Dante's Hypocrisy

Yet Dante does not stop here. He further complicates fraud by adding the realm of compound fraud. Souls found in this circle of Hell did not betray just a stranger or acguaintance, but rather twisted the confidence of someone who loved and/or respected them. They defiled their own kin or country. They either took advantage of guests or of a host, perhaps within his own home. And, falling closest to the pit of Hell (and Lucifer) are those souls who betray the confidence of their lord or benefactor. All these unfortunate shadows of life are those who consciously sought to gain by lying to or by committing an act of treachery against someone who holds a special place in their life; someone who, in some way, they are

What goes around comes around. When sinners reach hell they are forced to experience the counter-suffering of contrapasso. For each sin, Dante gives a specific punishment relating to that sin. Some of these sins include violence towards self, violence towards God, sorcery, and hypocrisy. For the despicable lives they lived on earth, they are doomed to suffer relating consequences for all of eternity.

Dante Alighieri went on a journey that was motivated by acrimony, revenge and retribution. The Divine Comedy is a story of Dante’s expedition through the afterlife with the help from a Roman poet, Virgil. In the Divine Comedy living in Hell is the same as living on earth in poverty today. Today, there are many politicians who are trying to help with the welfare of poverty, but they never follow through with their goals. Throughout Dante’s life on earth he witnesses the corruption of the church and power given to higher authorities because of their image. Many of the journeys that Dante has experienced in his journey through Hell are just like what we have experienced on earth whether you are rich or poor. However, there are significant differences between the two through symbolic signs and other non-religious meanings.

In Dante’s Inferno, the relationship between Dante the Pilgrim and Virgil the Guide is an ever-evolving one. By analyzing the transformation of this relationship as the two sojourn through the circles of hell, one is able to learn more about the mindset of Dante the Poet.  At the outset, Dante is clearly subservient to Virgil, whom he holds in high esteem for his literary genius. However, as the work progresses, Virgil facilitates Dante’s spiritual enlightenment, so that by the end, Dante has ascended to Virgil’s spiritual level and has in many respects surpassed him. In Dante’s journey with respect to Virgil, one can see

"What is fame? Fame is but a slow decay  Even this shall pass away."  Theodore Tilton     The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri, is a poem laden with such Christian themes as love, the search for happiness, and the desire to see God. Among these Christian themes, however, is Dante's obsession with and desire for fame, which seems to be a surprising departure from conventional medieval Christian morality. Indeed, as the poem progresses, a striking contradiction emerges. Dante the writer, in keeping with Christian doctrine, presents the desire for fame and glory among the souls of Inferno in order to replace it with humility among the souls of Purgatorio. Yet this purification of desire is not entirely embraced by Dante,

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.

From Dante's perspective, the sin of splitting the soul and body justifies the punishment these souls endure in hell. Justification can be seen when analyzing the idea that Christ introduced. This idea is that the body and the soul are connected, and the being a gift from God. Furthermore, other Christian influences such as Augustine state that it is the souls job to care for the body. These Christian ideologies manifest in Dante's creation of the punishment.

Dante also shows which sins he sees as the worst of sins, putting betrayers in the lowest circle of hell. Dante employs some common sense while discussing hell, putting obvious sinners in the lower circles and prone to harsher punishments, but he also puts the not-so obvious sinners in hell. Even though one may think he is doing the right thing, all motives are evaluated upon judgment and even a trace of selfishness or greed may threaten one’s chance in heaven. This is why Dante’s hell is rife with politicians and leaders. Although they may have the community’s best interests at heart, politicians become obsessed with fame and glory, often forgetting that they are representatives of the people.

In a society that claims to be better equipped to handle the needs of its people, there exist far too many instances in which it fails to do so. In a recent Senate hearing, Independent Senator Bernie Sanders exclaimed, “We a not a compassionate society!” at representative Tom Price (Sanders). This idea can be traced back to Alexandre Dumas’ portrayal of a similar society, featured in The Count of Monte Cristo, in which a kind, and innocent man, Edmond Dantes, is exploited for his kind and altruistic mannerisms. Dantes, the protagonist, is the first mate of the Pharaon a ship belonging to Morrel & Son.

The illustration that I’ve chosen, taken from the gallery of Gustave Dore’s illustrations of Dante’s Divine Comedy, is of the hypocrites in the twenty third cantos; specifically the sixth pouch of the eighth circle of hell which is considered “The Ten Malebolge”. Dante’s poem and the illustration are similar for many reasons. Dore’s illustration is of Dante and Virgil overseeing the body of Caiaphas nailed to the ground, with the other hypocrites of the sixth pouch are pictured as well. In Dante’s Inferno, the twenty third cantos is centered on Caiaphas and the other hypocrites. The text specifies that the punishment of the hypocrites is that they wear beautiful coats that are lined with heavy lead making it difficult for them to walk, ultimately

Dante's `Divine Comedy', the account of his journey through hell, purgatory and heaven is one of the worlds great poems, and a prime example of a most splendidly realized integration of life with art. More than being merely great poetry, or a chronicle of contemporary events, which it also is, the `Comedy' is a study of human nature by a man quite experienced with it. The main argument I will make in this essay is that Dante's `Comedy' is chiefly a work of historical significance because in it lies the essence of human life across all boundaries of time and place. I feel that such a reading is justified, nay invited, by Dante himself when he says;

Moral Truth Without the Truth A lake of ice; a fitting place for the souls of traitors. “Dante reserve[d] the innermost circle of hell [for this crowd,] for those who [turn against their own]. There he has placed Judas, Brutus, and Cassius—the most notorious of traitors—in the three mouths of Satan himself.

The Divine Comedy depicts the journey through Hell and into Heaven lead by the Italian poet, Dante Alighieri. The Devine Comedy is an epic poem set in the year 1300 and it details Dante’s trip through the afterlife. His journey is prompted by a spiritual crisis in midlife when he finds himself lost in the woods. The woods that Dante finds himself lost in represents a personal sense of confusion and darkness. This is the kind of symbolism that is seen throughout Dante’s long journey. The two major themes portrayed in this Epic Poem are justice, sin and punishment as well as love; both spiritual and human. Some may argue that the theme of justice is too harshly portrayed in the Inferno and that it could also be taken quite literally.

Hypocrisy is not saying one thing, and then doing another. It is saying one thing, and believing another.

As Dante makes his ascent through hell and purgatory, he is guided by two figures. The first is Virgil, who saves him from peril and accompanies him, as a friend, through the layers of both afterlifes. The second is Beatrice, who inspired Dante’s journey of salvation in the first place, and who he longs to be reunited with. Yet although these guides are leading him towards God, Dante mistakes their guiding as the end itself. He makes a God of Beatrice, sees her as the ultimate good towards which one strives, and makes a Jesus of Virgil, the man through whom this ultimate good is reached. In this way, Dante creates his own trinity, much to the detriment of his ascent to the True God.