Dante's Inferno Punishment Analysis

The Inferno is one of a three part series known as The Divine Comedy, an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri in 1320, a year before his death in 1321. The Inferno tells of the character Dante, and his journey through the nine circles of Hell, with the assistance of the Roman poet Virgil. Each circle of Hell houses different sinners, each being placed according to the severity of their sin. Each punishment in the different pouches of this circle is symbolic in its own way, for instance, fortune tellers walk aimlessly for eternity with their heads twisted around, since they tried to see the future in an unholy manner, they must look back, symbolically into the past not being able to see what’s ahead, for all eternity. Along with normal souls,

Dante and Virgil also encounter both mythological and historical figures while traversing each circle of Hell. This paper will focus more on the eighth circle of Hell, all ten pouches of the circle, and the symbolic thought behind each pouches punishment given to the sinners imprisoned there.
Malebolge, or “Evil Pockets, or Pouches”, is the name of the eighth circle of Hell. This circle houses the fraudulent, those guilty of deceiving others for profit. There are ten Bolgia’s, or ditches of stone connected by multiple bridges for each pouch. Each one contains souls who committed a more sever act of fraud than the pouch before it. Entrance into this circle requires Dante and Virgil to descend a vast cliff, which they do by riding on the back of Geryon, a winged beast that is three conjoined bodies; human, bestial, and reptilian, and is the image of fraud.
The first pouch contains both panderers, (pimps), and the seducers. As they approached the first pouch Dante and Virgil sees a group of sinners running continuously from one side of the pouch to the other. Each side of the pouch are ridges where demons with whips stand atop and scourge the souls when they get near, forcing them to run to the other side where the same thing happens. Walking through the first pouch, Dante recognized, in the group of panderers, Venedico Caccianemico, who tells the poets that he once lived in Bologna, and when asked why he dwells here, he responds “I am the one who led Ghisobella to do the Marquis’ will” (BOOK). Continuing on, Virgil points out Jason in the group of seducers. Jason is there for seducing and marrying Medea, only to later abandon her for Creusa. He also seduced Hypsipyle, but “abandoned her, alone and pregnant” (BOOK). What’s interestingly symbolic about the panders and seducers punishment, is that in life, they were slave drivers who moved women around as merchandise from one buyer to the next, and now for an eternity, they run from one demons whip to another.
Making their way into the second pouch, a foul odor arises.

Coming closer to the stench and the sounds of screams, to Dante’s surprise, they see a ditch full of human feces, and those who committed flattery wallowing in it. After being there for only a few seconds, Virgil declares that they leave the pouch, and so they progress to the third pouch. The third pouch houses the Simoniacs, those who bought or sold church offices or roles. The sinners’ punishment in this pouch is for them to be stuck headfirst in pits, with only their feet extended out, with flames endlessly burning their feet. Here, Dante and Virgil meet Pope Nicholas III, who was guilty of simony. The punishment the flatterers receive is both fitting and humorous when you think about it. The ditch full of human excrement is, like those who inhabit it, “full of it” (SparkNotes). When Dante is speaking with Pope Nicholas III, he becomes so angry with the corruption that the Pope, and the other simoniacal popes, that he verbally attacked them. Accusing them of “trampling on the good and lifting up the wicked” (Grade Saver). Afterwards, Virgil is pleased with Dante, and they continue to the next pouch. Virgil being pleased with Dante could suggest that this is all a test of faith, to find out just how strong Dante’s faith is, and to see if it’s strong enough to allow him to overcome the corruption that lies within

Hell.
Entering the fourth pouch, Dante notices a line of sinners aimlessly and endlessly walking. Upon closer examination, he sees that their heads are turned around and pointing the opposite way. Their necks had been turned this way, so their tears of pain no fall on their buttocks. Seeing this, Dante becomes overwhelmed with grief and pity, but Virgil expresses his disapproval of Dante’s compassion towards the sinners. Continuing further into this pouch, they began to realize, as Virgil starts pointing out and naming specific sinners that this is where the diviners are imprisoned. Diviners are those who were astrologers, magicians, and soothsayers, basically occupations the church condemned as unholy. Virgil and Dante see the sorceress Manto, who was a soothsayer and who legendarily founded Virgil’s home of Mantua. What’s symbolic about this punishment, is what was stated above in the introduction. Since they used “unholy” ways to “see into the future”, their heads were twisted backwards, to symbolically suggest that they are fated to forever look into the “past” and not the “future”.
In the fifth pouch, Dante and Virgil see a demon throw a soul into a pit of tar. This is where they meet the barrators, who are corrupt politicians. They also meet the Malebranche, or “Evil Claws”, and their leader Malacoda, “Evil Tail”. After Virgil negotiates safe passage through to the next pouch, they meet a soul, Navarrese, who tells them that he served the house of king Thibault, and was sent here for accepting bribes. After the soul tricks the demons into following him into the pit and getting stuck, Virgil and Dante quietly make their way to the bridge that connects to the sixth pouch. Once they get there, they see that the bridge is collapsed in correspondence with the Harrowing. They then have to jump into the sixth pouch after the demons give chase, blaming them for the embarrassment that had happened.