The point is briefly this. In Canto xi., Il. 22, &c.,1 Virgil undertakes to describe to Dante the arrangement of sin and sinners in the lower Circles which they have yet to traverse. The general principle by which it is governed is expounded die Frage des Dichters, warum die Schwachheitssünden der vier oberen Höllenkreise nicht ebenfalls in der niederen Hölle' Platz fänden, unter Bezugnahme auf die Ethik des Griechen dahin, dass jene Fehltritte der anpaola milder zu beurtheilen seien als die Bosheitssünden (kakía). "Sollte indess das Citat vollständig sein, so musste auch das dritte Glied der Aristotelischen Sündeneintheilung, die 'wilde Verthiertheit, enpiórns,' genannt werden, obgleich sie dem Systeme Dante's fremd ist. "Die Dante-Erklärer suchen nun diese unglückliche matta bestialitade, nicht minder als den Hochmuth und den Neid, obwohl erfolglos, so ziemlich in jedem Winkel der Hölle Gewiss giebt es Lasterhafte der verschiedensten Art, die ihrer Schoossünde in solchem Masse verfallen sind, dass sie unfähig geworden, der Versuchung Widerstand zu leisten, mit anderen Worten, dass sie ihr gegenüber, gleich unvernünftigen Thieren, die Freiheit des Willens eingebüsst haben. Nimmt man den Minotaur als Symbol der im siebenten Kreise zunächst folgenden Mörder und Landschädiger, so möchten nach Hölle xii. 33, diese hierherzuzählen sein; ferner nach xxiv. 125 bösartige Diebe und nach Purg. xxiv. 84, die Sodomiter. Nirgends bilden sie aber eine besondere Abtheilung der Hölle und man kann sich von Dante's Gesinnung kaum weiter entfernen, als wenn man z. B. mit Wegele von den Gewaltthätigen insgesammt, also von einem Pier delle Vigne, Guido Guerra, Tegghiaio und Rusticucci, 'jene Wackeren,' nach denen der Dichter vi. 79 sich erkundigt, sagt, sie hätten durch Bestialität von vorn herein auf die eigenthümlichen Gaben, die den Menschen vom Thiere unterscheiden verzichtet.' 'Der einzige Zweck der Berufung auf die Ethik des Aristoteles ist also, den von Cicero in der angeführten Stelle des Buches von den Pflichten nicht erörterten Gegensatz der Schwachheits- und der Bosheitssünden darzulegen. Die beiden Citate aus der Physik desselben Philosophen und aus der Genesis haben dagegen für die Gliederung der Sünden im Allgemeinen keinerlei Werth und sollen nur dazu dienen das zinsnehmen mehr sophistisch denn überzeugend als Gewaltthat gegen Gott darzustellen."— Witte, Dante-Forschungen, vol. ii. pp. 132, 133. 1 Lines 22-69: 22. 25. 28. "D' ogni malizia, ch' odio in cielo acquista, O con forza o con frode altrui contrista. to be that all wickedness (malizia, Karía) which earns the hatred of God aims at injuring, either by violence or by fraud, the latter of which, being worse, meets with severer punishment, and in the lower depths of hell. Then we have elaborate subdivisions of the different kinds of sins of violence and sins of fraud, which we need not now concern 31. 34. 37. 40. 43. 46. 49. 52. 55. 58. 61. 64. 67. A Dio, a sè, al prossimo si puone Far forza, dico in sè ed in lor cose, Morte per forza e ferute dogliose Nel prossimo si danno, e nel suo avere Guastatori e predon, tutti tormenta E ne' suoi beni: e però nel secondo E piange là dove esser dee giocondo. Col cor negando e bestemmiando quella, Del segno suo e Sodoma e Caorsa, Può l'uomo usare in colui che 'n lui fida, Pur lo vinco d' amor che fa natura; Falsità, ladroneccio e simonia, Onde nel cerchio minore, ov'è il punto Dell' universo, in su che Dite siede, La tua ragione, ed assai ben distingue ourselves with further than to remark that they account for all the remaining circles and divisions of hell, and carry us down to the very bottom of the pit. The fundamental distinction of sins of violence and sins of fraud comes directly and almost verbatim from Cicero (De Officiis, I. c. 13), and it is curious that Mr. Butler has not noticed this. Cicero's words are: "Cum autem duobus modis, id est, aut vi, aut fraude, fiat injuria; 1 (fraus quasi vulpeculæ, vis leonis videtur) utrumque homine alienissimum, sed fraus odio digna majore." 2 The words in parentheses are not reproduced here by Dante; but they occur in Inf., xxvii. 75, where Guido da Montefeltro says: "L'opere mie Non furon leonine ma di volpe." It may be added that not only was the De Officiis one of the works of Cicero with which Dante was most familiar (I believe he quotes it about twenty times), but different passages from these six consecutive chapters (xi.