The Divine Comedy · Chapter
Canto XXIX: The Tenth Bolgia of the Alchemists explained
Dante and Virgil continue through Malebolge, entering the tenth Bolgia where alchemists and forgers are punished.
What happens
Dante and Virgil continue through Malebolge, entering the tenth Bolgia where alchemists and forgers are punished. Dante is initially distracted by a relative, Geri del Bello, but Virgil urges him onward. The poets descend into a valley filled with diseased and scabbed souls, where two sinners—Griffolino d'Arezzo and Capocchio—identify themselves and recount their sins of alchemy and fraud.
Themes in this chapter
Divine Justice
The punishment of the alchemists and forgers in the Tenth Bolgia illustrates the infallible justice of God, where each sin receives a fitting contrapasso.
Suffering and Compassion
Dante's initial desire to weep and his pity for the suffering souls, including his relative Geri del Bello, highlight the tension between human compassion and divine judgment.
Characters to notice
- Dante Alighieri
Dante is moved by the suffering of the alchemists and initially fixates on a relative, Geri del Bello, but is guided by Virgil to focus on the journey.
- Virgil
Virgil urges Dante to stop gazing at the suffering shades and to move forward, reminding him of the limited time and the need to see more of Hell.
- Ciacco
Not directly present; the reference to Geri del Bello and the alchemists recalls earlier encounters with Florentine sinners.
- Farinata degli Uberti
Not present in this canto; the focus is on the alchemists and forgers.
- Capocchio
A Sienese alchemist who speaks to Dante, confessing his sin of falsifying metals and identifying himself as a 'skilful ape of nature.'
- Griffolino d'Arezzo
An alchemist from Arezzo who was burned at the stake for claiming he could fly; he explains that his sin of alchemy condemns him to this Bolgia.
Key passages
“I of Arezzo was, and Albert of Siena had me burned; But what I died for does not bring me here. 'Tis true I said to him, speaking in jest, That I could rise by flight into the air, And he who had conceit, but little wit, Would have me show to him the art; and only Because no Daedalus I made him, made me Be burned by one who held him as his son.”
Griffolino d'Arezzo explains that he was burned at the stake for jokingly claiming he could fly, but his true sin—alchemy—is what condemns him to this Bolgia.
Griffolino distinguishes between his earthly punishment and his eternal damnation, emphasizing that divine justice punishes the actual sin, not the false accusation.
“Thou must remember, if I well descry thee, How I a skilful ape of nature was.”
Capocchio reminds Dante that he was a skilled imitator of nature through alchemy, falsifying metals.
Capocchio's self-description as an 'ape of nature' underscores the sin of counterfeiting, which perverts God's natural order.