Erichtho

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In Inferno IX, Virgil recalls the figure of Erichtho, described as cruel, to point to a precedent of soul-summoning: the sorceress, according to Dante's account, called the shade (the soul) back into the bodies of the dead (the shades returned to their bodies for a short time), and this happened because a soul had hidden itself and needed to be drawn out; the reference occurs within the dialogue between the two poets before the wall of Dis, in the ninth and final circle. The authorized note indicates that the appellation 'cruda' translates the Latin adjective fera/effera, indicating a wild and ferocious nature, removed from human fellowship, an attribute consistent with the representation of sorceress figures in the Commedia. The notes on the passage also mention that other interpreters read the phrase 'per trarne un spirto' differently, attributing it to Erichtho herself, but signal the exegetical uncertainty.