The Fourth Bolgia: Soothsayers

Dante and Virgil enter the fourth Bolgia, where the soothsayers, diviners, and astrologers are punished. Their heads are twisted backwards on their bodies, so that they must walk backwards, weeping, their tears falling on their buttocks. Dante weeps at the sight, but Virgil rebukes him, saying pity here is dead. He points out Amphiaraus, Tiresias, Aruns, and Manto, and tells the story of the founding of Mantua. Other soothsayers include Michael Scott, Guido Bonatti, and Asdente. This contrapasso punishes those who claimed to see the future by forcing them to see only behind them, their vision distorted.