Dichotomy In Dante's Inferno

Dante’s purpose for writing Inferno using the language that he did was to warn others about their actions so they would not fall into Hell. Dante describes Hell in a wicked manner to emphasize that Hell is not fun nor beautiful. Gustav Doré gives us an accurate visual of how Dante describes the journey through the nine circles of Hell. The story states, “I saw myriad flocks of naked souls, / All weeping wretchedly… / Flat on their backs, some spread out on the ground; / Some squatted down, all hunched up in a crouch; / And others walked about interminably. / More numerous were those who roamed around; / Fewer were those stretched out for the torture, / But looser were their tongues to tell their hurt.”

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.

To merely say that Dante was interested in the world of hell would be an understatement. His needs to explore and write about the nine different realms could best be described as an obsession. It’s an adventure, a tale, a dream (or nightmare) of different historical, biblical, and Greek gods and creatures living their lives in the afterlife of the underground world. Each level has its own form of punishment fitting the crime one has committed.

Dante’s The Inferno takes the ideas of the ancient world and puts them into a “Christian format” to express the deeper and more divine meanings behind them. Dante is conveying the message that all actions of human beings are actions of God’s universe. In The Inferno, it clear that the punishment a soul has in Hell is a reflection of the “sin” the soul committed on Earth. In the First Circle of Hell, Dante meets the “Virtuous Pagans”.

Dante makes a creative correspondence between a spirit's wrongdoing on Earth and the discipline he or she gets in Hell. The Sullen stifle on mud, the Wrathful assault each other, the Gluttonous are compelled to eat stool, et cetera. This straightforward thought gives a hefty portion of Inferno's snapshots of stupendous symbolism and typical power, additionally serves to enlighten one of Dante's real subjects: the flawlessness of God's equity. The engraving over the doors of Hell in Canto III expressly expresses that God was moved to make Hell by Justice. Hellfire exists to rebuff sin, and the appropriateness of Hell's particular disciplines vouch for the heavenly flawlessness that all wrongdoing violates.

There are many similarities between Dante’s The Inferno and Virgil’s The Aeneid, be it their characterizations or descriptive imagery, but foremost in their ideas of what the afterlife consisted of. Each each epic hero in the works here have descended in to the depths of hell, with The Inferno depicting Dante’s descent into the depths of hell and with Virgil in Book VI of The Aeneid depicting Aeneas’s decent into hell. It can be argued that although different, the knowledge acquired by each character’s descent was equally important to accomplishing their greater tasks at the ends of their journey. Had their descent into hell been skipped their outcomes would have concluded in a different way because their voyages to Hell each played a crucial role in the advancing each narrative.

Dante and Virgil have some similar views on different subjects.. The major contrast between the two is dependent on their religion and beliefs. Virgil separates and acknowledges the the good and the evil, but he doesn’t set any boundaries between the two. However, Dante believes that the two should be separate, concluding sinners belong in Hell, and the good belong separate from the bad souls. Anyone who doesn’t believe in God, is automatically considered a sinner and is forced to go to Hell. Virgil and his society have no religious preconception, and as a result he believes that your view on God doesn’t decide your fate. He also disagrees that someone should be placed in categories in Hell based on their sin. He believes that everyone in life, has committed a sinful act. Dante’s society is far more unforgiving. If anyone has sinned in their life and have no felt remorse or sorrow for their actions,

Dante is saying that Virgil cannot enter heaven because he lived before Christ. Dante admires the classical Roman world but rejects it as the path of salvation to God.

Dante is a poet who wrote an epic poem called The Divine Comedy. This epic poem is about Dante’s journey as he goes through 3 levels, which he calls Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise. In the Inferno, he meets Virgil, his guide throughout his voyage. They both pass through the nine circles of Hell, where they witness many different punishments for those who have done awful things in their past. Good versus evil is a major theme that occurred throughout Hell. In the Inferno, there are times where Dante sees good and evil and also represents it himself.

