Ptolomaea and Friar Alberigo

Dante and Virgil pass into Ptolomaea, where traitors to their guests are punished. The souls lie supine in the ice, their tears frozen in their eyes, preventing them from weeping. Friar Alberigo, who murdered his guests at a banquet, asks Dante to remove the ice from his eyes. He explains that in Ptolomaea, the soul descends to Hell as soon as the betrayal is committed, while a demon inhabits the body on earth. He names Branca d'Oria, who is still alive on earth but whose soul is already in Hell. Dante refuses to open Alberigo's eyes, an act of 'courteous rudeness.' This episode introduces the chilling concept that some souls are damned before their physical death.