Sins Of The Damned In Dante's Inferno

594 Words3 Pages
Those unlucky souls who were cast into the seventh circle of Hell were sentenced there because of the sin of violence. However, the sin was further broken down into three categories: those violent against others, themselves, or God. The violent against themselves were guilty of suicide, while those guilty of violence against others were condemned for sodomy or usury. The reason these seemingly unrelated sins were grouped together by Dante is that they were seen as going against what was natural. What is interesting to note upon reading Inferno is how the author used the sins of the damned to reflect in their punishment. Those who were violent against themselves are depicted by Dante as those who committed suicide. When a person killed themselves