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“These souls destroyed
institutions that God meant to
be united. “
There are three Classes of sin in
this ring.
Class 1
Class 2
Class 3
Sowers of Religious
Discord
Sowers of Political
Discord
Sowers of Discord
Between Kinsman
This sin deals
with the
destruction of
the Church
through
separation of its
parts.
This sin deals
with the
destruction of
community
through political
actions.
This sin deals
with the
destruction of
family the
building block of
community.
Virgil speaks once in this canto
addressing Muhammad.
He answers his call with an
explanation of how Dante is not
yet dead but on a greater
journey.
Muhammed- class 1 Cause of a schism in the
Church.
Ali- class 1 Cause of the Sunni Shiite separation.
Mosca dei Lamberti- class 2.
Pier Da Medicina- class 2.
Curio- class 2.
Bertrand De Born- class 3 caused a fight between
King Henry II and his son.
The sinner’s punishment for
the 9th Bolgia is to be torn
and hacked by a demon
with a bloody sword for all
of eternity.
 After which the mutilated
souls drag their hacked
bodies in a circle back to the
demon after healing to be
torn anew.
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Just as their sins were to
disjoin what God had
intended to be whole ,
they are slashed apart by
the demons of Hell.
And as they walk the
eternal track gripping
their appendages to be
healed and hacked again,
the law of retribution
emerges for these souls.

Throughout the 9th Bolgia Dante places many
souls who are at the center of many heated
debates of his time and are even prevalent in
modern times.

Dante references the souls of Muhammad
and Ali as prime examples for sowing discord
against God revealing his obvious opinion
towards Islam.
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Then he makes brief mentions of the fates of
people important to Dante’s time most
importantly being Bertrand De Born because
of his haunting appearance as a decapitated
figure holding his head.
Dante places these souls in the 9th Bolgia
because of their sins (whether intentional or not)
that places schisms in the very fabric of the
society that Man creates from God’s grace.
 The level of punishment is decided by which
type of discord you create; religious discord,
political discord, and the worst of all discord
between kinsmen.
 Dante’s message is that the sin of sowing
discord or planting the seed of deception is so
odious that it can only be punished by an eternal
circle of violence and pain.
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
Through this canto
Dante’s disgust for
these souls of fraud in
the 8th circle is
beginning to reach its
climax as he observes
these despicable souls
yearning to be
remembered.
Dante makes the usual use of Imagery to assault
the senses. (Ex.”Between his legs all of his red
guts hung”)
 Dante utilizes descriptive language. (“he had his
throat slit, and his nose slashed off as far as the
eyebrows, and a wound where one of his ears
had been”)
 Allusions make a big part of this canto with
Dante using important or relevant people to
allude to larger meanings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD4ZoM2Qh1
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Presented and Created by Ryo Lambert and Lorenzo Baca