Commentary Inf II 10

This verse begins a series of conversations that give the canto its shape. With the exception of the eleventh canto, 92% of which is devoted to dialogue (mainly Virgil's explanations of the circles of hell, joined by Dante's responses and questions), no other Infernal canto contains so much dialogue, with 118 of its 142 verses being spoken (83%). These conversations form a chiasmus (from the Greek chi, our letter 'x') the device of shaping the parts of a text into a balanced pattern (see Holl.1990.2, p. 100):

   1. Dante (10-36)
         2. Virgil (43-57)
               3. Beatrice (58-74)
                     4. Virgil (75-84)
               5. Beatrice (85-114)
         6. Virgil (115-126)
   7. Dante (133-140)