Mythological
Cagnazzo
A devil of Malebranche's decuria who escorts the two poets along the fifth bolgia of the Inferno, remembered among the strange and varied names coined by Dante for the devils of the comic bolgia.
Profile
Cagnazzo is one of the ten Malebranche devils who form the decuria destined to escort Dante and Virgil. His name appears in the roll call of the squad at Inferno XXI 119, when a devil addresses him with the form «e tu, Cagnazzo», and recurs again at Inferno XXII 106, where it is said that «Cagnazzo a cotal moto levò 'l muso». The critical notes concerning the passage point out that the names of the decuria are of strange and varied coinage, fused on the visual and phonic level to create a general effect of blustering and aggressive farcicalness, and place the scene within the bolgia that Dante specifically intended as «comic», that of the barrators, where the devils appear popular and essentially good-natured, never truly tragic.
In the text
Linked verses
2 verses| Cantica | Canto | Verso | Testo | Open verse |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inferno | Canto XXI | 119 | cominciò elli a dire, «e tu, Cagnazzo; | Open verse |
| Inferno | Canto XXII | 106 | Cagnazzo a cotal motto levò ’l muso, | Open verse |