The Second Bolgia: Flatterers

Dante and Virgil cross to the second Bolgia, where the flatterers are immersed in a stinking filth that seems to flow from human privies. The sinners are covered in ordure, and one of them, Alessio Interminei of Lucca, recognizes Dante and explains that his flatteries have submerged him here. Virgil points out Thais, the harlot, who scratches herself with filthy nails. This punishment is a fitting contrapasso for those who used their tongues to flatter and deceive: they are now immersed in the filth they spread.