Dante's Inferno Punishment Essay

In the Inferno every punishment manages to correspond with the crime that person committed in a symbolic way. Dante's "Inferno" is all about punishment. Whether the punishment seems just or not depends. In the book, Dante describes different ways sinners in Hell get punished, and he tries to match their punishments with the sins they committed. Understanding why Dante thought it was important to have fitting punishments that have a symbolic connection, gives us insight into his beliefs. For example, In the seventh circle of Hell,Dante writes,"Each one must stew forever in the same broth he cooked himself”(Canto XII). People who were violent were thrown into a boiling river called the Phlegethon. How deep the sinners were submerged in the boiling water depended upon the severity of their crime. For example, if someone just killed one person they were only submerged up to their necks. But if they were a mass murderer, they would be fully submerged. Circle seven emphasizes the idea that sinners experience eternal torment directly related to the sins they committed. It suggests a correspondence between the nature of the sin and the nature of the punishment.

This punishment represents their deceitfulness when they were alive. Ulysses, the Greek hero, is one of them. When encountering the souls suffering in the Eighth Circle's bolgia of fraudulent counselors, Dante talks with Ulysses, who explains his punishment."Consider well, I was one who knew no bounds, in reaching for the ends I set" (Canto XXVI). Ulysses acknowledges his misleading nature and describes how his personal ambitions led him astray. His punishment of being consumed by flames symbolizes the consequences of his