Is Dante’s Inferno Structure of Hell Valid?
The first part of Divine Comedy, the epic poem by Dante Alighieri, is named Inferno. In general, Inferno is the underworld Hell that is broken up into three major layers; Upper Hell, Lower Hell and the Center of Hell. In this portion of the poem, the author, Dante, recollects and narrates his own trip taken through Hell from beginning to end by means of visualization (Dante).
Additionally, the three main levels of Hell in Inferno are sub-categorized. Upper Hell consists of a threshold or waiting area as well as Circles one to five. Overall, Upper Hell keeps the indecisive angels and sinners that lacked self-control and restraint during their lives on earth. These sinners are regarded as less
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grave than others in Hell. Most of them did not harm anyone except for themselves. This section also includes righteous pagans, the unbaptized, the lustful, the gluttons, the greedy and the angry. The dead in Upper Hell suffer a constant anguish of endless chasing, stinging, boredom, constantly being blown by storm winds, useless labor and fighting. (Alighieri, Cantos 3-9). Lower Hell, also known as the City of Dis, includes Circles six through eight. Even though this section only has three Circles, it is composed of fourteen subcategorized sectors. It is filled with people that committed intellectual offenses akin to deviation, various forms of violence (as well as suicide), murder, fraud, seduction, astrologers, hypocrites, thieves, and falsifiers, among others. The ones living in Lower Hell endure a torment of eternal burning, blood submerging, entrapment, whipping, poking, mutilations, madness and fevers, just to name a few (Alighieri, Cantos 10-30). The very last division of Hell is identified as The Center of Hell, otherwise known as Circle nine.
The Center of Hell is split into four different treachery sections, each named after well-known individuals who, till this day, are distinctly recognized as traitors. Here we find murders and traitors, especially those that executed a sin against one’s family member or benefactor. Most likely Dante categorized these sinners as more grave for their sins impaired a shared societal union or a relationship tie. This is the only part in Hell that is not at a burning hot temperature; sinners are forever damned frozen from the neck down or completely submerged in ice. What's more, in the center of Hell, it is where Satan and Judas are located. They are most likely afflicted in the deepest of Hell for having committed the worst sin of all, betrayal against God and Jesus (Alighieri, Cantos …show more content…
31-34). Taken as a whole, Dante appears to connect a person’s sin, while living, on earth with the everlasting sentence he or she will be presented with in Hell. The words engraved on the gate in the main entrance affirm that God was moved to produce this specific fair place with His wisdom and His original love (Alighieri, Canto 3). For the most part, Dante’s poem is designed to give the impression that punishments are fitting depending on the severity of the sinners’ sin. It is structured in a manner that slowly advances, starting from the top of Hell composed of trivial sins to the bottom deep with more critical sins, apparently all established by God himself (Alighieri, Canto 3, Line 4). There is no doubt, Dante had a great amount of spiritual perception and intellect to have been able to draft such an impressive classic piece; if he didn’t, we wouldn’t be studying it today, over seven hundred years later (Dante). In my opinion, Dante was living well ahead of his time since we are still discussing, but most importantly, learning from him almost a century later. Given the circumstance, this is my first exposure to Inferno, all in all, I can say I do agree with Dante’s structures of Hell and the descending levels of eternal punishments for sins. I do, in fact have just a couple of exceptions; for instance, I believe I would change some of the precise rankings each sin is classified in. I do not agree the adulterous sinners, Francesca da Rimini and her lover, Paolo Malatesta, belong in Circle two of Upper Hell with the lustful. In my opinion the right place for them would be in Circle nine, The Center of Hell. These two sinners belong with the traitors for the reason that they both carried out a sin against their own family member. Gianciotto Malatesta was Francesca’s husband and Paolo’s brother. They should be rebuked in a tougher manner since their sin was more than just lustful; it harmed their relationship as brothers and their marriage as well (Alighieri, Canto 5). In support with Dante’s structure of Hell, I do have faith that not all sins are measured equally. I chose to relate Dante’s work with the Bible since Dante was of Christian belief and, for over two thousand years, the Bible has been the most essential Christian doctrine manual concerning God’s message. Numerous verses in the Bible (a Christian scripture re God’s purpose) lead me to believe that certain sins are not forgiven at all, ever. Blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, for example, is mentioned not forgivable infinitely (Oremus, Matthew 12:31-32, Mark 3:28-29). Most importantly, the Bible frequently affirms God will judge each of us appropriately in our own fitting ways, according to our conduct and depending on what we have done (Oremus, Ezekiel 18:30, 24:14, 33:20, 36:19, Revelation 20:12-13).
