About Canto 19
At Canto 19 we specialise in extraordinary and exhilarating corporate and charity events, such as firewalking, glass walking, board breaking, arrow snapping and steel bar bending.
Our events, and the activities that we facilitate, are not only great fun, but also serve as a personal challenge to every participant, whilst further helping to create, develop and sustain a positive group dynamic.
At Canto 19 our aim is to provide some of the greatest life-changing experiences a person can achieve, in a safe, fun and hugely positive environment.
A ‘canto’ is a major division of an epic or long narrative poem, and in this instance, ‘Canto 19’ relates to one of the most important works in medieval literature, namely Dante’s ‘The Divine Comedy’ (written in 1320).
The Divine Comedy follows Dante himself, as he embarks on an imaginary journey through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (a place or state of punishment wherein the souls of those who die may expiate past sins, via suffering, and so become fit for heaven) and Paradise (Heaven).
‘Inferno: Canto 19’ describes the third ditch in the eighth circle of Hell, which is dedicated to those who committed the sin of simony (the sin of attempting to exchange money or favours for power or positions in the Christian church).
At this point in the narrative, Dante (alongside his guide Virgil) reaches the top of a ridge. He looks down into a valley of rocks below, and the rocks are covered in round holes in the ground. Dante sees that there are people stuffed head-first into these holes with their feet sticking out of the top, the soles of which are on fire!
“Up from the mouth of each hole there stuck out a sinner’s feet and legs up to the calf, the rest of him remained stuffed down inside. The soles of both feet blazed all on fire. The leg-joints wriggled uncontrollably and would have snapped any rope or tether. Just as a flame on anything that’s oily spreads only on the object’s outer surface, so did this fire move from heel to toe…”
The Divine Comedy (1320), Inferno: Canto 19 – Dante Alighieri
Gustave Dore (1863), The Inferno, Canto XIX