Literary Devices Used In Dante's Inferno

In Canto XVI of the Inferno, Dante and Virgil discover the third ring in the seventh circle, which is the sin of the lion, where the souls that were violent against god, nature and art are held. The sinners in the third ring walk on burning sand, which scalds their feet. Minotaurs, born by union of the Moon Goddess and one of Poseidon’s beasts, guard the circle of the violent. Dante and Virgil walk along the banks of the Phlegethon River and end up at a waterfall. Along the way to the waterfall, Dante and Virgil speak to three Florentine souls: Guido Guerra, the leader of the Guelfs (a faction that supported the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor), Tegghiaio Aldobrandi, a Guelf noble and knight, and Jacopo Rusticucci, a Florentine knight. Dante speaks to the souls about current Florence and the souls encourage him to make him and his works of poetry and writing “immortal”, so he can be forever remembered in history. In the seventh circle of Hell, Dante uses multiple vivid literary devices to describe the Inferno and to paint a picture for the reader. He constantly employs literary devices and imagery to describe his idea of Hell. Multiple times, Dante uses dramatic literary devices to aid the readers of the Inferno and to make people believe that his story could actually be evident.

Starting off in Canto XVI, Dante uses multiple literary device

to describe his surroundings in the seventh circle. Dante uses a simile to describe the sounds of the waterfall as he walks along the banks of the Phelegethon River. He states, “already we were where I could hear the rumbling of the water plunging down to the next circle, something like the sound of beehives humming” (lines 1-3). Dante uses this literary device to present how blatant the noise of the waterfall is and to express how close Dante and Virgil are to the eighth circle.
Dante utilizes more literary devices to describe and introduce the three shades Dante and Virgil meet. Dante uses astounding visual imagery to describe the torture of the seventh circle of Hell and the scars on the shade and to stimulate the senses. He writes, “Ah, the wounds I saw covering their limbs, some old, some freshly branded by the flames! Even now, when I think back to them, I grieve” (lines 10-12). Dante is upset about the punishment of the shades and he grieves due to the various scars all over the body. Dante uses imagery to set up the storyline of the Canto. The scars scare Dante, but Virgil advises him to go talk to the shades to find out who they are and what they want from him. The souls introduce themselves as Guido Guerra, Jacopo Rusticucci, and Tegghiaio Aldobrandi. The souls speak to Dante while spinning around the two. Dante says, “When we stopped, they resumed their normal pace and when they reached us, then they started circling; the three together formed a turning wheel” (lines 19-21). He again used imagery to describe the motion of the souls and show that they kept on moving while talking to the souls, passing the time before they arrived at the Phlegethon River waterfall. Dante also wanted to symbolize how much the three Florentines wanted to socialize with someone from their own city.
Dante uses various amounts of imagery and specific language when speaking to the three shades and to reflect the sins of each shade. Dante makes sure the reader exhibits an understanding of the type of language the three shades are using. Jacopo Rusticucci uses “bold masculine language (in contrast to the delicate and rather precious diction of Brunetto Latini in the previous canto) to question Dante and to identify himself and his companions” (219). Dante wants to show the emotional contrasts of the souls with their different opinions and stories to show how different they are, even though they are all from Florence.
Dante once again uses more imagery to describe the sounds of the waterfall when he is getting near. “So down a single rocky precipice we found the tainted waters falling, roaring sound lough enough to deafen us in seconds” (lines 103-105), Dante writes. He uses this literary device to show the dramatic size of the waterfall and show the power and great size of the waterfall. By using imagery for a literally device, Dante wants to express how large Hell is in his point of view. Dante wants to start preparing his viewers for the next significant scene in the book.
In the next scene of Canto XVI, Dante uses multiple literary devices, such as allegory to symbolize the meaning of the greater concept in the Canto.

The writer constantly uses rhetoric devices and metaphoric examples to suggest the meaning of Canto XVI. For example, Dante uses allegory to show the symbolism of the cord from his Florentine robe to invigorate the imagination and to add mystery to his poem. He not only stated in the book about using the belt to capture the Leopard in the Dark Woods, but it was also used to revive a strange spirit from the Phlegethon River waterfall, which leads into the eighth circle of

Hell.
Dante thoroughly describes the revolting setting of Hell and the stories of the three shades from Florence in Canto XVI. In the third ring of the seventh circle, Dante uses multiple literary devices to convey his message across his readers. Dante wanted the viewers to visualize the setting of hell, so he uses multiple accounts of similes, visual and auditory imagery, and allegory to aid the reader. He mainly uses imagery to help the readers visualize the storyline and to describe the stories of the three souls, Guido Guerra, Tegghiaio Aldobrandi, and Jacopo Rusticucci. Dante uses imagery to describe their scars from the hot burning sand, forced on due to their actions in their previous life, and their stories of how they landed in the seventh circle of Hell. Dante constantly employs literary devices and imagery to describe his idea of Hell to make his story come alive and seem real to the readers.