Also, like Dante’s Upper Hell, I do agree that some sins are specified as being committed to one’s own body (Alighieri, Canto 6, 8). As a consequence, the Bible alerts us to flee from such (Oremus, 1 Corinthians 6:18). Clearly some sins are more critical than others and therefore some penalties will be harsher than others. However, be careful, each and every sin, all of them, yanks us far away from going to heaven and being with God. But keep in mind, not all sins are equally the same and not all sins lead to the end of life. Yet still, the bible implies prayer has the power to give people life (Oremus, 1 John
5:16-18). Circle nine, the very center of Hell is a particular formation in Dante’s Inferno I defend above all. Here you will find Judas’ head being chewed off by the most ferocious mouth of Satan, as well as being skinned by him. I see eye to eye with Dante here most of all since the Bible quotes Jesus himself saying that Judas is accountable of a greater sin (Oremus, John 19:11). Taken as a whole, I strongly approve the method for Hell that Dante (the author and narrator), the three divisions visualized and projected in his piece Inferno. I am not definitely sure the specific details related to the way sinners are punished are exactly true, nevertheless the envisioned journey convincingly harmonizes with what is articulated in the Bible in many different points. What is more, the Bible is respected as a Christian scripture regarding the purpose God has for all of his creation.
In most ancient literature some sort of divine justice is used to punish people's acts in life. This is that case with Dante's Inferno, where the Author categorizes hell in 9 circles. Circle 9 being the lowest sins and punishments as the circles decrease. From the time this was written to now in days many things have changed, and things are not seen the same no more. Back then sins like greed and gluttony were ranked as high sins but now people would probably rank those very low with other things like murder way on top. Yet the basic structure set by Dante remains.
The first being that there was a certain construction to his hell. The shape, first and foremost, was with a cone. Being largest at the top and getting smaller and smaller as you went down. Of course, the farther you went down, the worse the sins. When taking into consideration how I would construct my own hell, I decided I would follow this same format. The people who committed the worst sins would sit in the bottom on hell, in like a pit. The people that committed sins that were the least offensive would be at the top of the cone, where it’s the widest. As far as the actual geography of hell, I don’t think I would follow Dante’s schemata exactly, although I would draw a couple ideas from it. One thing that I would keep the same is the fact that the punishment of the sinner would reflect the sin that he or she committed while on Earth. The thing that I would change would make hell a lot more personal. For example, the sin committed would deal with the person directly. What the person feared or dreaded the most would be the punishment inflicted upon them. Depending on the severity of the sin. For instance, someone simply lied, then the extent of their own fear wouldn’t be as severe as it would if they had killed
The geography for each circle of Hell's misery is distinctly arranged to coincide with the sin of the sinners contained within. In Canto V, we are taken to the prison of those souls who were unable to master their own desires. These are those who "betrayed reason to their appetite" (1033), allowing the lust of flesh and carnal things overcome their God-given human reasoning. It is here that we see a dark and deafening Hell, full with the roar of the anguish of the condemned dead. Dante sees a great whirling storm of souls that are forever tossed and battered on their "hellish flight of storm and counterstorm" (1033). It is conveyed to us that each soul's path in the whirling cyclone is all but steady, blown about in a constantly changing torment with no direction or destination...
In Dante’s Inferno, throughout the epic journey of the character Dante into the depth of Hell, he encounters a number of beasts and monsters as he passes along the way, especially through the seven stations of the greatest monsters of Hell. The most significant of these seven major monsters is of central importance to the character Dante’s journey as well as to the narrative, for these monsters not only challenge the presence of the character Dante in Hell, but they are also the important custodians of Hell. Moreover, some of them even have more particular duty to perform, apart from being the Hell guardians.
When one tends to think of Inferno they tend to think of Hell and the fiery and evil place that it is. They think of all the terrible deeds that have been committed to put one there or the terrible things being done to the wicked people. Something that would slip most people's mind and really did not enter mine as I was reading it was the fact that a major theme of the book is actually love. Love is what motivated Dante to make this journey in the first place. Love is what kept him going when he wanted to give up. Love is the reason that Hell was created in the first place. God loved all his children so he created a place to punish those who deserved it.
The Divine Comedy written by Dante is one of the greatest poems ever written based on the fact that it is an autobiography as well as an allegory. It is considered an autobiography of Dante because he uses his personal experiences as motivation and inspiration. The beginning of first poem in The Divine Comedy, The Inferno, is related to the emotions Dante experienced after being exiled from Florence. He is wandering in the woods when he comes up to the bottom of a hill and starts to climb it before he is stopped by three creatures. This scene relates to how lost and confused Dante felt, along with feeling like he was attacked. By using his personal experiences and emotions, Dante actually wrote what is known as an allegory. Gay Johnson
“Abandon All Hope Ye Who Enter Here.”(Alighieri 18) this statement is viewed while entering through The Gates of Hell. The Inferno by Dante Alighieri is one perspective of Hell that has been written. According to the Cambridge University Library, Hell is set up like a funnel that extends from the surface of the Earth located near Jerusalem; it expands down to the center of the Earth (Cambridge 2006). In this cone-like structure, there are circles that divide sins by the severity of the sin committed. Each circle is on a different ledge or level that separates them from each other (Alighieri 25). Dante and his guide Virgil travel through all the circles of Hell during the Lent season. Through their travels they inspect and comment on the variations
In the Inferno we follow the journey of Dante as he wanders off the path of moral truth and into Hell. The Virgin Mary and Santa Lucia ask Beatrice, Dante’s deceased love, to send some help. Thus, Virgil comes to the rescue and essentially guides Dante through Hell and back to the mortal world from which he came. However, things begin to seem kind of odd. When reading the Inferno one may begin to question the way Dante describes Hell and the things that occur within, or even the things we have always believed about Hell. Despite the way it is described and well known in western civilization, Hell is not at all how we expect it to be because of Dante's use of irony throughout this poetic masterpiece.
