Commentary Inf XV 121-124

The canto concludes with a simile that perfectly expresses Dante's ambivalent feelings about Brunetto. He looks every bit the winner -- but he is in last place. In the actual race held outside Verona, the runners ran naked, according to the early commentators; the winner received a piece of green cloth, while the one who finished last was given a rooster, which he had to carry back into the city with him as a sign of his disgrace and a cause of derisive taunts on the part of his townsmen. The case can be made that Dante treats Brunetto in exactly both these ways.

Two biblical texts are of interest here: 'The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong' (Ecclesiastes 9:11); 'Know you not that all who run in a race take part, but only one receives the prize?' (I Cor. 9:24). For the resonance of that Pauline text in these verses, see Shapiro (Shap.1977.1), p. 153, and Werge (Werg.1979.1), pp. 2, 4-6.