A few words on Dantes Inferno

A Few Words on Dante’s Inferno

Like in the Inferno, where the gates of Hell begin the journey to the bottom, so life is began by birth, and the journey to Eternity begins. Some lives are more easily lead than others, like some of the punishments in Dante’s version of Hell are worse than others. Although in Hell, there is no hope, not even the hope of hope, the journey that Dante and Virgil take can be compared with the journey of life. Just the fact that Dante has someone to guide him can be comparison, everyone in life has a Guardian Angel assigned to them, as Dante had his own guide in his journey. But to compare all parts of life to the Inferno, one must start at the beginning to realized the end. The birth of body, and the death of the soul.

Midway on his journey through life, Dante realizes he has taken the wrong path. He is lucky. Many of those on the wrong path in their own lives have started on that same path on which they will also end; Dante realizes his error and, in attempting to set himself back on the right path, he goes on an important journey. Like those who also stray from their “right” path, this poet must embark on a fantastic and terrifying journey of exploration and self discovery.

In the Inferno, the circle of Hell is determined by the sins the person (soul) committed while still alive on earth. For their deeds, they suffer eternally according to Divine Justice. The people one sees in life can already have chosen their eternal fate. Their outward actions may determine which part of Hell they are sent to, if indeed they are fated to go there and if Hell is the way Dante puts it.

In the first Canto, Dante realizes he is lost. He says that he does not remember how he lost his way, but he has wandered into a fearful place, a dark and tangled valley. Above, he sees a great hill that seems to offer protection from the shadowed vale. The sun shines down from this hilltop, and Dante attempts to climb toward the light. As he climbs, however, he encounters three angry beasts: a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf—which force him to turn back. Returning in despair to the dark valley, Dante sees a human form in the woods, which soon reveals itself to be the soul of the great Roman poet Virgil.

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... in the trials that lurk ahead, and the reward lost unless it is remembered. But the journey alone is not enough. Choices must be made upon this journey, and blinded by distractions, wrong choices are often made. Many are afraid of where their trip will take them, whether or not they will make the right choices, and like those in the ante Inferno, they make the choice not to make a choice and receive a punishment appropriate to their crime, and are forever tormented by their own indecision. But there are far worse punishments.

As Dante and Virgil go through Hell, Dante observes the different punishments of the souls for the corresponding crimes that they committed while still on earth. This raises a question: was Dante biased in his placement of the souls in Hell? Did his own personal experiences with people he placed in Hell affect the way they were punished in his story? Would someone else put it differently?

To answer this question, yes. Based on the personal opinions of many asked, Dante did put people he disliked in certain lower circles of Hell than he did of other well known people. But this raises more questions.