As Dante and Virgil approach the burning desert, they see the souls of the blasphemers lying in agony on the ground, swatting away burning embers. They also see the souls of the usurers (unscrupulous money lenders) crouching in the rain of flames, as well as the souls of the sodomites who wander around aimlessly through the falling fire. Dante has a discussion with one of the blasphemers who was a king of Thebes. Even though this king cursed and blasphemed a pagan god, Jove, he is still damned to Hell.

Virgil also gives Dante a geology lesson on where the rivers of the afterlife originate. They come from the tears of a statue trapped inside a mountain in Crete. Much of this is symbolic and can be best appreciated reading a commentary on the original.

As they walk across a safe part of the sand, one of the souls from a group of the sodomites comes running toward them. …continue the journey… or …go back…