Commentary Inf I 32-54
The lonza (for the identity of this beast as hybrid born of leopard and lion see DDP Singleton.Inf.I.32) is the first of three beasts to move against Dante as he attempts to mount the hill. Commentators (beginning perhaps with Tommaseo [DDP Tommaseo.Inf.I.49-51]) frequently point to a biblical passage as lying behind Dante's three beasts, the passage (Jeremiah 5:6) that describes three wild animals (lion, wolf, and 'pard' [a leopard or panther]) that will fall upon Jerusalemites because of their transgressions and backsliding. The details are close enough, and the typological identification of the sinful protagonist with the backsliding Hebrews fitting enough, to make the literal sense of the situation clear. Less positive claims may be made regarding its metaphorical valence. For a thorough review of one of the most vexed passages in a canto filled with difficulty, see Gaetano Ragonese, 'fiera,' (ED.1970.2), pp. 857b-861b (with extensive bibliography through 1969, if it omits the useful study of Bernardo [Bern.1963.1]). Ragonese's history of the interpretation of the three beasts includes the following details: The early commentators are strikingly in accord; for them the beasts signify (1) three of the seven mortal sins: lust, pride, and avarice. Modern interpreters mainly -- but not entirely, as we shall see -- reject this formulation. One school cites [Inf VI 75] for the three 'sparks' that have lit evil fires in the hearts of contemporary Florentines, according to Ciacco, who is seconded by Brunetto Latini ([Inf XV 68]): (2) envy, pride, and avarice. Others suggest that there is no reason here to believe that Dante is referring to the mortal sins because there is no precise textual confirmation that such was his plan. They suggest that such a confirmation is found in [Inf XI 81-82], where, describing the organization of the punishment of sin, Virgil speaks of (3) 'the three dispositions Heaven opposes, incontinence, malice, and mad brutishness.' In this approach, there are strong disagreements as to which beast represents which Aristotelian/Ciceronian category of sin: is the leopard fraud or incontinence? is the she-wolf incontinence or fraud? (the lion is seen by all those of this 'school' as violence). For instance, some have asked, if the leopard is fraud, the worst of the three dispositions to sin, why is it the beast that troubles Dante the least of them? A possible answer is that the scene, which takes place on earth and not in hell, is meant to show Dante's tendencies with respect to the three large areas of sin punished in hell. If the leopard represents fraud (as its spotted hide might indicate -- it is beautiful but 'maculate' [see the argument in this vein of Padoan, DDP Padoan.Inf.I.33]), it is the disposition least present in Dante. Perhaps the single most important passage in the text of Inferno that identifies at least one of the three beasts in such a way as to leave no doubt occurs in [Inf XVI 106-108], where Dante tells us that he was wearing a cord that he once used to attempt to capture the beast with 'the painted pelt.' That this cord is used as a challenge to Geryon, the guardian of the pit of Fraud, makes it seem nearly necessary that in this passage the leopard is meant to signify fraud. If that is true, it would seem also necessary that the lion would stand for Violence and the she-wolf for Incontinence. The last formulation is the trickiest to support. The she-wolf is mainly associated, in the poem (e.g., [Purg XX 10-15]), with avarice. But avarice is a sin of Incontinence. Thus Dante presents himself as most firm against Fraud, less firm against Violence, and weak when confronted by Incontinence. In his case the sin of incontinence that afflicts him most is lust, not avarice. This is the best understanding that this reader has been able to manage. It is not one that gathers anything like immediate consent. The three beasts are another of the Comedy's little mysteries likely to remain unsolved. Now see the extended discussion in Gorni (Gorn.1995.1), pp. 23-55.

The formulation of the early commentators ([1] lust, pride, and avarice) has had a resurgence in our time. It would certainly be pleasing to have reason to assent to their nearly unanimous understanding. Mazzoni (Mazz.1967.1, pp. 99-102) has given, basing his argument on texts found in the Bible and in the writings of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, good reason for returning to this view. If it were not for the passage in [Inf XVI 106-108], it would be easy to be convinced by his reasoning. (For an opposing argument, advancing five reasons for which the lonza cannot represent lust, see Manescalchi [Mane.1998.1], pp. 13-36.) However, the passage is there, and seems unalterably to associate Geryon and the lonza. And then the field of reference seems far more likely to be that established within the poem for the three major sins punished in Inferno than anything else.

It should also be noted that a number of still other modern interpreters have proposed various political identities for the three beasts, perhaps the most popular being (4) the leopard as Dante's Florentine enemies, the lion as the royal house of France, the she-wolf as the forces of the papacy. It is difficult to align such a view with the details in the text, which seem surely to be pointing to a moral rather than a political view of the situation of the protagonist as the poem begins.

For a lengthy discussion of the problem in English see Cass.1989.2, pp. 45-76.