Salvador Dali

Soothsayers and Sorcerors

“See the vile hags who forsook huswifry, shuttle and distaff for divining, fain to charm with herbs and with and effigy”
. . . . .
Dante looks down upon the faces of the sinners in the next chasm and weeps with grief at their torment; these sinners must walk through eternity with their heads on backwards and tears in their eyes. Virgil reproaches Dante for feeling any pity for these sinners, the Fortune Tellers and Diviners, because they are here as a point of justice. They sinned by trying to foretell the future, which is known only to God. For the first time, Dante violates his own concept of judging each spirit by the standards of the time in which he lived. Here he condemns the Greek prophets, who were held in high esteem in their own time. It is interesting that the Old Testament prophets are not here, and Dante offers no explanation for their absence.