I mean, on the surface, it doesn’t make much sense to send someone who is alive to see the world of the dead! However, this does make sense as Dante’s goal was to get the general populace to have at least some idea to what awaits them is they don’t act like the best version of themselves. In fact, he makes great use of the generalities evident in society. Dante, the Everyman, symbolizes all humans’ personas, Virgil symbolizes human reason, and Beatrice (who sent Virgil with God) symbolizes divine love. Dante wants everyone to be aware of the limits of us humans in our search for divine love and justice. Broadening one’s horizons and delving into foreign landscapes is a peak interest for humans and what more desolate and alien landscape than Hell. Curiosity is intrinsic in human nature and is what drives us to get more in touch with our surroundings. From now on it important for us to treat the traversing of Dante from one circles to the next as a journey without end. Humans will forever be fighting these sins and will forever need guidance to avoid them, no matter the time period. After a mostly smooth pilgrimage through Hell, the Poets come across a brief pitstop at the Wall of Dis. Now this wall is not just a physical block for exploration, but also a mental and spiritual one. NEED QUOTE ABOUT THIS. Through the sins of the lion, Virgil was able to use human reason to traverse through them

Dante explains, “If I had words grating and crude enough that really could describe this horrid hole supporting the converging weight of Hell, I could squeeze out the juice of my memories to the last drop. But I don’t have these words, and so I am reluctant to begin.” On his journey, Dante states that he does not have the words to explain Dante believes that an individual has to see the circles of hell to understand it’s make up and importance. This is crucial to individualism because Dante believes that every person should have the chance to see the circles and form an opinion about hell based off of their own findings, not from what they hear from another individual. Dante understands that individuals should have their own intellectual development, their own thought process of thinking, learning, and questioning, by creating one’s own interpretations Dante questions his ‘master’ Virgil during the journey, which proves that authority figures, role models, or people of a higher status should not dictate how one lives their life.

With his writing style and the implementation of some literature firsts, Dante assured his name in history. His mastery of language, his sensitivity to the sights and sounds of nature, and his infinite store of information allow him to capture and draw the reader into the realm of the terrestrial Hell. His vast store of knowledge of Greek mythology and the history of his society assists Dante in the

In Dante's Inferno, Dante places people of all types into one of the nine different circles depending on what they had done in their life and what punishments they deserve. His religion is what said which sins made someone have to spend eternity in Hell and what sins were worse than others. Some of the sins Dante chose to be included in his own version of Hell are wrath, sloth, greed, lust, and gluttony. These sins were seen as some of the worst in the Catholic religion, which influences Dante’s decision to have them in Dante's Inferno. Some of the other sins Dante chose also exemplified his strong Catholic faith. For example, the people who fall in Limbo did not believe in God and in the Catholic religion, this means they were not saved and would therefore end up in Hell (Brantl 208). Dante, just like all catholics, believed that going against God was a sin. In Dante's Inferno, there are punishments for people who go against the catholic religion and the Lord as well as betray them. Dante’s religion also influenced his choices for whom he put in hell and where. According to Dante, no madder how good of a person you are, if you didn't believe in God and Christianity, you were sent to hell. Hawkins says that “…Limbo, the first circle of hell. It is beautiful, refined, civil, and dead. Knowledge may well be perfection, but it is the knowledge of God, the beatific vision, that is the journey’s true end” (107).

He puts himself as an equal to some of the greatest literature artists in history before he has even began his work in earnest. He also scoffs at sinners, showing arrogance and that he is more worthy in God’s eyes then them. He also chooses himself to go on this journey, among the entire world population. And in his own

Dante’s Inferno is an epic poem that is clearly centered on his hate for Pope Boniface VIII. Dante’s “circles of hell” described so vividly in his poem are the result of Dante’s angst toward Boniface as he was once on top of the world until Boniface exiled him only because of his political opinions. Although, he does not clearly name Boniface in the epic he makes sure to include him in five obscure allusions. The first instance alludes to the incumbent pope before Boniface, Pope Celestine V, as the one “who made the great refusal” in the circle of neutrals; as he allowed Boniface to plant seeds of doubt in the months before he suddenly and unexpectedly resigned, leaving Boniface the Pope. The second allusion would place Boniface perfectly in the eighth circle, sixth pouch as the fraudulent sinner he was to prey on Celestine with his utter gift of fraudulent gab to gain a political position of power. The third, fourth, and fifth instances all point to his questionable practice of selling indulgences or absolution. So, therefore, just because he cannot directly mention Boniface in his epic due to him still being alive during the time of his writing, he still manages to make it a point to let him know there is a place for him in Hell.