Day 22 - Dante and Virgil are breaking the rules, just for your soul

Do you remember the song in Dumbo, about seeing an elephant fly? It starts with the crow saying, "I seen a peanut stand, And I heard a rubber band, I seen a needle that winked it's eye, But i've been done seen about everyting, when I've seen an elephant fly."
Well who'd have known that Disney took a page from Dante with that song.  Canto 22 begins where Canto 21 left off, with the weird entourage of Dante, Virgil and their demon guides.  Dante begins by saying, "I've horsemen start to march and open the assault and muster ranks and seen them too, at times beat their retreat. And on your land, o Aretines, I've seen rangers and raiding parties galloping the clash of tournaments, the rush of jousts,now done with trumpets, now with bells, and now with drums, and now with the signs from castle walls, with native things and imported ware. But never yet have i seen horsemen or seen infantry or ship that sails by signal of land or star move to so strange a bugle."
Ok, I'll admit it's not nearly as catchy as the Disney version (say what you want about Disney, they know how to make a catchy song!), but the intent is strikingly similar.  Even in a place that is removed from reality, at least reality of the living, this fellowship is a few degrees off kilter.  It underscores just how unusual Dante's journey is, giving it extra gravity.  By breaking these rules and creating these incompatible unions (the most egregious and yet rarely commented on being the impossible union of the the author and his guide), we as readers are meant to understand just how important this quest is, not just for Dante, but for all souls you feel at some point unmoored.  Basically, all of humanity.  That, I believe is what Dante intended when he proclaimed that his Divine Comedy should considered scripture. It is not his hubris guiding that statement, although a humbler man would think it and not say it.  I think it can be read as Dante truly showing grave concern for his comrades in the mortal world.  We are all in a sorry state and it will take something impossible (a miracle, even) to shake us loose of our sins and begin to atone towards a more godly existence.
Is it any wonder that Vellutello's wood engraving, shown above, is eerily reminiscent of the wheel of fortune, one of the most poignant symbols of the Middle Ages, and is the choice of images for this particular Canto.  We see the travelers and their demon guides climbing out of the wheel. It's a visual emobdiment of escaping the familiar rules that guide us.  Instead of zigging, they are zagging.  The travelers are breaking the rules, but their journey is given a free pass, because it is so vital that it needs to stand out.  Humanity needs to see an elephant fly.

Day 21 - Stuck in the pitch

The canto begins with an interesting sentence, stating that Dante and Virgil traverse from one bridge to another, "talking of things my Comedy is not concerned to sing." What an interesting way to start things out.  I really wonder what they were discussing, and why Dante felt compelled to tell his readers they were speaking of things that don't concern his work.  Why even bring it up? My old professor, Dr. Antonio Rutigliano, who inspired a love of Dante would often talk about the myriad of ways in which Dante wrote this poem and it could be looked at.  You could look poetically, metaphorically, spiritually, philosophically, and his favorite, mystically.  It is in the mysticism that Dante reveals the many things he hides (thought various acrostics and alliterations and with the sounds of  certain words mimicking phenomenae).  But i we never discussed this particular phrase.  When Dante hides the action from the reader but also tells the reader he is hiding it, it creates a certain intrigue.  Were they discussing poetic techniques, food differences in italy in the centuries gap between them? It makes the imagination run.
Beyond this curious first sentence, Canto 21 begins with oozing sludge and pitch. They are in some sort of ship bay, an inferno version os the venetian port.  Ships are permanently stuck in the goop that, instead of water, is tar and pitch, rendering them all immovable.  The souls aboard work tirelessly replacing keels, hammering at the prow and the stern, and bulding sails, all for ships that certainly couldn't cast off in this muck.
A demon almost runs Dante over, barking orders about another sinner he needs to cast down.  It's almost humorous in description.  The demon proclaims to another demon he's got another one for him and tosses him into the pitch, like a shipbuilder would toss a hammer to another working on repairs. Or maybe a sous chef going into the wlk in fridge, as the sinner is tossed into a gigantic cauldron; just another ingredient in the hell-stew. The demons shoot Dante and Virgil nast looks, and Virgil urges Dante to not make too big of a scene in witnessing this busy-body scene. But for the most part, they are left unnoticed, just a bit light ribbing to terrify Dante. One of the demons actually gives our protagonists some advice, saying the bridge ahead is out and there best method forward is to walk along the mountain ridge. It's just a weird scene that tempts comedy until then last line, when one of the few laugh out loud moments occur in this tale.  As Dante and Virgil are exiting this damned shipyard along the ridge, a Demon,the leader named Barbariccia (whose name means curling beard), bids them adeiu in the most memorable fashion.  He makes a trumpet of his ass.  Let me just repeat that line.  He makes a trumpet of his ass, giving our heroes the salute of breaking wind. 
One wonders what the next conversation, one not concerned to sing about in this Comedy, was like.