Dante's Inferno Chapter 8

In Dante's Inferno, Dante who is main character is getting a tour of hell by his tour guide Virgil. Virgil his tour guide presents to him all the nine levels of hell, including the punishments the sinners must suffer with for all eternity. In the ninth level of hell, the worst sinners are frozen in a giant lake. The sinners are then eaten alive by whom is so called satan. According to Dante, Satan is described as “Than do the giants with those arms of his; consider now how great must that whole, which unto such a part conforms itself… O, what a marvel it appeared to me, when i beheld three faces on his head!

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.

In Dante’s Inferno, many rules are presented. One of the few rules is Contrapasso, the “law of nature,” that states for every sinner’s crime there must be an equal and fitting punishment. It is expressed that the punishment must fit with the crime that was committed. With this in mind, a level of Hell that best represents contrapasso is The Gluttony.

The more profound that the sin that they committed was, the deeper they are frozen in the ice. All of the souls had a betrayal of trust, one being Cain who killed his brother Abel. While being in circle nine and traveling through the different pouches of circle nine, Dante and Virgil made it to Caina, named after Cain for killing his brother and losing the trust that they had as he went against his kin. After moving through the different levels of the ice, Dante and Virgil see several people that they recognize, and then Dante begins to say, “I saw a thousand faces after that, / All purple as a dog’s lips from the frost: / I still shiver, and always will, at the sight / Of a frozen pond” (XXXII.

As they proceded deeper into the ninth level of hell they encountered the ice-lake, along the outer edge of the lake “Traitors are frozen”.(362). Dante referred to the traitors in this outer edge as Caina, named after Cain. The traitors kept in the outer edge of the ice-lake were “treacherous shades who murderously violated family bonds”(367). One of the traitors Dante was told about is Mordred, the nephew of King Arthur. Mordred attempted to seize the thrown from King Arthur by fighting the king but he was defeated by a devastating blow from a lance (367).

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).

When Dante and Virgil go to the last circle which is the ninth circle of hell they see sinners in ice some are more deeper than others Then they see a giant shape in the fog and they realize that it is Satan. Half of his body is under the ice and he has bat like wings. Lucifer had one head but three faces the face in the middle was red the face on the right was yellow and the face on the left was black “when i beheld three faces on his head!

As Dante the pilgrim continues through the circles of hell, Dante presents readers with a powerful juxtaposition between himself and Pier della Vigna, a pitiable soul condemned to the second tier of hell for committing suicide. Both men come from strikingly similar histories, but when further examined, the roads they took explain their difference. Depicted as an upstanding man of high honor, della Vigna is shown as a character that is nearly impossible not to feel sympathy for. Punished for rebelling against God’s planned time for him, della Vigna and the rest of the sinners in circle 7 will remain eternally in the non-human plant forms forced upon them, never to reclaim their human flesh for the rest of eternity. della Vigna embodies a powerful representation of the road in which

When thinking of life choices would one see themselves being punished for their decisions or does one assume the afterlife will be forgiving? The Divine Comedy: Inferno, written by Dante Alighieri, depicts the flaws of politics and the Holy Roman Catholic Church. The papal authorities are corrupt and the church is not following its own rules. Dante, the protagonist, goes on a journey through the nine levels of hell. He starts out feeling pity for the souls, and as he makes his journey down into the levels of hell, he starts to realize that the acts the people committed are sinful and they deserve the punishments they receive.

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.

All of these carvings provide Dante with whips, or virtues to model, to propel him towards paradise. Next, Virgil directs the Pilgrim’s attention to the approaching Penitents, who are bent low to the ground because of the huge weights they carry on their backs. During life, the Proud went around “stiff-necked, with head held high,” but are now forced toward the ground in a gesture of humility (Notes 116). As Dante begins to speak with one of the souls by the name of Omberto, he: “had [his] head bent low, to hear his words,” as he “moved with those souls, keeping [his] body bent” (X.73,75). Here, Dante is actually sharing in the purgation of the Proud.

Tyler Sutter Professor Harter HUM200 27 October 2015 Topic #6 In Dante’s poem, The Divine Comedy Volume 1: Inferno, the two main characters are Dante and Virgil. Dante is a sinner who is still alive and is basically taking a tour into Hell. Virgil on the other hand, is a “shade”, or ghost that is stuck in limbo because he lived before Christ and therefore couldn’t participate in Christian faith. Limbo is the no mans land in hell so to speak. The souls stuck in limbo are non-sinners but the fact that they did not participate in the Christian faith leaves them stuck in limbo.

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.

In inferno, Dante divides Hell up into three major subdivisions based upon the type of sin committed, but two subdivisions that sit apart from the sinful divisions. Outside of Hell circles is the Vestibule, where the cowardly souls who refused to commit to either virtue or vice are punished. The First Circle is where those virtuous pagan souls who died unbaptized or who died prior to the coming of Christ reside. They can’t be saved, but neither are they truly punished in the same tortuous ways that Dante described as those deeper into Hell.

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…