Paris Hilton A Leopard Light And Swift And Covered With A Spotted Pelt~ Dante Alighieri

After I rested my wearied flesh a while,
I took my way again along the desert slope,
my firm foot always lower than the other.
But now, near the beginning of the steep,
a leopard light and swift
and covered with a spotted pelt
refused to back away from me
but so impeded, barred the way,
that many times I turned to go back down.
Inferno I


Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1867), Inferno 1.32
Worldly Pleasure; and politically Florence, with its factions of Bianchi and Neri.

The Rev. H.F. Tozer (1901), Inferno 1.32
lonza: 'panther'; the three beasts which are here introduced -- the panther, the lion, and the wolf -- were suggested by Jer. v. 6. The primary allegorical meaning of these is three forms of temptation -- lust, pride, and avarice -- which present themselves to the converted soul on its upward course; the lonza is thus interpreted in Inf. xvi. 108, the lupa in Purg. xx. 10. The prevalence of pride and avarice (or greed) in Florentine society at this time is noticed in Inf. vi. 74, 75; that of corrupt living in Purg. xxiii. 94 foll.

John S. Carroll (1904), Inferno 1.32-33

Whatever the hill represents -- Philosophy, or Good Government, or an ideal of Holiness -- Dante found himself unequal to the task of climbing it. No sooner had he begun the ascent than his path was barred in turn by three wild beasts -- a Panther, a Lion, and a She-wolf. The obvious reference is to Jer. v. 6 -- 'Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.' The exact symbolism, however, is not easy to determine. Once more we find two main lines of interpretation, the political and the moral. According to the former, the


Just landed in Cameroon to refuel the Jet. What a long flight ~ Twitter July 1, 2010

Panther light and swift exceedingly
Which with a spotted skin was covered o'er,

is Florence with her factions of Guelphs and Ghibellines, Blacks and Whites, and her sudden changes of laws and customs [Purg. vi. 139-151]. In Botticelli's drawing in illustration of this Canto, the spots of the Leopard are in the form of flowers; but it is uncertain whether they are meant for the lily of Florence, or for the flowers of Spring, 'the sweet season' of which Dante speaks in line 43. According to this political view, Dante's meaning is that the factions of Florence barred the way to the political regeneration of Italy, which is symbolized by the sunlit hill {and see General Note at end of canto}.

Charles S. Singleton (1970-75), Inferno 1.32

una lonza: OFr lonce. This animal is mentioned in the medieval bestiaries. The description in the Bestiario toscano (M.S. Garver and K. McKenzie, 1912, p. 86) indicates a rather special animal: “Loncia (var. lonza) è animale crudele e fiera, e nasce de coniungimento carnale de leone con lonça o vero de leopardo con leonissa.” (“The loncia or lonza is a vicious, ferocious animal, born of the carnal union of a lion with a leopardess or of a leopard with a lioness.”) Some insist that the lonza is the female of the pardus, an identification that fits the requirements of Ier. 5:6. Benvenuto says: “Istud vocabulum florentinum lonza videtur magis importare pardum, quam aliam feram.” (“This Florentine word lonza seems to signify the leopardess, rather than any other wild beast.”) And Buti mentions “la lonza, che è la femina di quello animale che si chiama pardo” (“the lonza, which is the female of that animal called the leopard”). On the whole question of the identification of this beast, see P. Chistoni (1903); E. Proto (1907); T. Casini (1895).

