I have read this Canto over and over again, and I just don't understand what is going on or what it means. I am trying to see if anything symbolizes stuff, but I just can't. This is the only Canto that I don't get. Can someone help me out here?
this summary is available on this site in its entirety:
Canto XXV: Summary:
"When Vanni Fucci had finished his speach he cursed God with obscene gestures, and Dante was pleased to see him attacked by some snakes who coiled around him tightly. Then he saw a centaur, Cacus, who was covered in snakes as well, who was killed for his thievery by Hercules. Dante then saw three shades who wanted to know who he was. He didn't recognize them, but one of them called another Cianfa. A strange and horrifying scene followed: a serpent with six feet closely grasped one of the shades, and as though they were made of warm wax, the two melted together. The other shades were horrified by the shade's metamorphosis; they called him Agnello. Agnello turned into a doubled serpent monster and crawled off. Then a little serpent pierced through the stomach of one of the other sinners and as the transfixed shade and the serpent stared at each other, they slowly changed shape: the serpent turned into a man and then man into a serpent. The new-made man told the third shade that he had wanted Buoso to run on all fours like he had done. Dante noted that the only soul who did not change shape was Puccio Sciancato, and the other, who had originally been a small serpent, was he who had made Gaville grieve."
http://www.gradesaver.com/divine-comedyi-inferno/study-guide/section7/
