Jacob,
It's quite possible that you're correct about "denying Christ", but I take
the lines

"I said: 'who are you'?
'I am that Ezalino who didn't believe
the world was made by a jew...'"

as something at once both broader and more specific than a rejection of
Christ and Christianity.  Ezalino rejects the notion of a "chosen people".
He denies the claim of the israelites to any sort of privileged status as a
people. But this rejection is also a metaphor for a rejection of similar
appeals by the Guelph papacy to the same sides-taking Deity, in its truggle
with the Ghibellines for hegemony in Italy.  Recall that Ezalino fought with
the imperial faction (the Ghibellines) against the papal party (the
Guelphs). By denying that the world was created by the god of the hebrew
scriptures, Ezalino is thumbing his nose at the papacy's appeals to divine
authority.  The absolute truth that might be drawn from this example of
proportion goodness (Ezalino's place in Dante's Hell notwitstanding) is that
any earthly power that bases its legitimacy in divine authority is a fraud.
These lines may also refer to influence of jewish banking interests upon the
outcome of the struggle between the imperial party and the papal party.

Tim Romano



----- Original Message -----
From: "Jacob Korg" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, July 15, 2000 8:42 PM
Subject: Re: Can anyone tell me who Ezalino is?


> Now that I've looked at your message again, I might add that I think Pound
> is saying that Ezzelino is denying Christ (the Jew). He is mentioned,
> incidentally, in Inferno,Canto 12, among bloody tyrants.
>                         Jacob Korg
>
> On Fri, 14 Jul 2000 [log in to unmask] wrote:
>
> > I believe Ezalino is the ghoul (fool) who made the mistake of trying to
> > reason with the donkey.
> >
> >
> > In a message dated 07/13/2000 6:58:50 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
> > [log in to unmask] writes:
> >
> >  P.s. In Canto LXXII Pound writes,
> >
> >
> >                                  "I said: 'who are you'?
> >          'I am that Ezalino who didn't believe
> >                     the world was made by a jew,...'"
> >
> >  Can anyone tell me who Ezalino is?
> >
> >
> >
> >   >>
> >
>
>