Dante, Inferno
Alberigo and the Frozen Tears
Alberigo asks the travellers to remove the hardened veil of tears so he can express grief before it freezes again. He identifies himself after Dante offers help in exchange for his name. After the explanation of bodies governed by fiends and the naming of Branca Doria, Alberigo renews the request. Dante records that he does not open the eyes, treating the refusal as appropriate within this encounter.
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In the sources
The encounter
LiteraryAlberigo asks the travellers to remove the hardened veil of tears so he can express grief before it freezes again. He identifies himself after Dante offers help in exchange for his name.
Further detail
LiteraryAfter the explanation of bodies governed by fiends and the naming of Branca Doria, Alberigo renews the request. Dante records that he does not open the eyes, treating the refusal as appropriate within this encounter.
Context & interpretation
This entry follows the supplied Thompson & Thomas edition of H. F. Cary’s translation. It describes Dante’s literary vision, distinguishing its assignments and reported claims from historical biography, other classical traditions and independently established accounts of an afterlife.
Original passages
Source 1
Dante's Inferno
The friar Alberigo," answer'd he, " Am I, who from the evil garden pluck'd Its fruitage, and am here repaid, the date More luscious for myOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Dante’s Inferno, Cary translation; active reader leaf 230
Passage read in the exact edition’s extracted canto text; whitespace-normalised anchor and original-leaf mapping checked. Associated plates separately inspected.
- Edition
- IMJ-0082-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0082-E001-P0230
- Original scan leaf
- 237
- Recorded leaf number
- 237
- Current Reader position
- 230
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Source 2
Dante's Inferno
I oped them not. Ill manners were best courtesy to him. Ah, Genoese ! men perverse in every way, With every foulness stain'd, why from theOpen this page in the book
Passage & edition details
Location recorded at citation review: Dante’s Inferno, Cary translation; active reader leaf 231
Passage read in the exact edition’s extracted canto text; whitespace-normalised anchor and original-leaf mapping checked. Associated plates separately inspected.
- Edition
- IMJ-0082-E001
- Reader page
- IMJ-0082-E001-P0231
- Original scan leaf
- 238
- Recorded leaf number
- 238
- Current Reader position
- 231
- Reader verification
- Source-preserving update confirmed
Continue exploring
Literary & Visionary Figures ↗
Branca Doria’s Apparently Living Body
The named example used to explain a body functioning above while its soul is already below.
Shared source pagePtolomea and Premature Descent
The frozen round where Alberigo claims a soul can arrive before its body dies.
Same subject and traditionAlessio of Lucca among the Flatterers
The recognised speaker who attributes his place in the second ditch to excessive flattery.
Same subject and traditionBertran de Born’s Speaking Head
The head-bearing speaker who explains his division through a division he claims to have caused.