Alichino

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Alichino is one of the ten devils who make up the squad sent to escort Dante and Virgil along the stretch of the fifth bolgia of Hell, that of the barrators immersed in boiling pitch. His name is the first to be called in the roll call of the decuria, together with that of Calcabrina. In the note to the passage it is pointed out that the name is not of fanciful coinage like the others in the series, but is the typical name of the devil in medieval theater, derived from the Old French Hallequin, from which derives the mask of Harlequin. Alichino is attributed with precise psychological traits: in the dialogue with Ciampolo he shows bold confidence, boasting of being able to reach the damned man by flying over the pitch more quickly than others can run along the embankment. His arrogance is the cause of the common mistake: because of his impatience and his ostentatious confidence, the devils realize too late that Ciampolo has escaped into the pitch. The devils of this bolgia have a "comic," not tragic, character, and Alichino is an evident example of this.