Ethan Bird Mrs. Howard World Literature 11 Nov 2017 Dante’s Senses In The Divine Comedy: Inferno by Dante Alighieri, Dante went through all nine circles of hell with his guide, Virgil. Through their journey, they witnessed so many new and terrible things in each circle. Each punishment was a new image that either made Dante pass out or ask questions, which helped him relay his message through the entire story he told. The message that Dante was trying to get across was that any disobedience against God is a deadly sin. Each circle showed a new punishment that states why one should not ever disobey God’s word, and Alighieri strictly followed the Christian doctrine values. The first example of how Dante used the sense of sight to relay his …show more content…
The gluttonous and supine are the ones whom reside in the third circle of hell. Their punishment was to be showered in excrement and to be submerged in excrement, along with being gnawed on by the three-headed dog Cerberus. Dante uses the terrifying sight of people being submerged in literal crap and a three-headed dog whom has “eyes are bloodred; greasy black his beard; his belly bulges, and his hands are claws,” to dissuade people from veering away from God (Alighieri 1852). Dante believed that putting the imagery of evil and terrifying into these readers’ heads would prevent human from disobeying and turning their backs on …show more content…
The heretics were punished by eternally being stuck in a tomb that was set on fire for eternity. Heresy was any dispute over Christian doctrine or any misunderstandings in the Holy Trinity or anyone accused of witchcraft, sodomy, or any other accused crimes. In middle ages, witches were burned at the stake for their crimes, and that’s what happens to heretics in the sixth circle of hell. Dante described the people in the tombs as tortured and forever damned. Dante used the burning tombs to portray to people that if you question God you will forever burn in the sixth circle of