Day 9: The unseen

Today I would like to focus on a specific line from Canto 9.  Dante and Virgil have confronted the three Furies Megera, Aletto and Tesifone, who writhe in agony, eternally living in desparation that Theseus' assault upon them will be met with teh vengeance of Medussa the Gorgon.  She is there as well, still capable of turning men to stone (or in Dantean terms capturing the Dante the poet and keeping in Inferno for eternity).  Virgil physically grabs Dante to turn him away from Medussa, unconvinced that simply covering his eyes will protect Dante. It's then that Dante the poet unleashes the great line
"O you posessed of sturdy intellects, observe the teaching that is hidden here beneath the veil of verses so obscure"
This phrase has a whole lot of hidden meanings.  And it's conspicuous place in Inferno is not to be overlooked.  Dante the poet is nothing if not meticulous, and it's not coincidence that this particular stanza appears immediately after the mention of the Gorgon.  The veiled Medussa, whose look turns a human to stone.  There's a pretty obvious slew of metaphors.  To remove the veil is to unlock knowledge, which is a powerful tool and a dangerous one to anyone unprepared to understand that knowledge.  Dante has been privy to all manner of hidden knowledge on his journey.  The things he has seen are not for the living, and have ramifications.  Dante narrowly escapes peril after peril, being saved by his guides.  To be seduced by an idea is as dangerous is an action, and often it is anger that festers in the soul causing sinful actions.  This is a topic to be explored at greater length in the Purgatorio, which is meant to rid the psyche of the thought of sin.  But here is Dante at the edge of the river styx, being seduced to let the anger take over.  It's like when the Emperor in Star Wars senses Luke's anger and tries to enhance it, make it fester within him so he rots from within and is taken over by malicious thoughts and permanently turned to the dark side.  The emporer knows that anger is a seed, sometimes taking years to grow into hate which will inevitably drive out the joy and goodness inherent int he human soul.  It is a gnawing sensation, one that is echoed by the fallen angels Dante meets later in the canto.
Knowledge can be a dangerous thing.  The lifted veil can be illuminating, but it can be damning for the unprepared.  Milton explored this at length in his masterpiece Paradise Lost.  Lucifer gains knowledge he cannot understand which leads to rebellion and the creation of hell.  Adam and Eve eat from the tree of knowledge, unprepared for the epiphanies present in free will.  Knowledge can weigh on a soul, like the souls buried to their heads, unable to manage the weight of a knowledge obscured.  It morphs into an anger unchecked.  A knowledge unearned.  It's enough to turn one to stone.