# Canto XXX explained — The Divine Comedy

> Chapter companion for The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri.

## What happens

Dante witnesses the violent and grotesque punishments of the falsifiers and forgers in the Tenth Bolgia of Malebolge. He sees Gianni Schicchi and Myrrha, who in their madness attack other souls. He then encounters Master Adam, a counterfeiter suffering from dropsy, who laments his thirst and recalls his crime of coining florins with three carats of impurity. Master Adam also points out the false accuser Potiphar's wife and the false Greek Sinon of Troy. The two engage in a bitter quarrel, and Virgil rebukes Dante for his fascination with their dispute, teaching him a lesson about shame and proper conduct.

## Themes in this chapter

### Divine Justice

The contrapasso for falsifiers and forgers is vividly depicted: Master Adam suffers from dropsy and unquenchable thirst as a direct consequence of his greed and fraud, while the mad souls of Gianni Schicchi and Myrrha reflect the disordered nature of their sins.

### Suffering and Compassion

Dante's initial fascination with the sinners' quarrel draws a rebuke from Virgil, highlighting the moral danger of taking pleasure in others' suffering and the need for proper shame and restraint.

## Character check-ins

### Dante Alighieri

Dante observes the mad souls Gianni Schicchi and Myrrha, then speaks with Master Adam and listens to the quarrel between Sinon and Master Adam, earning a rebuke from Virgil.

### Virgil

Virgil scolds Dante for being absorbed in the vulgar dispute between the sinners, teaching him that such curiosity is base and that shame can wash away a greater fault.

### Ciacco

The Aretine (likely Ciacco) identifies Gianni Schicchi and Myrrha to Dante, explaining their sins of impersonation and incest.

### Adam

Master Adam, a counterfeiter, describes his punishment of dropsy and unquenchable thirst, recalling his crime of debasing the florin at Romena and naming his accomplices Guido, Alessandro, and their brother.

### Pope Nicholas III

Not directly present, but Master Adam refers to the 'false woman who accused Joseph' (Potiphar's wife) and 'the false Sinon, Greek of Troy,' who are both suffering nearby.

## Key lines

> The heavy dropsy, that so disproportions / The limbs with humors, which it ill concocts, / That the face corresponds not to the belly, / Compelled him so to hold his lips apart / As does the hectic, who because of thirst / One tow'rds the chin, the other upward turns.

Master Adam's body is grotesquely swollen from dropsy, his face thin and his belly huge, forcing his lips apart like a feverish man desperate for water.

_Dante describes the physical torment of Master Adam, whose punishment mirrors his sin of greed and counterfeiting._

> Less shame doth wash away a greater fault, / The Master said, than this of thine has been; / Therefore thyself disburden of all sadness, / And make account that I am aye beside thee.

Virgil tells Dante that his shame for being caught listening to the quarrel is enough to cleanse his error, and he should not dwell on it but remember that Virgil is always with him.

_Virgil's rebuke and subsequent reassurance teach Dante the importance of moral discipline and the value of shame as a corrective._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_divine_comedy_se/chapters/canto-xxx
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_divine_comedy_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_divine_comedy_se/chapters