Punishment In Dante's Inferno

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Dante Alighieri, a medieval Italian poet who worked in the vernacular was famously known for his writing of “The Divine Comedy. The Divine Comedy which was originally named The Comedy is a series of three books which documented the Christian soul’s journey after life, from hell, to purgatory, and ultimately salvation. Dante himself is the main character and is led by a Roman poet, Virgil, who promised to lead him “Forth to an eternal place” (Pearson 215). In the first book “The Inferno”, Virgil led Dante into the gates of Hell. In the second ring which was designed for the sinners who let their desires lead them into sinful decisions and ultimately the second ring of Hell. Dante and Virgil encountered a damned couple, Paolo and Francesca. The couple told Dante they had such an elicit love for each other. “The lovers are forever condemned to unreconciled love to each other but never consummate their feelings (Pearson 216). As punishment for placing personal lust over religion. There are nine rings of Hell, each rings punishment more intense than the last, excluding the first ring which does not have a punishment but a depressing atmosphere. …show more content…

“The gluttonous, condemned to wallow like pigs in their own excrement” (Pearson 216). Dante referred to them as pigs. The nine rings of Hell are categorized by Dante’s personal opinion of worse ways to sin. Another ring down is where the liars and hypocrites would reside, and further down the violent “immersed for eternity in boiling blood” (Pearson 216). At the very bottom in the pits of hell are the traitors, in Dante’s opinion there was nothing worse than a traitor “Satan himself chews on the worst of all traitors- Judas (Thought to have betrayed Jesus) and Brutus and Cassius (assassins of Julius Cesar)” (Pearson

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