Dante begins this journey to find God. To reach Dante 's goal, Dante passes through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. Dante and Virgil enter the gates of hell and descend through the nine circles of hell. In each Circle, sinners are punished differently according to what you have done. In the first circle are virtuous non-Christians and unbaptized pagans who are punished with eternity in an inferior form of Heaven.
Dante's journey is more for self enlightenment in comparison to other great epics, such as Beowulf. Although Dante does not realize it, he is there to improve himself. During this trip, he feels pity for the sinners in the levels of Hell and often faints because of the awful treatment they are being subjected to. He eventually feels compassion for the sinners and realizes that Hell is a place that you would not want to be in. He then goes back to the normal world wanting to tell everyone to change the way they live so they do not end up in Hell, like he experienced on the
The same way, disorder means damnation. In both of the masterpieces we find the same way in conceiving coordinates and juxtaposing politics and religion, empire and church. Analogous is the way to express certain forces of nature, intimate qualities of the spirit, sublimation or degeneration of senses through animals. Dante’s Comedy and the mosaic of Otranto teem with animals and monsters: dogs, wolves, dragons, lions, sphinxes, griffins, centaurs, etc. We find all of these representations in both of the works and with the same meaning, same analogies, and same functions.
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.
Fueled by the anger surrounding his banishment from Florence in 1302, Dante Alighieri spitefully wrote the epic poem, the Divine Comedy. The Inferno, the first part of the trilogy of the Divine Comedy, tells the story of Dante the pilgrim and Dante the poet. The two personas deliver Dante’s journey through hell, the Inferno, with added depth. Dante is also guided by Virgil, an ancient Roman poet from 50 B.C. The three personas share different perspectives on the grueling detail of their findings in hell.
Argument of Dante’s Inferno Throughout the story of Dante’s Inferno his travels through Hell to search for God was interrupted by the spirits and the nine levels of Hell. In the book Dante’s Inferno, Dante goes on a journey through the levels of Hell. In the book as Dante travels through the levels of Hell and his anger increases as the journey goes on.
(354-357) Born then says the final line within Canto 28, “Thus is observed in me the counterpoise.” (358) Not all of Dante’s Hell continues the trend of being a place made only for people who have committed grave sin. The reader finds in Canto 4 that many great poets and people that existed prior to the death of Jesus Christ inhabit the first circle. (88-90) Finally, Dante’s phrases his idea of hell in a very interesting way in Canto 3 by saying those in hell have “foregone the good of intellect” (18)
In Paradiso, the eagle tells Dante “Eternal Judgement to you mortals” (Par. 19.98-99) is past human understanding, this avoiding response conveys that the decision of the afterlife is above humans. In this encounter, the eagle also describes a pagan who lived before Christ, but still “all he [did was] good; / there [was] no sin within his life or speech” (Par. 19.74-75). Dante includes this portion to persuade non-Christians that his message is all-encompassing regardless of religious background. Dante the Poet’s persuasion to live life according to the virtues for something higher than yourself in relation to pagans is also in the final encounter with Virgil in Purgatorio.
Unfortunately, Dante’s journey transitions from the wood into the depths of Hell where he and readers discover the Christian view of sin, repentance, and the need for a savior. The author introduces his readers to Jesus Christ during Virgil and Dante’s conversation about the lost souls in Limbo. In the First Circle of Hell, known as Limbo, the lost souls that did not have an opportunity to meet Jesus Christ dwell in this place. Although they did not sin, they did not have a proper relationship with God through Jesus Christ. However, Virgil testifies about Jesus’ decision into Hell when he says, “ I saw a mighty lord descend to us…
Jesus has descended into Hell and granted salvation to the souls in Limbo with hope. With the absence of these saved souls, every soul left in Hell has no hope of salvation. The sigh that states “Abandon all hope ye who enter here” acts as a warning for only the souls damned to stay in Hell for all of eternity (I, III, 31). No matter what ring of Hell a soul is punished within, the loss of hope is part of their punishment. Dante is one of the few that enter Hell that retains hope.
The story revolves around metaphors where everything has a double meaning behind what is said. Here what Dante is trying to tell us is that he wakes up in hell because he has strayed from the righteous path that the church and God has set for him. This medieval writing continues throughout the layers of hell sinners are damned to hell and live in a world devoid of any sanitation everything around them is full of suffering and death. Above the gate is a message that tells the beginning of the journey into hell and the suffering that will be caused, “I AM THE WAY INTO THE DOLEFUL CITY, I AM THE WAY INTO ETERNAL GRIEF… ABANDON EVERY HOPE, ALL YOU WHO ENTER” (399, 1). The church brings out these punishments seeing as the medieval era he lived in was during the time that the church dominated a person’s way of living.
While reading Dante’s Inferno readers must understand that none of the sinners are innocent. “By this way no good spirit ever passes” (“Commedia: Inferno”). It is also very important to understand that the sins themselves are not the reason they are condemned to Hell. The reason they are condemned to Hell is due to their failure to repent and ask for forgiveness of these sins. “In Dante’s faith, a soul can only be saved by turning to God for forgiveness” (“Commedia: Inferno”).
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.
The encounter with each soul shows Dante the pain and torture they face, and Dante feels sympathy when he sees how miserable they are, but then feels pity once he realizes that their punishments are just direct consequences for their sins. This shows the significance of one’s conscious decisions, because the decisions one made essentially determines their eternity. In contrast, however, The Scrovegni Chapel includes many scenes of life leading up to Judgement Day, and shows the ideal life that one should live, so that once it is time for their judgment, they will be deemed worthy for Heaven by Jesus Christ, and not have to suffer an eternity of torture and consequences for their sins in
In his travels, Dante is lead by the symbol of human reason, Virgil, who takes Dante to talk to sinners of each circle in Alighieri’s depiction of Hell. His bias is extremely evident towards three specific sinners in Hell.
