Sinon

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The verse of Inferno XXX, 98 qualifies him as "false Sinon, Greek of Troy," placing him alongside Potiphar's wife, with whom he shares the punishment of the falsifiers of word in the tenth ditch. The notes to the canto specify that Sinon, a character from the Aeneid, convinced the Trojans with a false tale to bring inside the walls the wooden horse full of armed men, causing their ruin. The expression "Greek of Troy" is read as a strong irony: Sinon pretends to be a Trojan to betray his own, thus gaining credibility with the enemies. In the following verses (Inferno XXX, 104-126) Sinon and Maestro Adamo exchange blows and reproaches, in a quarrel of low register in which the Greek reproaches the other for his dropsy, his swollen belly, and his burning fever. The introductory note to the canto recalls that Dante will reuse the same scheme of quarrel in the Purgatorio, where however the antagonists will be Dante and Forese, and no longer Adamo and Sinon.