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Sin In Dante's Inferno

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Dante lived in a time of fierce and violent political change. He was involved in Florentine politics that led to his expulsion. He fought in the battle of Campaldino and was part of the Guelphs that fought against the Ghibelline and triumphed. Dante was elected to one of the six priors of Florence, the highest political office in the city.
The Guelphs were later divided into White and Black Factions. The Black Guelphs supported the Pope and the White Guelphs Dante’s party wanted freedom from Rome. Pope Boniface VII later regained control along with the Black Guelphs.
When the Black Guelfs returned to power Dante was charged with barratry, the sale of political positions and as punishment he was banished from Florence. Dante never returned …show more content…

The three animals represent the three main types of sin in Dante’s Hell. As Dante was loosing all hope and “rushing down to that low place the spirit of Virgil appears to give him hope and guide him. In his state of madness after being exiled, the soul of Virgil becomes his guide. Dante gives us a biography of Virgil. He refers to Virgil as “fount from which pours forth so rich a stream of words” and a “famous sage” According to Oxford Dictionary Fount means a source of desirable quality and sage means a profoundly wise man. We know Virgil was a poet so in essence Dante is saying that Virgil is a wise and famous poet. In addition, Virgil like Dante lived through civil war and is the author of the Aeneid. The Aeneid is a story of a Trojan man ‘Aneneas’ who leaves his burning city (Troy) behind and travels to Italy Dante’s home in hopes of finding a glorious future.
Virgil is a symbolic figure that represents Dante’s subconscious voice of reason in a state of madness. He is chosen because he too understands the complexity of living in a time of civil war and he wrote about a man’s journey of leaving his home behind, the ordeals faced on that journey, attempting to build a new city, a man that suffered the loss of his home. Who better to be his guide than someone that can understand his plight and is a man of great

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The White Guelphs were at war with the Black Guelphs, reasons being after the fall of the Ghibellines in Florence, as well as, having different economic views. Dante and the other exiled White Guelphs were fighting two battles, one with the Black Guelphs and the other with the

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Virgil answers Dante’s questions, some simple and others quite profound. Every time, Virgil has an eloquent response to the question. Virgil is the perfection of the human intellect, capable of understanding so much of the world without God. He seems to know all that could be known about Hell, and the sinners within. A good government will allow science and philosophical thought flourish.

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In The Inferno, Dante is the hero of the story. Dante is the man exiled from his home as a result of his political struggles and beliefs with the choice between evil and good. Dante’s heroism is in the form of humanity as he faces the challenge which all human beings struggle with. Dante’s courage is tested as he journeys through the rings of hell. According to Dante, “therefore look carefully; you’ll see such things/as would deprive my speech of all belief” (Alighieri, Dante. 1854).

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Virgil is all of the noble virtues of the perfect Roman and represents wisdom and reason to aid Dante. He may act differently during the different areas through hell, but most importantly, he is protective of Dante, reminding him multiple times not to be sympathetic of the damned souls. He is both a tour guide to all of the details of hell and a tour guide to help Dante understand himself. Virgil’s symbolic job is to represent God’s decisions and views on justice through the multiple scoldings to Dante about not pitying those deserving to be punished. Virgil really is one of the most important characters of the book and has a lot to add to Dante’s points on God and

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