Robert Hollander (2000-2007), Inferno 1.32-54

The lonza (for the identity of this beast as hybrid born of leopard and lion see Singleton (comm. to Inf. I.32) is the first of three beasts to move against Dante as he attempts to mount the hill. Commentators (beginning perhaps with Tommaseo [comm. to Inf. I.49-51]) frequently point to a biblical passage as lying behind Dante's three beasts, the passage in Jeremiah (Ier. 5:6) that describes three wild animals (lion, wolf, and 'pard' [a leopard or panther]) that will fall upon Jerusalemites because of their transgressions and backsliding. The details are close enough, and the typological identification of the sinful protagonist with the backsliding Hebrews fitting enough, to make the literal sense of the situation clear. Less positive claims may be made regarding its metaphorical valence. For a thorough review of one of the most vexed passages in a canto filled with difficulty, see Gaetano Ragonese, 'fiera' (ED.1970.2), pp. 857b-861b (with extensive bibliography through 1969, if it omits the useful study of Aldo S. Bernardo [“The Three Beasts and Perspective in the Divine Comedy,” PMLA 78 (1963), 14-24]). Ragonese's history of the interpretation of the three beasts includes the following details: The early commentators are strikingly in accord; for them the beasts signify (1) three of the seven mortal sins: lust, pride, and avarice. Modern interpreters mainly – but not entirely, as we shall see – reject this formulation. One school cites Inf. VI.75 for the three 'sparks' that have lit evil fires in the hearts of contemporary Florentines, according to Ciacco, who is seconded by Brunetto Latini (Inf. XV.68): (2) envy, pride, and avarice. Others suggest that there is no reason here to believe that Dante is referring to the mortal sins because there is no precise textual confirmation that such was his plan. They suggest that such a confirmation is found in Inferno XI.81-82, where, describing the organization of the punishment of sin, Virgil speaks of (3) 'the three dispositions Heaven opposes, incontinence, malice, and mad brutishness.' In this approach, there are strong disagreements as to which beast represents which Aristotelian/Ciceronian category of sin: is the leopard fraud or incontinence? is the she-wolf incontinence or fraud? (the lion is seen by all those of this 'school' as violence). For instance, some have asked, if the leopard is fraud, the worst of the three dispositions to sin, why is it the beast that troubles Dante the least of them? A possible answer is that the scene, which takes place on earth and not in hell, is meant to show Dante's tendencies with respect to the three large areas of sin punished in hell. If the leopard represents fraud (as its spotted hide might indicate – it is beautiful but 'maculate' [see the argument in this vein of Padoan, comm. to Inf. I.33]), it is the disposition least present in Dante. Perhaps the single most important passage in the text of Inferno that identifies at least one of the three beasts in such a way as to leave no doubt occurs in Inferno XVI.106-108, where Dante tells us that he was wearing a cord that he once used to attempt to capture the beast with 'the painted pelt.' That this cord is used as a challenge to Geryon, the guardian of the pit of Fraud, makes it seem nearly necessary that in this passage the leopard is meant to signify fraud. If that is true, it would seem also necessary that the lion would stand for Violence and the she-wolf for Incontinence. The last formulation is the trickiest to support. The she-wolf is mainly associated, in the poem (e.g., Purg. XX.10-15), with avarice. But avarice is a sin of Incontinence. Thus Dante presents himself as most firm against Fraud, less firm against Violence, and weak when confronted by Incontinence. In his case the sin of incontinence that afflicts him most is lust, not avarice. This is the best understanding that this reader has been able to manage. It is not one that gathers anything like immediate consent. The three beasts are another of the Comedy's little mysteries likely to remain unsolved. But see the extended discussion in Gorni, Dante nella selva: il primo canto della “Commedia” (Parma: Pratiche, 1995), pp. 23-55.

The formulation of the early commentators ([1] lust, pride, and avarice) has had a resurgence in our time. It would certainly be pleasing to have reason to assent to their nearly unanimous understanding. Mazzoni (Saggio di un nuovo commento alla “Divina Commedia”: “Inferno” –Canti I-III [Florence: Sansoni, 1967], pp. 99-102) has given, basing his argument on texts found in the Bible and in the writings of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, good reason for returning to this view. (For an opposing argument, advancing five reasons for which the lonza cannot represent lust, see Romano Manescalchi [Il prologo della “Divina Commedia” (Turin: Tirrenia, 1998)], pp. 13-36.) If it were not for the passage in Inf. XVI.106-108, it would be easy to be convinced by his argument. However, the passage is there, and seems unalterably to associate Geryon and the lonza. And then the field of reference seems far more likely to be that established within the poem for the three major sins punished in Inferno than anything else.

It should also be noted that a number of still other modern interpreters have proposed various political identities for the three beasts, perhaps the most popular being (4) the leopard as Dante's Florentine enemies, the lion as the royal house of France, the she-wolf as the forces of the papacy. It is difficult to align such a view with the details in the text, which seem surely to be pointing to a moral rather than a political view of the situation of the protagonist as the poem begins.

For a lengthy discussion of the problem in English see Cassell, Lectura Dantis Americana: “Inferno” I (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1989), pp. 45-76.