Dante is nothing if not a fan of irnoic punishment. In this Canto, he and Virgil are confronted with quite a striking scene. They are amidst a vast graveyard of open sepulchers and graves filled with fire. Dante, like the rest of us, wonders what to make of this scene. It sounds like the perfect setting for a zombie movie, and that comparison might not be too far off. Virgil explains that this is the territory of Epicureas and his devotees. Now for those of you unfamiliar with this philosopher, he is carpe diem personified. Epicureas believed that life truly ends at death, so enjoy it while you can! Hedonism is an offshoot of Epicureanism. He was Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens millenia before there skepticism ignited modernity. So Dante the poet thought the most deserving of punishments for these unfortunate souls was an eternity in open graves, fully aware of their grave (sorry for the pun; just couldn't help myself) but confined to their small plots of land. It's some of the closest imagery to what we conceive of us ghosts today. Lost souls, trapped in a blind prison, for their crime of heresy.
There is a wonderful exchange in this canto that illuminates more of Dante the man's personal philosphy. Dante is confronted by a soul named Farinata. Farinata is wonderfully described as rising out of his grave from the waist up, full of great contempt for hell. This is one bitter man, having realized that he bet on the wrong horse. The first words he speaks (or rather spits) to Dante are "Who are your ancestors." You see, Farinata was a Gheibelline, while Dante was a Guelph, in the war for political power of Florence. He, like Dante, was outcast from Florence. There is a bit of a verbal sparring between Dante and Farinata, with Dante seemingly grabbing the upper hand by proclaiming that while both he and Farinata's families were exiled, Farinata's clan never returned, while Dante's kept coming back.
In another fascinating detail, Farinata explains to Dante that the heretics, and more broadly all souls in Inferno, have the ability to see events in the future, but as these events come closer to the present they become fuzzier. Long term view is that this ability shows these souls that they are never getting out. All they have is their suffering. The future is bleak for them. No end in sight. And sight is a big theme here. Their lack of vision beyond the mundane has been realized in their eternal tombs. Each has his view only of their fiery grave. Even temporal perspective is skewed so that all they know is suffering. It's no wonder that Farinata is embittered.
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