Allusions To Dante's Inferno

Through the interactive oral my understanding of Inferno by Dante Alighieri has improved, particularly the references to religion. Christianity plays a key role in Inferno since the plot revolves around the events following death according to Christian practices.

Smiling.. Shaking head, and acting like everything is understood and okay is a common gesture people show when they are told something they are incapable of putting together or understanding. This feeling of cluelessness or embarrassment most commonly occurs when someone uses an allusion to describe a noun. Most people use allusions everyday and have no idea that they are doing so. Allusions are an excellent way to build someone's confidence or put them in down in a sneaky and sly way. Using allusions is quite simple; comparing someone or something that has a specific representation or meaning to a person or group. This allows: authors, friends, and even enemies to indirectly imply a reference. The Book Dante’s inferno is filled with a plethora of allusions from small references to big that take a significant amount of elaboration and background knowledge to understand completely. Including Greek emperors and queens being alluded including: Virgil, Pope Celestine V, and many others.

[quote][b]Some minutes away... [/b][/quote] The homely crackle of a fire. A luminous, bright orange flamed danced upon the small pile of wood and timber, ashen smoke rising high up into the cold air, easily giving away the disposition of where it sat. It was quite clear to anybody that the element was locked into an endless grudge match with another; the wind. The orange hue bobbed and shook as it struggled against the wrath of the coming storm, fighting to keep it's light, fighting to just stay [i]alive[/i].

When you think of Hell, what do you see, perhaps a burning pit full of criminals and crazed souls? Or maybe you’re like Dante and have a well organized system of levels in correspondence with each person’s sins. In Dante Alighieri’s epic The Inferno, Dante and his real life hero, Virgil, go on an adventure through a rather elaborate version of Hell. In this version of Hell numerous thoughts and ideals are brought to the attention of the readers. Through Dante’s use of both imaginative and artistic concepts one can receive a great visual impression of how Dante truly views Hell, and by analyzing his religious and philosophical concepts the reader can connect with the work to better understand how rewarding this work was for the time period.

Dante’s descent into Hell in Inferno, the first part of his Divine Comedy, tells of the author’s experiences in Hades as he is guided through the abyss by the Roman author, Virgil. The text is broken into cantos that coincide with the different circles and sub-circles of Hell that Dante and Virgil witness and experience. Inferno is heavily influenced by classic Greek and Roman texts and Dante makes references to a myriad of characters, myths, and legends that take place in Virgil’s Aeneid, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, and Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Some of the most important references, however, are the most obvious ones that are easily overlooked simply because of the fact that they are so blatant. Dante is being escorted through Hell by the

The inferno by Dante is a story of faith, religious and moral beliefs with various elements, symbols and themes. Through this journey Dante is guided through hell and back by Virgil a symbolism of his teacher and a comrade philosopher like him. The three elements through out this story that seemed to stand out the most are the perfection of God's justice, evil as a contradiction to God's will, and the style of language.

Dante’s work Inferno is a vivid walkthrough the depths of hell and invokes much imagery, contemplation and feeling. Dante’s work beautifully constructs a full sensory depiction of hell and the souls he encounters along the journey. In many instances within the work the reader arrives at a crossroads for interpretation and discussion. Canto XI offers one such crux in which Dante asks the question of why there is a separation between the upper levels of hell and the lower levels of hell. By discussing the text, examining its implications and interpretations, conclusions can be drawn about why there is delineation between the upper and lower levels and the rationale behind the separation.

Joseph Braun World Literature 2310 Dr. Monday 4 November 2014 Week 7 Discussions: Dante’s Inferno Canto I 1) How is the epic an allegory? - An allegory is a story which can be interpreted to have a hidden meaning. Dante’s Inferno, is an allegory because the story’s underlying meaning is to find unity with God. The Inferno shows the audience all the temptation that humans have to go through to find true salvation.

In his first article of The Inferno, Dante Alighieri starts to present a vivid view of Hell by taking a journey through many levels of it with his master Virgil. This voyage constitutes the main plot of the poem. The opening Canto mainly shows that, on halfway through his life, the poet Dante finds himself lost in a dark forest by wandering into a tangled valley. Being totally scared and disoriented, Dante sees the sunshine coming down from a hilltop, so he attempts to climb toward the light. However, he encounters three wild beasts on the way up to the mountain—a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf—which force him to turn back. Then Dante sees a human figure, which is soon revealed to be the great Roman poet Virgil. He shows a different path

The Inferno by Dante Alighieri was a crucial component to the evolution of European literature. By writing the epic style poem in the vernacular, he allowed most people of general literacy with the ability to read his divine comedy. This was a milestone in history because people of the past had usually written in Latin, excluding the general public to many great pieces of literature. That being said, there is the question of if The Inferno did what it was intended to do. According to Daniel Terkla the poem did not serve its purpose.

Robert Herrick, an English poet, once said, “Hell is no other but a soundlesse pit, where no one beame of comfort peeps in it.” Picture any type of Hell with relief, happiness, or even the smallest crack of a smile. There is no place. In fact, one can only think of the complete opposite, whether it is a Hell filled with neglect, pain, disgust, or a never-ending life of horror. This is the place created by Dante Alighieri; The Inferno is exactly the type of Hell where no person would want to be. Even those who acted upon the lightest of sins suffered greatly. While each realm contained a different sinner, the punishment that each were forced to face was cruel, repulsive, and sometimes rather disgusting. Through grieving tears without an

Dante presents the importance of reason and his admiration for the classics through extensive allusions to ancient literature, specifically Virgil’s Aeneid, and through the inclusion and appraisal of his other favorite classical poets. Dante makes his belief in the power of reason and faith clear from the beginning, as he, through Virgil’s words, describes sinners as “people who have lost the good of the intellect” (Inferno 2.16). Through this claim, the author brings forth the idea that reason is needed in order to prevent one from wrongdoing, as sin is the abandonment of reason in the face of achieving an immoral goal.

Dante truly captures the horror of life in hell through his descriptions, as well as his carefully chosen words.

The Divine Comedy: Inferno begins when Dante is midway through life and he has lost his way. In the starting lines, Dante claims, “Midway in our life’s journey, I went astray From the straight road and woke To find myself Alone in a dark wood.” Dante declares that he has strayed away from the “straight road.” In Dante’s allegory, the straight road symbolizes the right and virtuous path that leads to God. Mankind must be constantly seeking morality, and once man begins to lose sight of this righteousness, they will begin to abandon God’s honest path. In order to remain on the right path, man must carefully strive for virtue and be aware of their sins.

Alighieri, Dante. "The Divine Comedy, Inferno." Rpt. in The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Mack Maynard. New York: W W Norton & Company, 1995. 1703-1829.