Eryphylus

Eryphylus is a figure from classical mythology who appears among the soothsayers in the Fourth Bolgia of the Eighth Circle of Hell, where he is punished for his attempt to foresee the future through augury. His inclusion in Dante's catalog of diviners underscores the poem's moral condemnation of those who usurp knowledge that belongs to God alone, and his specific role in the Trojan War narrative links him to the broader theme of prophetic deception that runs through the canto.

Identity and Background

Eryphylus is identified by Virgil as an augur who was active at the time of the Trojan War. Virgil describes him as having a beard that thrusts out from his cheek onto his swarthy shoulders, a detail that marks him as one of the distorted shades in this circle. He is said to have been present at Aulis, where he and the seer Calchas determined the moment to sever the first cable of the Greek fleet, signaling the beginning of the expedition against Troy. This act of augury, performed at a critical juncture of the war, establishes Eryphylus as a figure who claimed to read the divine will through omens and portents.

Punishment and Contrapasso

Like all the soothsayers in the Fourth Bolgia, Eryphylus is condemned to walk with his head twisted backward, so that his face is turned toward his loins and he must advance by moving backward. This grotesque distortion is a direct contrapasso for his sin: because he sought to see too far before him in life, peering into the future through forbidden arts, he is now forced to look perpetually behind him, unable to see what lies ahead. Virgil explicitly rebukes Dante for feeling pity at this sight, declaring that "here pity lives when it is wholly dead" and that no one should feel compassion for the divine judgment that has been justly imposed.

Narrative Role and Significance

Eryphylus is mentioned by Virgil in the context of a larger catalog of soothsayers that includes Amphiaraus, Tiresias, Aruns, Manto, Michael Scott, Guido Bonatti, and Asdente. His specific connection to the Trojan War narrative, through his collaboration with Calchas at Aulis, ties him to the epic tradition that Dante constantly invokes and reinterprets. Virgil notes that he has sung of Eryphylus in his own "lofty Tragedy"—the Aeneid—and reminds Dante that the poet knows the whole of that work. This self-referential moment reinforces Virgil's authority as a guide and underscores the continuity between classical epic and Dante's Christian poem. Eryphylus thus functions as a minor but meaningful link in the chain of figures who embody the sin of presumption against divine knowledge, serving as a warning against the human desire to penetrate mysteries that belong to God alone.