ipl-logo

Holy Number Three In Dante's Inferno

481 Words2 Pages

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

Show More
Related

Pope Nicholas III In Dante's Inferno

347 Words | 2 Pages

As one that truly despises the Catholic Church’s doings, Dante associates Pope Nicholas III as a simonist and nepotists in order to slander the church; a goal that Dante is trying to portray in his works. Pope Nicholas III is not only depicted in the Inferno, but he is also placed in one of the lowest levels of hell, Circle 8. Dante’s use of such a location further emphasized his hate for the church’s decision of exile and acts of simony.

Read More

Assess The Significance Of The Number 3 In Dante's Inferno

567 Words | 3 Pages

Symbolism is present throughout many works of literature, including those works from early on. Symbols are used to further emphases themes and ideas typically presented in works. Specifically, in Dante’s Inferno, the number 3 holds significance because in the eyes of Christianity, 3 could potentially be seen as a number that hold theological importance, and his work is in turn critiquing the ways of the Church during the period he was writing. To begin, Inferno is a part of the Divine Comedy, which consists of two other works, Purgatorio and Paradiso. In basic, Dante describes his journey through 3 different stages for his soul to travel to meet God: Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven.

Read More

Christian Religious Beliefs In Dante's Inferno

1247 Words | 5 Pages

Dante’s Inferno is an epic poem by Durante “Dante” degli Alighieri, written in the 1300s. He wrote a trilogy, known as the Divine Comedy, consisting of Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise. Dante was inspired by many events and issues happening at that time, such as the war between Guelphs and Ghibellines, the Battle of Montaperti, and Christian religious beliefs. In this paper, I will explore the first book, Inferno, on the topic of Hell and how the sinners had a significant impact on Dante’s journey through Hell. In Circle 5: Styx, Canto VIII, Filippo Argenti, a sinner of Wrathful, helped Dante to symbolize to readers his anger towards Black Guelphs, political enemies of the White Guelphs.

Read More

Pride In Dante's Inferno

1552 Words | 7 Pages

Down to the penultimate Canto, Dante meets the second pair of sinners bound together: Ugolino and Ruggieri. Ugolino bites the skull of Ruggieri—the vengeance that he badly wanted on earth is given to him for eternity. This image of Ugolino and Ruggieri reminds us of the image of Paulo and Francesca as the only sinners in Hell that are bound together. The juxtaposition of Ugolino and Francesca ultimately demonstrates two facets of love: A fatherly love that was rejected because of pride and a passionate love that was pursued despite its unlawful nature. (Inf.

Read More

Significance Of Light In Dante's Paradiso

2050 Words | 9 Pages

‘To Make Still Finer Mirrors of My Eyes’: Transformative Light in Dante’s Paradiso In medieval thought every star in the cosmos took its light from the sun, the brightest light in the universe. In Paradiso Dante engages in this belief, allegorizing it to represent God as the sun and the rest of creation as the stars. By using overt theological metaphors for light, mirrors, and reflections, he constructed a hierarchy of light in which God, the Living Light and the source of all light in the universe, is the purest form of light and as such reflects divine light on to the rest of creation.

Read More

Satan In Dante's Inferno By Dante Alighieri

618 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

8th Circle 8 Essay

916 Words | 4 Pages

In Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, the 8th circle of Hell is the most mentioned out of all of them, signifying that Dante truly believed there was something important with it. Circle 8 deals with the sinners that have committed some type of fraud against other people. These sinners have significance to Dante Alighieri, mainly for one reason. Circle 8 is the most devoted to in the Inferno because of the fact that fraud can be seen as being mainly committed by humans and not the monsters found in Hell. It can be argued that the most important sin in the poem is the sin of fraud, and this can be seen in the Three Beasts.

Read More

Compare And Contrast The Odyssey And Dante's Inferno

989 Words | 4 Pages

In Inferno, Dante is the main character who is fighting between good and evil, which translates to be the theme of the story. Dante explores deeply the Christian hell and heaven, which includes the immediate Purgatory. This experience makes him cast his allegiance to good and God. The differences between these two stories are depicted when comparing the epic conventions, epic characteristics, and when comparing the various religious backgrounds of the times in which these two stories were written.

Read More

Dante's Inferno Research Paper

302 Words | 2 Pages

Conclusion Overall, The Inferno describes Dante’s vision of Hell. The Inferno is a graphic piece of writing and requires a lot of patience and knowledge when reading it. He wrote The Inferno in Italian, while the common form of writing during that time was Latin. Setting a wider form of audience, and creating an impact on the world of literature.

Read More

Third Circle Of Hell In Dante's Inferno

1261 Words | 6 Pages

In Dante's Inferno, the third circle of Hell is where the protagonist and his guide, Virgil, come across the individuals who have committed acts of violence against God. This section of the poem also features vivid descriptions of the Sand Waste, the Rain of Fire, Capaneus, the Statue of Time, and the Four Infernal Rivers. The landscape of this region is characterized by an extensive area of sand, which is subject to a continuous barrage of fiery precipitation, resulting in a unique and distinctive environment known as "The Sand Waste and the Rain of Fire. " The depiction of sand waste as a symbol of barrenness and desolation resulting from the rejection of God, and the rain of fire as a representation of the punishment that sinners in this circle must endure, highlights the religious and moral themes present in the literary work.

Read More

Number Three In Dante's Inferno

631 Words | 3 Pages

In The Inferno, Dante experienced Hell, and from his journey, one specific idea was consistent. This idea is the importance surrounding the number three. Throughout The Inferno, numbers distinguished the different circles, ranking of sinners, sins, monsters, Cantos, etc. within the afterlife and Hell. Therefore, it can be seen that since the number three was repeated in Dante’s religious works, like The Inferno, this number had spiritual significance (The Inferno).

Read More

Examples Of Divine Justice In Dante's Inferno

1874 Words | 8 Pages

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.

Read More

What Are The Three Major Sins In Dante's Inferno

1087 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More

How Is Satan Portrayed In Dante's Inferno

667 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More

Allegory In Dante's Inferno

741 Words | 3 Pages

Inferno explores the descent of mankind into sin. The work’s vast usage of imagery and symbols, a powerful allegory, and well known allusions highlight political issues whilst dealing with the nature of sin and the road to salvation. In Inferno, Dante is forced to take a journey through hell. With the help of Virgil, his personal tour guide, Dante sees the different kinds of sins, as well as their contrapasso, or

Read More

More about Holy Number Three In Dante's Inferno

Open Document