Canto IX
Line 38-48 “Three furies of Hell, stained with blood, who had limbs and gestures of women…and he fell silent”
The three furies were known in Greek Mythology for punishing those who did wrong. The crimes most likely to anger the furies were ones involving someone’s family or something related to an oath. The furies were also in charge of cursing people and punishing those with disease and madness. The furies appear in many instances in history, including the Inferno. (MB)
Line 52-54 “”Let Medusa come: so we will turn home to concrete,”...On Theseus his attack.”
Medusa was a mortal along with her two immortal sisters, Stheno and Euryale. The three were referred to as Gorgons, monsters with snakes for hair who could turn people to stone with a look. She was born of the sea god of dangers and the sea goddess of monsters. Medusa is the most commonly mentioned of the sisters, in history or pop culture. Dante and Virgil discuss Medusa, but Virgil warns Dante to avoid her eyes should she appear or else there will be no escaping. (MB)
Representations of Female Speech in the Divine Comedy: Canto 9.38-58
Dante describes the Furies of Hell as having “the limbs and gestures of women” so we know they are being represented as female. He says that the furies “beat themselves with their palms and shrieked so loudly that for fear I drew closer to the poet.” This follows Mary Beard’s argument that women’s voices are often distorted and in this case the word shriek has high-pitched connotations which further play into the trope of the unmasculine (and therefore unfit for public speech) female voice. So much so that the pilgrim is scared by it. (CJ)