Abstract: This article intends to draw a relationship between two characters of Dante’s lower hell: Capaneus (Inf. 14) e Vanni Fucci (Inf. 24-25). First, it illustrates that, despite being punished among the Thieves, Vanni is also characterized as a Violent, and specifically as a Blasphemer. Then, the article compares the representation of Vanni’s punishment with that of Capaneus, the prototype of the Blasphemer and condemned among the Violent against God. Eventually, the article demonstrates that Dante’s Capaneus is built around the idea of denying him the divine light that consecrates him as an epic hero in the Thebaid. On the contrary, the motif of divine light is used for Vanni’s punishment, thus making the character assume an epic façade that contrasts with his nature otherwise described as worthless and bestial.
Keywords: Violence, Fraud, Sacrilege, Blasphemy, Epic, Divine Light, Vanni Fucci, Capaneus, Thebaid.
