Day 17: At the halfway point of Inferno, Dante unleashes a torrent of similes and turns right

Not to get too grammatically geeky, but one could spend a lifetime scouring, analyzing a debating the metaphors that are omnipresent in the Divine Comedy.  In each circle, terrace or sphere, Dante is confronted with the metaphoric representation of a particular virtue or vice.  The whole epic could be described as a metaphor for the transformation of desire.  It is quite interesting, then, that as we are in the center of the first book, Dante unleashing a string of similes, perhaps totally all the similes we have seen so far.  That, and the quite uncharacteristically melodramatic episode that overwhelms Dante at the end of the canto, make this a memorable, unique read. 
We begin right where we left off with the cliffhanger from last canto.  Virgil and Dante are confronted with a beast that emerges from the fiery river.  And here come the similes.  The creature had a face of a man, but his trunk was as a serpent.  His arms were hairy as a wolf or bear.  And his flanks were adorned with knots and circles as elaborate as any turkish tapestry or any web Arachne wove.  The beast arose from the liquid as a boat half submerged.  The beast positioned himself with his tail, which was as a scorpion's, like a beaver defending it's damn.  Dante is descrbing the mythical three faced Geryon, but it has also been speculated that this beast is the fabled Manticore. But what a string of similes! 
There is also another interesting tidbit to do with the trajectory of Dante's quest.  Up until this moment, Dante and Virgil have descended only by turning left.  But here in Canto 17, they turn right.  Virgil even makes a point to say "now we'd better bend our path a little, till we reach as far as that malicious beast which crouches over there."  I have a little theory about this, and am probably way off base.  Their journey is one of descension through hell towards righteousness.  But at this moment, they need the aid of a damned soul in order to traverse the fiery river.  So consequently, in a very brief sidestep, they divert from their path to utilize this damned beast.  It is a moment of using evil for the purpose of good. 
But look at the consequences for this action.  We are privy to Dante the poet unleashing a brief melodramatic exposition, as he observes from the back of the Geryon the scene further down in Inferno.  Dante is overwhelmed by fear and dread, "There i was more afraid of falling off, for i saw fires and I heard laments at which I tremble, crouching and hold fast."  He describes his fear as Icarus making his fateful voyage, as well as Phaethron losing control of the chariot which guides the son on its orbit (again with the similes).  But it is curious, because Dante has been in hell for while now, and seem some pretty horific stuff up to this point.  Does this moment when fear immobilizes him have something to do with the clear departure from their movement left?  It certainly seems to be connected somehow. 
The canto ends with finally another simile.  While Dante was so dsitracted by fear, the Geryon has set him and virgil down, like a falcoln who's flight was unseen by its falconer, returns to his arm.  Once again, Dante and Virgil continue their journey downward to the left.  The paralysis is gone and the similes become metaphors. 

Day 16: Meeting the three as one

Ok, this canto starts off pretty weird.  Dante and Virgil, still in the circle of sodomites, hear "a murmur, like a beehive's hum,"and are confronted by three characters.  They see the clothing style of Dante and recognize that he is from teh same land that they are; Florence.  Dante see the burn marks throughout their bodies and is racked with guilt, which is meant to convey to the reader that these unfortunate souls were on the losing end of the guelph ghebbiline struggle and were burnt alive like so many victims.  While Dante wishes to skirt past them as quickly as possible, Virgil insists that they be given a respectful audience.  The three figures then begin to perform what seems to me like a bizarre acrobatic feat.  In Dante's (translated) words, "They formed a wheel, all three of them together. As champions, naked oiled, will always do, each studying the grip that serves them best, beofre the blows and winds begin to fall, while wheeling so, each one made sure his face was turned to me, so that their necks opposed their feet in one uniterrupted flow." So basically, this apepars to me to be some kind of three man cartwheel, facing dante with all three heads.  The three are named, Guido Guerra, Tegghaio Aldobrandi and Jacopo Rusticucci.  Guerra and Aldobrandi advised the Florentine Guelphs against engaging in battle against the Sienese Ghibellines. They were also responsible for exiling the Ghibellines out of Florence.  Rusticucci, the lesser known of the three explains that it was his "shrewdish wife" which drove him to homosexuality and, consequently, the circle of sodomy.  Dante feels a certain sense of comradery with these "fine souls", as folks fighting on the same side as he was (obviously sodomy notwithstanding.  They are in inferno after all).  The souls are gratfeul for Dante's kind words and are curious about their shared hometown.  Dante laments that the newcomers have brought greed and sin to their Florence.  They sigh, but have a request for Dante.  They yearn for him to tell the living of the good deeds of them.  They only wish to have their name spoken in a positive light, and to be remembered.  This is certainly a request most people would want.  With these words, the three who had become one, broke back into three.  So what do we make of this very deliberate image.  After all, their dialog and request could have been done without the gymnastics. Was it supposed to be some sort of trinity image.  Numerology has significance throughout the Divine Comedy, and the number three has importance amongst mathmeticians (the triangle), masons, christians, etc.  And what to make of the fact that immediately after this encounter, Dante and Virgil descend down into a ravine using a rope that Dante assures is strong enough to catch a leopard.  They reach the bottom of the ravine and come to a sea, out of which a strange figure emerges like the creature formteh black lagoon.  And after hanging on a cliff, we are left on this literary cliffhanger.  I admit I am baffled by this canto.  There are some provocative lines and the image of the three as one is captivating.  I just don't get at what Mr. Alighieri is trying to accomplish with such vivid imagery.  We leave that to the "scholars."