-xvi.) are quoted no less than six times by Dante in different parts of his works. The subdivisions above referred to, which are worked out as far as line 66, completely explain and account for all the subsequent arrangements of the Inferno; and they are recognized by Dante as doing so (see lines 67-69), and they are founded entirely upon the passage quoted from Cicero, without any reference to Aristotle at all. And there the matter might have ended, but that a new difficulty arises in Dante's mind. How is it that the sinners whose punishment has been already described, are not shut up within the City of Dis, if God is so displeased with them? and if he is not, why is their punishment so severe? Virgil expresses 2 [Cf. Ibid., line 25] 1 [Inf., xi. 23, 24.] 8 Lines 70-75: 70. 73. "Ma dimmi: Quei della palude pingue, Che mena il vento, e che batte la pioggia, Son ei puniti, se Dio gli ha in ira ? E se non gli ha, perchè sono a tal foggia?” surprise that Dante can so far have forgotten his Ethics as not to recollect that there are three dispositions hateful to God, incontinence (axpaoía), vice (Kakia), brutishness (Onpiórns), and that incontinence is less offensive to God and worthy of less blame than the others. Can anything possibly be plainer than that Aristotle is cited for the sole purpose of justifying the lighter condemnation of sins of incontinence; and that, though the threefold division is naturally quoted in full, yet that it is applied solely for the sake of the conclusion stated in lines 83, 84, and solely in reference to the anomaly presented by Dante in lines 70, etc.? What possible grounds can be discovered in the context for supposing that this has anything to do with the question of the classification of different sins in the Basso Inferno itself, which has already been fully disposed of? 3 In a word, why should any one imagine that this passing mention of Onpiórns, which is necessary for the completeness of the quotation, should lead us to expect a place for it in the system of Dante, or should oblige him to reopen a classification already disposed of and complete in itself? Indeed, if Dante had not raised this special difficulty about incontinence, it seems as if we should never have had Aristotle mentioned in this connection at all. It is scarcely a fair description of Witte's view to say (as Mr. Butler does) that "Witte considers that Dante. . . ignores Onpióτns"; since, if there is no reason whatever why he should be expected to notice it, he cannot be said to ignore it. If, as Mr. Butler suggests, either the Tyrants of the Seventh Circle, or the Heretics of the Sixth 1 Lines 79-83: 79. 82. "Non ti rimembra di quelle parole, Colle quai la tua Etica pertratta Bestialitade?" 2 [Ethics, vii. 1 : Μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα λεκτέον, ἄλλην ποιησαμένους ἀρχὴν, ὅτι τῶν περὶ τὰ ἤθη φευκτῶν τρία ἐστὶν εἴδη, κακία, ἀκρασία, θηριότης.] 3 See again lines 68, 69. represent Onpiórηs, we should have the most astonishing inversion of Aristotle's classification, since Onpiórns would be intermediate between axparía and Kukia, "which is absurd," as Euclid says. Dante would be much more open to the charge of "ignoring" Aristotle, if he borrowed his language and then distorted its meaning in such a fashion as this. Nor will the use of the term in a well known passage of the Convito cover the further absurdity of supposing either Alexander the Great (whom Mr. Butler, at any rate, supposes to be intended in xii. 107), or Frederic II., or "Il Cardinale," to be chosen by Dante as typical instances of Onpiórns! And certainly there is nothing in Ethics, vii. 5, to bring within measurable distance of such characters as these. The farreaching effects of this misunderstanding (if such it be) will, it is hoped, justify this somewhat lengthy digression of the subject. It may be noted that another passage, in which Dante is undoubtedly indebted to Cicero occurs at Inf., xviii. 133,2 where he quotes the supposed words of Thais (really those of Gnatho) from the Eunuchus of Terence. Mr. Butler suggests that Dante probably only knew the passage as a quotation, since he treats Thais as an historical character. We may, I think, go further, and say that the quotation as it actually occurs in De Amicitia, § 98,3 as a typical illustration 1 IV. 9: "Per preponimento dico, che intra tutte le bestialitadi quella è stoltissima, vilissima e dannosissima chi crede, dopo questa vita, altra vita non essere; perciocchè se noi rivolgiamo tutte le scritture, sì de' filosophi, come degli altri savii scrittori, tutti concordano in questo, che in noi sia parte alcuna perpetuale." 2 "Taide è la puttana, che rispose Al drudo suo, quando disse: Ho io grazie Grandi appo te? Anzi meravigliose." 8 "Nulla est igitur hæc amicitia, quum alter verum audire non vult, alter ad mentiendum paratus est. Nec parasitorum in comoediis assentatio faceta nobis videretur, nisi essent milites gloriosi. 'Magnas vero agere gratias Thais mihi?' Satis erat respondere, magnas; ingentes, inquit. Semper auget assentator id quod is cujus ad voluntatem dicitur vult esse magnum |