Symbolism and Symbolic Retribution in Circle Four

Like every part of La Commedia, Dante’s description of the Fourth Circle of Hell
is rife with symbolism. From the very first line of Canto VII to Virgil’s lecture on fortune,
symbolism ties the section together with intricate metaphors and subtle references.
The account begins with the Roman god of wealth and guardian of the Circle,
Plutus, shouting at the travelers: Pape Satàn, Pape Satàn, aleppe! These meaningless
words have been the subject of much speculation since they were first written, but the
whole statement has been compared to a perversion of St. Paul’s call for five words of
clear speech in the Bible (1 Corinthians 14:19). The theme of nonsense words is repeated
elsewhere in La Commedia. For instances, in the thirty-first canto of Il Inferno (line 67),
Nimrod shouts, “Raphèl maì amècche zabì almi!”, and in Il Paradiso (Canto VII, lines 1-
3) a wise soul sings a chant in almost-Latin:
Osanna sanctus Deus Saboath,
Superillustrans claritate tua
Felices ignes horum malahoth!

In all of the above cases, the words are based on real languages. For example,
pape could either be a bastardized form of the Italian for “pope” (papa) or a Latin
exclamation expressing admiration (papae). Satàn is almost certainly a dialectal or
debased form of the Italian word for Satan, and aleppe is the Italian way to say aleph, the
first letter of the Hebrew alphabet (this is probably a reference to Revelations 22:13,
which expresses God’s entirety: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the
last…”). It’s easy to see how sense can be drawn from these mostly made-up words.
By drawing on real-world languages to express concepts in an abstract way, Dante
seems to imply that every form of speech is drawn from the very will of God, and that
every earthly tongue is simply a distilled, weakened version of God’s language.
In response to this outburst, Virgil scolds Plutus so harshly that the god collapses
(Canto VII, lines 7-15):
Then he turned to that bloated face
And said: “Silence, accursed wolf!
Let your fury feed itself inside you.

Not without sanction is this journey down the pit.

It is willed on high, where Michael
did avenge the proud rebellion.”

As sails, swollen by the wind,

fall in a tangle when the mainmast snaps,
so fell that cruel beast to the ground.

This particular passage is stuffed with symbolism. First, when Virgil refers to
Plutus as a wolf (line 8), he subtly ties the god to either the sin of avarice or the sin of
incontinence—the She-Wolf in the first canto is can be seen as representing either, and
comparisons are made in other parts of La Commedia that link wolves and avarice (e.g.
Paradiso: Canto XXVII, lines 51-55). Second, the fact that Virgil mentions the rebellion
implies that Plutus feels some sort of connection with the fallen angels, and that he would
respond to a reference to them. In addition, all three verses are tied together with the
common theme of the power of words. This idea occurs consistently throughout Il
Inferno. Last, this section reinforces a reoccurring symbolic scene—Dante is threatened
by demons or other forces that try to detain him, and in these situations it is Virgil’s job to
quell the demons’ anger. This sends the message that Reason (as represented by Virgil)
paired with the unannounced presence of Divine Love (Beatrice, who sent Reason to
guide Dante through the first part of his journey) will rescue fallible humans and their
growing Faith from fear and harm. (In lines 4-6, Virgil reassures Dante that Plutus will
not be able to stop their crossing; therefore, Reason decrees that every problem is trivial
when standing against a divine purpose.)
The most obvious instance of symbolism in this Circle, however, is the actual
punishment of the sinners itself. As stated on the homepage, Circle 4 contains the
Avaricious and the Prodigals. Their sentence is to push huge rocks against each other
forever. This is an example of “symbolic retribution”—an eye-for-an-eye style of justice
where the punishment fits the crime, often in a representative or ironic way. In this Circle,
the symbolism behind the penalty is that the Hoarders and the Wasters are always at odds
on Earth—their extreme sins continuously fight against each other. Neither sin tempts
any more souls over the other—which is why they’re in the same Circle in Hell—and this
nullity is reflected in Il Inferno, as neither group of sinners gains (or loses) any ground.
Furthermore, the idea of neutrality is underlined by the unrecognizable, faceless state of
the sinners.
Something that’s particularly ironic about this Circle is that, when viewed from
above, the sinners would form a perfect circle of movement. The idea behind Dante
arranging it this way (in my opinion) was to remind the reader of Fortune’s uncheatable
and non-biased wheel. The Hoarders and Wasters tried to cheat her natural cycle (that is,
the way God ordains she distribute goods), and now they have to spend eternity imitating
her. This particular irony is hinted at by Virgil’s long speech about his (and, therefore,
Dante’s) thoughts on Fortune and her role in the world.