from delivery drivers, and the floor manager sells premium shipping slots under the table. When George tries to report a safety violation, their boss laughs and offers to split the money they save by ignoring it. The other supervisors warn them to 'play ball or get benched.' But when George finally agrees to look the other way on a minor inventory discrepancy, they realize they've crossed a line. Now the same supervisors who recruited them are setting them up to take the fall for a much bigger theft. The promotion they thought would change their life has trapped them in a system where everyone is both predator and prey, where the people enforcing the rules are the biggest rule-breakers, and where trying to stay clean makes you the perfect patsy.
The Road
The road corrupt officials walked in medieval Italy, George walks today. The pattern is identical: when authority figures abandon their principles for personal gain, they create chaos that eventually destroys the very system they were meant to protect.
The Map
This chapter provides a navigation tool for recognizing when systems have become so corrupt that playing by the rules makes you vulnerable. George can use it to identify when they're in a situation where everyone assumes everyone else is lying.
Amplification
Before reading this, George might have believed they could reform a corrupt system from within by being the 'good supervisor.' Now they can NAME corrupt authority, PREDICT that it will try to make them complicit, and NAVIGATE by protecting themselves first and looking for the exit before they need it.
You now have the context. Time to form your own thoughts.
Discussion Questions
- 1
What happens when the Navarrese official tricks the demons, and how do they react to being outsmarted?
analysis • surface - 2
Why do the demons, who are supposed to enforce punishment, end up fighting each other and falling into their own trap?
analysis • medium - 3
Where have you seen corrupt authority figures turn on each other when their schemes fall apart?
application • medium - 4
When you're in a workplace or system where the people in charge are corrupt, what strategies would you use to protect yourself?
application • deep - 5
What does this scene reveal about what happens to trust and cooperation when everyone assumes everyone else is lying?
reflection • deep
Critical Thinking Exercise
Map the Corruption Chain
Think of a workplace, organization, or system you know where corruption or unfairness exists. Draw or write out the chain: who has power, how they abuse it, how it affects others, and where the system breaks down. Then identify the early warning signs you would watch for and your exit strategy.
Consider:
- •Look for patterns where small compromises lead to bigger collapses
- •Notice how corrupt systems make everyone suspicious of everyone else
- •Identify who benefits from the chaos and who pays the real price
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when you witnessed authority figures who were supposed to protect or serve people instead serving themselves. How did it affect your trust, and what did you learn about navigating such situations?
Coming Up Next...
Chapter 23: The Weight of False Virtue
What lies ahead teaches us fear can cloud judgment and create imaginary threats, and shows us the difference between appearing virtuous and being truly good. These patterns appear in literature and life alike.