Greek Polytheism In Dante's Inferno
Dante Alighieri wrote Dante’s inferno in which he talks about how people end up in different levels of Hell based on their sins. Then based off those sins they receive a punishment that meets it because of the sin they committed, so they are getting what they did to others, but 1000 times worse. My own version of Dante’s levels would have only three levels. First level for those who talk behind people’s back, next level for people who are two faced, and the final level for the worst people of all, people who judo chop chromebooks. The first level of Hell is for those who talk behind people’s back.
The first part of The Divine Comedy by Dante Aligheri, The Inferno, explores Dante’s interpretation of Hell through his ranking of sins and corresponding punishments. Dante utilizes contrapasso, or symbolic retribution, in order to correlate punishments to each sin, as many punishments clearly reflect the corresponding sin and its nature. Half the sinners present in circle five of Dante’s Hell are those who were wrathful in life. For all of eternity, the wrathful brawl with one another uncontrollably in the dirty swamp of the river Styx.
In Cantos 2-10, Dante organizes hell by circles and ranks. Circle I is called the limbo in this circle, Dante wakes up to find out he is at Acheron and Virgil leads him to Limbo (The first Circle) here Dante find the unbaptized and the virtues pagans. Circle II is called The Lustful. In this circle, Dante and Virgil leave the limbo and begins their journey to the first circle of Incontinence; where punishments of Hell begins to prosper and they also find along the course of this course with Minos. This beast called Minos is the judge of all of the condemned souls to determine which level they belong.
46-49). Dante the author once again uses imagery reminds us of the terror of hell as Dante the character enters a new bolgia. He uses the Christian values to to judge people for what they did against God’s will as it says in the values. He emphasises the punishments such as this one to create this atmosphere. Dante often punishes the sinners according to what they did.
Dante interpretations of sin is that it is universal in comparison to the biblical view and that hell is a place for sinners and that receives intense and everlasting punishment for the sins committed in life. The afterlife of torment and punishment is in relation to the earthly sins. In fact, his worldview is like Paul the Apostle, and that sin needs to be punished. Paul writes about the crime of men and how every person should be punished for those sins. “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness (Romans 1:18, New International Version).”
In Dante’s Inferno, Dante Alighieri's depiction of Satan at the bottom of hell reveals the theme that in Hell the punishment is always befitting of the due to the fact that the lower you go, the farther that person is from god. The picture of Satan satisfies the reader because he shows that he is the opposite of god and that he is full of evil. Lucifer is the demon in the circles of hell which he has three faces, and bat like wings in which he creates the cold wind where the sinners suffer. “The face in the middle was red, the color of anger. The face on the right was white blended with yellow, the color of impotence.
In inferno, Dante divides Hell up into three major subdivisions based upon the type of sin committed, but two subdivisions that sit apart from the sinful divisions. Outside of Hell circles is the Vestibule, where the cowardly souls who refused to commit to either virtue or vice are punished. The First Circle is where those virtuous pagan souls who died unbaptized or who died prior to the coming of Christ reside. They can’t be saved, but neither are they truly punished in the same tortuous ways that Dante described as those deeper into Hell.
Dante’s vision of Hell is incredibly structured, with levels and sublevels dictating certain punishments for certain sins. The least of the sins is being unbaptized; pagan; or being virtuous, but before Christianity arose. This circle is called Limbo, and it is like Heaven, only slightly less glamorous. The worst of the sins is betrayal and treachery, and these sinners are trapped in the Ninth Circle of Hell, called Treachery. The worst sinner according to Dante is Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.
This second circle is the genuine start of Hell and is additionally where the genuine disciplines of Hell start, and Minos, the legendary lord of Crete, sits in judgment of the doomed souls. Circle II is the hover of animalistic desire. The miscreants are hurled and spun by the winds, as in life they felt themselves — powerless in the storms of energy. This canto additionally starts portrayals of the circles given to the wrongdoings of incontinence: the transgressions of the hunger, the wrongdoings of liberality, and the wrongdoings of enthusiasm. Minos, similar to alternate watchmen of Hell, does not have any desire to concede Dante, a living being as yet equipped for recovery, however Virgil compels him to do as such.
The message in Inferno is that everyone is destined to sin once in their lives, but everyone has a choice of how bad they want their punishment to be. Alighieri outlines this with the use of different sinners in different circles of Hell. For example, the virtuous pagans in circle one never did anything bad against God, they only didn't believe in him, and for that, they only had to be without light. However, in circle 9, there reside the people who betrayed others and made a conscious choice to sin and go against God's words, therefore landing them with the worst punishment. One sinner in this circle is Judas Iscariot, the man who went against Jesus Christ.
But, as the poem continues to progress, it becomes quite clear the there is a perfect balance within God’s justice as the degree of each sinner’s punishment perfectly reflects upon the gravity of the sin. Furthermore, the inscription on the gates of Hell explicitly states that Hell exists as a result of divine justice; “ll. “ Justice moved my great maker; God eternal / Wrought me: the power and the unsearchably / High wisdom, and the primal love supernal (III.4-6).” Prior to delving into the structure of Hell and how it displays God’s divine justice, one must first familiarize themselves with both the historical context of Dante’s life, along with the beliefs of the medieval church.
In the Inferno, Dante describes the different levels of hell and the punishment which corresponds to the sin. Dante categorize hell into three major sins consisting of incontinence, violence, and fraudulent. Fraudulent is portrayed as the worse sin in the Inferno while incontinence is seen as a less serious sin. Each category has sinners which have all been punished for their wrong doings in life. The three major sins consist of circles where Dante separates the different sinners.
In Dante’s Inferno, he writes about his journey through hell for the purpose of recognizing his sins. He goes through this journey with Virgil, a voice of reason for Dante. Dante meets people through his journey of the many circles in the Inferno that lead him down into the center of hell, where Satan is. Satan is seen as being monster-like with three heads, representing a mocking of the Trinity and blowing his wings around the cocytus river. The final thing seen here is the fact that Dante’s description of Satan is a bit disappointing compared to the other descriptions he has written about the inferno.
In the Italian Literature “The Divine Comedy”, written by Dante’ Alighieri in between 1308-1321 when he had died is said to be one of the most promising readings that has survived through history. Dante uses descriptive words and ironic characters in his writing that allow the readers to connect and follow easier. His sense of imagery is captivating when he’s describing the different stages and creatures, devils, and places we can visually see it in our minds, which makes his readings remarkable for its time. Dante makes his story very gruesome and real, he uses everything to inflict pain and torture souls as the way he thinks of hell. Dante uses himself as first person in this story to see his journey towards God.
Dante portrays human nature as inherently prideful, seeking only to benefit ones self. As we journey through The Inferno, we are introduced to a multitude of souls. Despite of the differences in the sins committed, there is a common thread running through the whole of hell; not one soul admits to having done wrong; the sorrow and agony expressed by these souls is not due to the gravity of their sin, but the gravity of their punishment. Choosing to indulge in selfish desire will inevitably lead to destruction without the intervention of God.
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