[31] It seems never to have been noticed that, as every line from the surface to the centre is perpendicular, a descent by slopes, such as is represented, would really be impossible.
[33] A late legend, to which some eminent writers have given too easy credence, does actually assert that Dante did go to Genoa, in the suite of Henry VII., about the end of 1311, and there was ill-used by some of Branca d’Oria’s friends or domestics. But none of the early commentators knows anything of this tale.
[35] See [pp. 48–51].
[38] Note that cupidigia is, in Dante’s scheme, the vice opposed to giustizia, that which debases nations as righteousness exalts them.