In Canto XVII Virgil and Dante the pilgrim are continuing on their journey through hell in the seventh circle. In this canto Dante meets the creature of fraud who is described to have an innocent face, leopard hide, lion like paws, and scorpion tail. In order for Dante and Virgil to continue on their journey they must ride the creature into the lower levels of hell. There is some irony in this canto because Dante himself is writing a fraud, by putting himself on a journey through hell. The is a moral truth to his poem though, he is writing a redemptive fiction, meaning the reader is taking a journey with Dante so they are able to recognize sin, and therefore be released of it in their own lives. His writing works on a literal and moral level. The reason that Dante is not at risk of the creature of fraud is because of his life and writing are protected from greed by reason. “I found by guide already mounted, upon the rump of that monstrosity. He said to me: “Now must you be undaunted this beast must be our stairway to the pit: mount it in front, and I will ride between you and the tail, lest you be poisoned by it.” (Canto XVII, lines 73-78) Jacque Martin wrote; “Art and poetry awaken the dreams of man, and his longings and reveal to him the abyss he has within himself.” The poem helps Dante the poet discover himself both religiously but also as a person. In Canto XVII he writes about climbing on the back of the creature of fraud and spiraling into the darkness of hell,