Commentary Inf XIV 88-90

The precise nature of that which makes the stream (and possibly -- though not definitively -- the flameless atmosphere immediately above it) so important has bothered the commentators and still does. No 'solution' has anything like general assent. Fosca (DDP Fosca.Inf.XIV.85-90) cites the interesting argument of Cassell (Cass.1984.1), pp. 60-61, who claims that, since the central theme of the canto is baptism, this image reverses the traditional iconography for Christ's baptism in Jordan, which features the flaming forth of the Holy Spirit upon that river, an interesting notion, but one that does not fit easily with the details here, where the absence of flame is a boon to Dante, allowing him to walk the river's stone bank safe from the destructive flames of the Circle of violence. However, it is also true that this is the first and only time Virgil avers that the protagonist has seen a branch of one of the rivers of hell cutting across a zone of hell on its way to the bed of 'another' river (but see C.Inf.XIV.76-84, discussing the stream seen at [Inf VII 100-108]). Virgil's remarks will shortly make plain that this is a truly remarkable occurrence for the traveler who now, for the first time (as the protagonist's own words at [Inf XIV 121-123] would seem to guarantee), may be capable of understanding that the rivers of hell are in fact unitary.