Canti 7-13 dell'Inferno

I was very struck by the walls of the city of Dis made of iron (line 78 canto 8). Iron sybolizes to me strength, war and impermeability. Iron is cold and heavy, and is a heat conductor, i.e. fires of Hell.

It is no suprise to me that Dante puts Farinata in Hell. He led the armies of Siena and other Ghibellines against the Guelfs of Florence at the Battle of Montaperti, where the Sienese and other Tuscan Ghibellines were victorious over the Florentines. This is something that the Sienese are very proud of, still to this day. Thus it is something that the Florentines are not proud of, and their hatred for Farinata remains. The image of Farinata in Hell is an interesting one:

"'From the waist up you will see him'" says Virgil to Dante (lines 32-33 canto 10). The rest of his body is not visible to Dante at this time, but become visible later. To me this implies that he is not a physical man, but a soul or spirit, or some sort of ghost.