Inferno: Canto 23 -- Circle 8, Bolgia 6
"We need him crucified. That's all you have to do. We need him crucified! That's all you have to do!"
CAIAPHAS We've been sitting on the fence for far too long
ANNAS Why let him upset us?
Caiaphas - let him be
All those imbeciles will see
He really doesn't matter
CAIAPHAS Jesus is important
We 've let him go his way before
And while he starts a major war
We theorize and chatter
ANNAS He's just another scripture-thumping hack from Galilee
CAIAPHAS The difference is they call him king - the difference frightens me
What about the Romans
When they see king Jesus crowned?
Do you think they'll stand around
Cheering and applauding?
What about our people
If they see we've lost our nerve?
Don't you think that they deserve
Something more rewarding?
ANNAS They've got what they want - they think so anyway
If he's what they want why take their toy away?
He's a craze
CAIAPHAS Put yourself in my place
I can hardly step aside
Cannot let my hands be tied
I am law and order
What about our priesthood?
Don't you see that we could fall?
If we are to last at all
We cannot be divided
ANNAS Then say so to the council
But don't rely on subtlety
Frighten them or they won't see
CAIAPHAS Then we are decided?
ANNAS Then we are decided.
--Jesus Christ Superstar (1971)
_________________________________
To suffer upon one's own body "the weight of all the world's hypocrisy, as Christ suffered upon his body the pain of all the world's sins" is the fate of Caiaphas, the first big Jewish name we've encountered since we heard of all the ones who were rescued from limbo during the plundering of hell. Just as Dante sprinkles pagans like Capaneus throughout a Catholic hell, it is not an odd thing to see a Jew or a Muslim (as we're about to see) suffering infernal torment. Caiaphas shares Capaneus's fate to some extent for Capaneus was a blasphemer and has to lie supine in a desert for an eternity with hot fires flaking upon his exposed flesh. Caiaphas, too, lies supine and crucified, but he gets trampled on, for not only did he not recognize the messiah about whom he preached, he actively sought his death for the good of the people.
Before we can see Dante meet Caiaphas, though, we have to remember where we left him. He and Virgil had just slipped away from the gargoyles and suddenly realize they're in mortal danger as long as they remain in the fifth bolgia. The foreshadowing into the bolgia of the hypocrites is worth noting before we see Virgil pick Dante up and leap off the short cliff into the next level. The canto begins with Dante reflecting that they walked as though they were Minor Friars, one in front of the other, and Virgil responds to Dante's concerned, "Were I a pane of leaded glass . . ." Once clear of the fifth pit, the poets find themselves faced with another procession of sinners, this time weighted down by leaded cloaks so heavy that the poets pass a new one with every step.
Two Jovial Friars, Catalano and Loderingo, present themselves, and Dante is about to remark on their evil when he's transfixed by the sight of Caiaphas crucified to the floor of hell -- we learn, though, that it's not just Caiphas, but everyone in that council who argued for Christ's death. (Now, here's a puzzle if anyone wants to sort it out -- Christ had to die in order for the resurrection to occur -- why, then, are the agents of his death here and not enjoying the beatific vision?) Virgil himself marvels over Caiaphas, for even though he'd come this way before, it was before this crucifixion. When he is satisfied with his thoughts, Virgil asks directions and learns that Malacoda lied about the bridge -- his face darkens with anger, which is really righteous indignation (did we ever establish the difference between the two?). One of the Jovial Friars explains that, as he understands it, the devil is the father of lies.
With that, the poets make their way to a place in the ditch suitable for climbing. One thing to notice is that as the poets get closer to the end of their journey through hell, the cantos start bleeding into one another -- we won't see them out of this pit till the next canto, and we began the canto with their racing from the previous pit. In this way, Dante is able to generate a form of suspense, the momentum of which is going to carry us right into Satan's presence.
S.
CAIAPHAS We've been sitting on the fence for far too long
ANNAS Why let him upset us?
Caiaphas - let him be
All those imbeciles will see
He really doesn't matter
CAIAPHAS Jesus is important
We 've let him go his way before
And while he starts a major war
We theorize and chatter
ANNAS He's just another scripture-thumping hack from Galilee
CAIAPHAS The difference is they call him king - the difference frightens me
What about the Romans
When they see king Jesus crowned?
Do you think they'll stand around
Cheering and applauding?
What about our people
If they see we've lost our nerve?
Don't you think that they deserve
Something more rewarding?
ANNAS They've got what they want - they think so anyway
If he's what they want why take their toy away?
He's a craze
CAIAPHAS Put yourself in my place
I can hardly step aside
Cannot let my hands be tied
I am law and order
What about our priesthood?
Don't you see that we could fall?
If we are to last at all
We cannot be divided
ANNAS Then say so to the council
But don't rely on subtlety
Frighten them or they won't see
CAIAPHAS Then we are decided?
ANNAS Then we are decided.
--Jesus Christ Superstar (1971)
_________________________________
To suffer upon one's own body "the weight of all the world's hypocrisy, as Christ suffered upon his body the pain of all the world's sins" is the fate of Caiaphas, the first big Jewish name we've encountered since we heard of all the ones who were rescued from limbo during the plundering of hell. Just as Dante sprinkles pagans like Capaneus throughout a Catholic hell, it is not an odd thing to see a Jew or a Muslim (as we're about to see) suffering infernal torment. Caiaphas shares Capaneus's fate to some extent for Capaneus was a blasphemer and has to lie supine in a desert for an eternity with hot fires flaking upon his exposed flesh. Caiaphas, too, lies supine and crucified, but he gets trampled on, for not only did he not recognize the messiah about whom he preached, he actively sought his death for the good of the people.
Before we can see Dante meet Caiaphas, though, we have to remember where we left him. He and Virgil had just slipped away from the gargoyles and suddenly realize they're in mortal danger as long as they remain in the fifth bolgia. The foreshadowing into the bolgia of the hypocrites is worth noting before we see Virgil pick Dante up and leap off the short cliff into the next level. The canto begins with Dante reflecting that they walked as though they were Minor Friars, one in front of the other, and Virgil responds to Dante's concerned, "Were I a pane of leaded glass . . ." Once clear of the fifth pit, the poets find themselves faced with another procession of sinners, this time weighted down by leaded cloaks so heavy that the poets pass a new one with every step.
Two Jovial Friars, Catalano and Loderingo, present themselves, and Dante is about to remark on their evil when he's transfixed by the sight of Caiaphas crucified to the floor of hell -- we learn, though, that it's not just Caiphas, but everyone in that council who argued for Christ's death. (Now, here's a puzzle if anyone wants to sort it out -- Christ had to die in order for the resurrection to occur -- why, then, are the agents of his death here and not enjoying the beatific vision?) Virgil himself marvels over Caiaphas, for even though he'd come this way before, it was before this crucifixion. When he is satisfied with his thoughts, Virgil asks directions and learns that Malacoda lied about the bridge -- his face darkens with anger, which is really righteous indignation (did we ever establish the difference between the two?). One of the Jovial Friars explains that, as he understands it, the devil is the father of lies.
With that, the poets make their way to a place in the ditch suitable for climbing. One thing to notice is that as the poets get closer to the end of their journey through hell, the cantos start bleeding into one another -- we won't see them out of this pit till the next canto, and we began the canto with their racing from the previous pit. In this way, Dante is able to generate a form of suspense, the momentum of which is going to carry us right into Satan's presence.
S.
posted by Sebastian Mahfood at 1:12 PM
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