Question 3
I found it strange that the demons were in charge of the 5th bolgia. In only two other canti have beasts actually been in control of the souls; in Canto 6 there was Cerebus, and in Canto 17 there is the Geryon. However, these two creatures are more beast-like than the demons. Yes, the demons have claws and wings, but they walk on the ground and are more human than a three-headed dog. Also, the demons are given names like "Curly Beard", "Little Big Dragon", and "Ruby Face", whereas Cerebus and the Geryon are creatures from Greek mythology. I was surprised that the demons would be so stupid to let the souls trick them. Evil Dog even realises the Navarrese is trying to trick him, and points this out to the other demons. "At that Evil Dog lifted his snout, shaking his head,/and said: 'Listen to the trick he's thought of, so he/can jump back in!'" (Canto 22, ln 106-108). After the soul admits that yes, he is being tricky, Harlequin jumps in and decides it would be a good idea to let him try to outdo them.
This could say a lot about the power of the demons. At first, I thought it was weird that these demons are essentially in control of the souls in this level, and yet they give in so easily to temptation. After thinking about it however, maybe it shows that the demons, like everyone else, find it hard to resist temptations and sometimes give in. Also, when I first read the question as to who is really in control, I automatically assumed it was Lucifer. That doesn't make sense thought, because why would he let his own henchmen be fooled by humans? I think that God is the one here who is in control, and must be keeping these people in a continual cycle of deceit and trickery. The demons snare a soul, the soul tricks the demon into freeing him, and the soul wins until it gets snared again. This cycle of deceit also fits in well with the circle of Hell they are in. The thought that God is ultimately in control of everything fits in with Dante's world view. The goal of his journey is to achieve, eventually, salvation and only God can control whether Dante ends up in Heaven or Hell.
There were two quotes that stood out to me. The first quote was in Canto 23, on page 353, when Dante is walking with the lead-robed friars. "I began: 'O friars, your evil...' but I said no more,/for into my view cam one crucified to the earth with/three stakes./When he saw me, he twisted himself all over,/puffing into his beard with sighs; and Brother/Catalano, who perceived it,/told me: 'That one staked there at whom you are/looking counseled the Pharisees that it was/expedient to put one man to death for the people'" (ln 109-117). I thought it was appropriate that Caiaphas, the man Brother Catalano points out, was crucified. He played a role in condemning Jesus to death, and now has to suffer the same death eternally. I thought it made sense that everything came back full-circle.
The other quote that stood out to me was in Canto 26, on page 405, when the flame of Ulysses is speaking. "'O brothers,' I said, 'who through a hundred/thousand perils have reached the west, to this so/brief vigil/of our senses that remains, do no deny the/experience, following the sun, of the world without/people./Consider your sowing: you were not made to live/like brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge'" (ln 112-119). I thought the last part of the quote was particularly important, especially given the thoughts Dante had for the naked men in Canto 16. Also, the farther Dante goes into Hell, the more beast-like and animalistic the condemned become. These people have committed such sins that they eventually ended up losing their human traits, having given into their desires and not using their knowledge.
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