Inferno: Canto 17 Summary & Analysis

A terrifying monster with a "stinging tail," (17.1) rises up from the waterfall with a man's face but with a monstrous body of all sorts of colors, with two huge forepaws. The monster hangs at the edge of the cliff, whipping its tail through the air like a scorpion's. (Though not yet named, this is Geryon, a monster from classical mythology.) Virgil tells Dante that they must walk over to this beast. As they approach, Dante sees a group of souls sitting in the sand and Virgil tells him to go speak with them while he (Virgil) gets the monster to help transport them down below.

Dante goes alone to the souls sitting in the hot sand and does not recognize any of them. However, he sees that they all have purses tied around their necks, which they all stare at. Each individual's purse has a different image from his family's coat of arms. One of these suffering souls asks Dante what he is doing in hell and tells him to go away. Dante returns to Virgil, who tells him to mount Geryon. Dante is frightened and means to ask Virgil to help him hold onto the monster, but his voice fails. Virgil holds Dante securely anyway, and commands Geryon to fly down gently to the next circle.

Geryon sets off from the cliff (Dante compares him to a boat leaving its dock and returning to sea) and Dante describes himself as being more terrified during the flight than Icarus was when he fell from the sky. They fly in gradually lowering circles, and Dante sees the seething waterfall at their side. Circling like a hawk, Geryon finally lands and sets Virgil and Dante down safely in the eighth circle of hell, before bounding off.