Ciriatto

Ciriatto is a literary creation of Dante Alighieri appearing in the Divine Comedy (Inferno). He is introduced by name among a roster of Malebranche demons in Canto XXI and figures in the episode concerning the grafter-sinners recorded across Cantos XXI–XXIII. The provided sources treat him as part of Dante’s organized, hierarchical depiction of Hell rather than as an independently attested figure in pre‑Dante folklore; later media have reused his name and porcine motif as adaptations.

In Dante’s text Ciriatto’s appearance is only minimally described. The poem gives him a porcine association through his name (Ciriatto, literally 'little pig' or 'swine' in Italian) and applies the epithet sannuto, usually translated 'tusky' (Inferno, Canto XXI, line 122). Beyond the piglike name and the single tusky descriptor, Dante does not provide a fuller physical inventory in the cited passages; he is listed among ten named Malebranche who act as individualized infernal agents.

Within the narrative Ciriatto functions as an aggressive enforcer and jailer among the Malebranche assigned to the fifth bolgia. In the episode recorded in Cantos XXI–XXIII he rapidly pounces on a grafter named Ciampolo, demonstrating violent physical aggression, but is checked by another Malebranche, Barbariccia, who takes control of the torture. The provided sources ascribe no additional supernatural powers, specific magical abilities, or vulnerabilities to him beyond his role as a named demon and the implied infernal strength and cruelty of the Malebranche.