In
Canto XXXI of the
Inferno,
Dante hears the sound of a horn blast through the
pit. As his
eyes are
drawn towards the
source of the sound, he sees what appears to him to be a
city of
towers.
Virgil assures him that this is not the case, and as they travel closer, the "city" is revealed to be a ring of giants surrounding the final circle of Hell.
His gaze falls upon the first giant, with "His face... as long and large / As is at Rome the pine-cone of Saint Peter's / And in proportion were the other bones". This is Nimrod, the mighty hunter.
Raphael mai amech izabi almi.
On noticing the
travelers, Nimrod tries to speak. However, his speech is
unintelligible, for this is his
punishment. Nimrod was the
chief engineer of the
Tower of Babel, whose
destruction caused the
language of the
world to
split into
several; now, he is
cursed to speak and understand a
language that only he knows.
The horn he wears is the symbol of his former profession as a hunter. Virgil reminds him that this is the sole means of expression left to him, and chides him for attempting to use the human languages he destroyed.
The other giants in the ring are the Titans of Greek and Roman mythology, buried beneath the earth as punishment for rising up against the gods. Nimrod is imprisoned with them both for daring to rise up against his god and as a tower himself, symbolic of the device of his undoing.
Sources:
http://www.ukans.edu/~hisite/carrie/dante_inferno.html
http://www.ayan.org/edebi/dante/inferno/lf_notes_31.html
http://www.divinecomedy.org/divine_comedy.php3?display?Italian?Inferno?31?0?0???????1?