Okay, I’ve finally had time to condense my thoughts on Canto 16 of Inferno—I think it’s my favorite one so far. There's definitely more important cantos to the structure/context of the story, but this one was really heavy on imagery (Dante uses similes a lot but he really ramps it up in this one, it’s so very visual) and was really thought provoking for me, especially in regards to Dante's conflicting feelings on homosexuality.
This is the most respect/affection that he’s shown to anyone outside of Limbo (aside from Brunetto Latini in Canto 15, who was also a sodomite). I find it interesting that Virgil urges Dante to respect these men, and even thinks it would be fitting for him to join them, were there not consequences:
"...these are souls to whom respect is due; : and were it not for the darting flames that hem : our narrow passage in, I should have said : it were more fitting you ran after them." (Inf. 16.15-18, John Ciardi translation)
The three men approach, and Dante describes them as naked oiled, lunging wrestlers circling near his feet. They are men he deeply respects and what I find so interesting is that none of them have any other claims of sodomy against them—Dante is pretty much the only person to mention their names in that context.
And, to me anyway, there's something carnal about the way he's described them:
"As naked and anointed champions do : in feeling out their grasp and their advantage : before they close in for the thrust or blow— : so circling, each one stared up at my height..." (Inf. 16.22-27, John Ciardi translation)
So, does Dante just know some niche Florentine gossip that only he had the balls to put to paper? Or was there something more personal about his choosing these men? (I find it notable that he likely did not meet the majority of them; most of them died around the time he was born or during his early childhood years)
All three of them (Guido Guerra, Tegghiaio Aldobrandi, and Iaocpo Rusticucci) were political/moral idols of Dante's, so I find it strange he puts them here with no evidence to back his claims of homosexuality. In fact, there is only 1-3 (depending on how strongly you feel about it) sodomites mentioned in Canto 15 and 16 that can be explained.
Brunetto Latini, Guido Guerra, Tegghiaio Aldobrandi, Iaocpo Rusticucci, and Guglielmo Borsiere all were baseless, it seems. Priscian and Francesco d'Accorso were both teachers, which is at least some kind of explanation (it was often said that teachers were "most tainted" by the vice of sodomy, especially Latin grammar teachers such as Pricisan). Truly the only guy who really seems to have evidence backing Dante's claim of sodomy is Andrea de' Mozzi.
So again I have to wonder, why these men in this specific circle? This leads me to my theory that Dante himself had very conflicting feelings about homosexuality, specifically related to himself, which may explain why he picked such respected figures.
This is what he says upon meeting the three sodomites in Canto 16:
"I would have thrown myself to the plain below : had I been sheltered from the falling fire; : and I think my Teacher would have let me go. : But seeing I should be burned and cooked, my fear : overcame the first impulse of my heart : to leap down and embrace them then and there." (Inf. 16.46-51, John Ciardi translation)
This is so painfully reminiscent of the closeted experience—staying there out of fear, holding back your impulses to stay up where it's "safe". That he would join them, and not just join but embrace them, if there were no consequences is rather telling. And again, we have evidence that Virgil would probably happily have let Dante join them, were it not for the pain that would follow. I think this shows Dante himself has had thoughts about men, but not pursued them out of fear; especially when you consider the wording "my fear overcame the first impulse of my heart".
In my post from the other day that kind of skimmed over this, I talked about the clear contrast between Poet Dante and Character Dante—how Poet Dante specifically wrote these men being punished in this specific way, but Character Dante shows an abundance of compassion/respect and possibly even kinship with those same men—and how that likely shows an internal struggle within real-life Dante regarding homosexuality.
I tied it back to the Wood of Suicides and how his pity for those souls could be taken as a critical reflection of his own traits (in the Dark Wood, his first instinct was to give up before Virgil arrived).
What I did not mention, was how it could also be tied back to his reaction in Circle 2: Lust.
There, Dante was so overwhelmed by pity that he swooned and passed out upon hearing the sad tale of lovers Francesca and Paolo. Again, the same contrast between Poet Dante and Character Dante is present. Poet Dante created the punishment, he chose who was placed there and why, and yet Character Dante finds such compassion for them.
And Dante is not always so sympathetic to the sinners in Hell—when crossing the river Styx he actually calls for a soul to be tortured more. This is not just his common reaction to meeting a tragic soul.
I think you could easily say Dante had a soft spot for love, and therefore for the sinners that occupy the circle of Lust. Take for example Vita Nuova, written for Beatrice, whom he had only met twice (at 9 and 18 years old), and both had even gone on to marry other people. And yet, he has a whole book of love poems to her that he wrote in his 20's and 30's (the years leading up to and just after her death). So again, like the Wood of Suicides, you could easily say Dante is using this setup to be critical of his own traits.
So if you put the Lust and Suicide together as an obvious explanation of that, when he uses the exact same structure when discussing Sodomy, I find it hard to draw a different conclusion. Especially when this isn't necessarily a vehicle he uses often (so far, at least).
I haven't even looked at Purgatorio yet, but from passing research I know he meets some "repented" sodomites up there, and I'm very curious if/how that will change my perspective on this. I'm truly so fascinated by Dante, he's the little guy of all little guy's, and while this canto wasn't maybe suuuuuper plot heavy (aside from another recitation of his prophecy and a lament about the sorry social state of his beloved city) it felt so intimate and reflective.
Sorry for going on forever but I needed to get this all out in one place before my brain exploded.
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