The nine levels of hell is distributed so that the last level contains the worst sinners. In reminder of contrapasso that the punishment is always befitting of the sin. The last level known as the ultimate evil is where you come in contact with the worst sinner of all time Lucifer. Lucifer is known for rebelling against God which is why he was placed at the bottom of the slope. Therefore, Dante Alighieri's depiction of Satan at the bottom of Hell reveals many reasons as to why certain punishments suits specific sin.
“Early in the spring of 1300, "midway along the road of our life," Dante is lost and alone in a dark, foreboding forest. To survive this ordeal, he must visit the three realms of the afterlife, beginning with Hell.” (Smith) Dante’s Inferno, one of the great classical poems that have come out of literature that’s topic is hell. Dante’s Inferno, gives a descriptive look into hell, from the eyes of Dante. Dante goes into detail about every part of hell. The people, what it looks like, sins to go there, the whole shah-bang. Dante splits up hell into nine different parts. In which he sends different types of sinners to each part. Each hell is made up differently, each has different systems that make up that particular systems. For example, circle three, has Cerberus the three headed dog, and another circle is completely frozen over. There are three circles of hell in Dante’s Inferno that are the best in the book: Circle one, circle six, and circle three.
Inferno, the first part of Divina Commedia, or the Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri, is the story of a man's journey through Hell and the observance of punishments incurred as a result of the committance of sin. In all cases the severity of the punishment, and the punishment itself, has a direct correlation to the sin committed. The punishments are fitting in that they are symbolic of the actual sin; in other words, "They got what they wanted." (Literature of the Western World, p.1409) According to Dante, Hell has two divisions: Upper Hell, devoted to those who perpetrated sins of incontinence, and Lower Hell, devoted to those who perpetrated sins of malice. The divisions of Hell are likewise split into levels corresponding to sin. Each of the levels and the divisions within levels 7,8, and 9 have an analogous historical or mythological figure used to illustrate and exemplify the sin.
Dante’s Inferno presents the reader with many questions and thought provoking dialogue to interpret. These crossroads provide points of contemplation and thought. Dante’s graphic depiction of hell and its eternal punishment is filled with imagery and allegorical meanings. Examining one of these cruxes of why there is a rift in the pits of hell, can lead the reader to interpret why Dante used the language he did to relate the Idea of a Just and perfect punishment by God.
In his first article of The Inferno, Dante Alighieri starts to present a vivid view of Hell by taking a journey through many levels of it with his master Virgil. This voyage constitutes the main plot of the poem. The opening Canto mainly shows that, on halfway through his life, the poet Dante finds himself lost in a dark forest by wandering into a tangled valley. Being totally scared and disoriented, Dante sees the sunshine coming down from a hilltop, so he attempts to climb toward the light. However, he encounters three wild beasts on the way up to the mountain—a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf—which force him to turn back. Then Dante sees a human figure, which is soon revealed to be the great Roman poet Virgil. He shows a different path to reach the hill and volunteers to be Dante’s guide, leading Dante to the journey towards Hell but also the journey seeking for light and virtue.
Each contrapasso is well thought out and devised to try to show that each sin is different, yet equally punishable in the afterlife. The contrapassos, and therefore the circles of hell, are placed in a manner of sin’s severity, or at least in Dante’s eyes. Sins of the flesh, animalistic sins, and sins of passion are not as harshly punished as sins of reason, calculation, and cruelty. Dante believes that human reason separates man from beast, and to abuse such a gift from God warrants an unimaginable pain. Thus the deeper in hell you travel, the more thought out sins are punished and the less desirable the punishment.
As mentioned above, the structure of Hell is determined by the sins people commit during their lifetime (the specific morals people disobey) and how ‘bad’ these sins are considered to be (within their respective divisions). The sins being described in The Inferno abide by the rules written for the Catholic religion in The Bible, which is why The Inferno is often viewed as a religious text. This explains why Aristotle and Dante would disagree on a few key points of what it means to be virtuous. Aristotle is adamant about not having excess nor deficiency and rather finding a middle ground (mean), whereas Dante abides by the virtues laid out in The Bible. Hell usually personifies what would be considered excessive rather than deficiency in Aristotle’s code of ethics because of its background in the Catholic religion. One example of this exists with humility. In the Catholic context, humility stands a virtue that is praised in The Bible (and therefore Inferno) whereas in Nicomachean Ethics humility is a vice to be looked down on. This continues to be the case with many different excesses and virtues for