ABSTRACT
Recent years have seen the publication of numerous studies concerning the animal symbolism of the Comedy. The first description of the souls carried by 'the hellish hurricane' is provided by the simile of the starlings, birds which had a negative connotation in medieval naturalistic literature: they fly in crowded and chaotic flocks and are considered dirty and noisy, especially during the sexual act. This chapter provides an analysis of a selection of these images, both in relation to medieval animal symbolism and to the dynamics of desire in Dante's poem. But there is also a second group of damned souls, namely those who died violently because of their love, who are compared to cranes flying in an ordered line. In medieval bestiaries these large birds are always interpreted in a positive way. Dante offers this image as he gives his first great meditation on love, erotic desire, and lust.
