Nessus

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Nessus is a centaur from Greek mythology placed by Dante in the seventh circle of Hell, among the guardians of the first ring (the violent against their neighbors), watching over the river of boiling blood where tyrants and murderers are punished. In the verses of Canto XII he appears as one of three centaurs who break away from the group to intercept Dante and Virgil, and is described as impulsive and hasty by nature, to the point that Virgil himself rebukes him: «mal fu per vui la voglia sempre accorta». Nessus sharply addresses the two travelers, asking to which punishment they are assigned, thus serving as the first aggressive interlocutor of the scene; subsequently he indicates to them the path and the direction of the ford, remaining at the bank to explain the nature of the damned immersed in the river. Once he departs, his exit marks the end of the encounter with the first violent. His name also recurs in Canto XIII, at the beginning, to mark the scenic transition between the two cantos.