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Holy Number Three In Dante's Inferno

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Dante has two loves: Christianity and Rome. These topics as well as their beliefs are intertwined and sewn into his works, The Inferno is no exception. He latches on to one aspect of Christianity, the trinity. The trinity, God in three parts, is one of the reasons that the number three is considered a holy number in the bible, it is one the many things that is three. Dante uses this concept of three being a holy number and makes it part of the foundation for his writing of writing style, punishments for sinners in Hell, as well as the general mention of threes. The idea of three being a holy number originates from the Bible, where it is used as many times. Peter denied Jesus three times the night he was crucified, there were three crucified …show more content…

The Inferno is made into nine circles, the perfect trinity. He makes it so that the layout of Hell is representative of Christianity in more than just the sense of its existence but also in how it is set up. Nine circles being the perfect trinity, three sets of three, breaks up Hell. Even the formatting of Dante’s writing reflects the number three with each stanza containing three lines. In the very depths of Hell in the center of the earth the holy number is still present, in the bottomless pit of circle nine Satan locked up as a prisoner. Satan, as depicted by Dante, has three heads and in each mouth is forever tearing apart those that Dante presents as the worst to have lived. There is a sinner for each mouth, those that sinned against the things Dante holds most dear. Judas is the middle, for betraying Jesus, Brutus and Cassius on either side for plotting to kill Caesar; those that sinned against the pillars of Christianity and Rome. Circle Seven Round three, the desert is split into three parts. Violence against God forced to lie on the sand burning for the rest of forever, Violence against Nature sentenced to run on the burning sand for eternity, Violence against Art made to huddle on the ground staring at the pouch with their crest on it, never glancing away. Dante implements the holy number, three into every fiber of the construction of

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