The Descent on Geryon

Dante and Virgil reach the waterfall that plunges into the eighth circle. Virgil commands Dante to untie a cord from around his waist and cast it into the abyss. A monstrous figure, Geryon, swims up from the depths—a creature with the face of a just man, the body of a serpent, and a scorpion's tail. Virgil speaks with Geryon while Dante visits the usurers on the sand, who sit with pouches around their necks bearing their family crests. Dante returns, and they mount Geryon's back. The monster descends slowly, wheeling through the air, and Dante is terrified. They land at the bottom of the eighth circle, Malebolge, and Geryon speeds away like an arrow. This episode marks the transition to the circle of fraud, and Geryon symbolizes the seductive and deceptive nature of fraud.