The Divine Comedy · Chapter
Canto XX: The Fourth Bolgia – The Soothsayers explained
Dante and Virgil descend into the Fourth Bolgia of the Eighth Circle, where they encounter the souls of soothsayers, diviners, and magicians.
What happens
Dante and Virgil descend into the Fourth Bolgia of the Eighth Circle, where they encounter the souls of soothsayers, diviners, and magicians. These sinners are grotesquely twisted backwards, their heads turned to face their backs, symbolizing their attempt to see the future and their punishment of being unable to see forward. Virgil points out notable figures including Amphiaraüs, Tiresias, Aruns, Manto, Eryphylus, Michael Scott, Guido Bonatti, and Asdente. Virgil recounts the story of Manto and the founding of Mantua, correcting false legends. Dante weeps at the sight, but Virgil rebukes him, reminding him that pity is dead here before divine justice.
Themes in this chapter
Divine Justice
The contrapasso of the soothsayers—their heads twisted backwards—symbolizes divine justice: those who tried to see the future are now forced to look only behind them, unable to see forward.
Suffering and Compassion
Dante's initial weeping for the damned is rebuked by Virgil, who teaches that pity for the divinely punished is misplaced, as their suffering is just.
Characters to notice
- Dante Alighieri
Dante weeps at the distorted sight of the soothsayers, but is rebuked by Virgil for showing compassion toward the damned.
- Virgil
Virgil guides Dante through the Fourth Bolgia, identifies the sinners, and recounts the true story of Mantua's founding by Manto.
- Manto
Manto, the daughter of Tiresias, is a soothsayer who wandered the world and eventually settled in the marshy area where Mantua was later built.
- Tiresias
Tiresias, the Theban prophet, is seen among the soothsayers, punished for his transformations and foresight.
- Amphiaraüs
Amphiaraüs, a seer from the war of the Seven against Thebes, is shown falling into the earth as the ground opened beneath him.
Key passages
“Here pity lives when it is wholly dead; Who is a greater reprobate than he Who feels compassion at the doom divine?”
True pity is dead here; no one is more wicked than those who feel compassion for God's just punishment.
Virgil rebukes Dante for weeping, emphasizing that divine justice must not be questioned by human emotion.
“Because he wished to see too far before him Behind he looks, and backward goes his way”
Because he tried to see too far into the future, he is now forced to look backward and walk in reverse.
This describes the contrapasso of the soothsayers, particularly Amphiaraüs, whose punishment fits his sin of foresight.