Righteous Life In Dante's Inferno

Throughout the epic poem Inferno, Dante the Pilgrim travels into the different circles of Hell told by Dante the Poet. The story examines what a righteous life is by showing us examples of sinful lives. Dante is accompanied by his guide Virgil, who takes him on a journey to examine sin and the effects it has in has in the afterlife to different sinners. Through the stories of Francesca and Paolo, Brunetto Latini, Ulysses and Guido da Montefeltro, we are able to understand that people are self-interested in the way they act and present themselves to others and that those in Hell are there because they have sinned and failed to repent their sins and moral failings.

The story of Brunetto Latini teacher us to use the gifts we are given to be fruitful then Barren. Brunetto, was Dante’s mentor, teacher, and a poet who trained him. While Dante was in the seventh circle of hell, he found his old teacher and started walking with him. Brunetto was accused of the sin of sodomy and was unable to have a family of his one. Which made Dante the closest thing to a son Brunetto could have. Because of that, he cheered Dante on, hoping that one day he will return to the surface and says “remember my Trésor, where I live on, this is the only thing I ask of you” (Dante, Inferno, XV, line 119-120). This shows that we must put our gifts and talents to good use and towards a purpose, if they are put toward barren goals then a barren, unjust life it will lead.

Throughout Inferno, we can see that it is a reoccurring theme for sinners who want to be remembered, when really the sinners should have been concerned with the fact that they are burning in Hell for all eternity and the reasons why they were