In Dante’s Inferno, Dante is taken on a journey through hell. On this journey, Dane sees the many different forms of sins, and each with its own unique contrapasso, or counter-suffering. Each of these punishments reflects the sin of a person, usually offering some ironic way of suffering as a sort of revenge for breaking God’s law. As Dante wrote this work and developed the contrapassos, he allows himself to play God, deciding who is in hell and why they are there. He uses this opportunity to strike…

At the start of the poem we find Dante in the dark forest(Inf. 1.2). Not much description is given maybe to show Dante’s disorientation. Whether the disorientation is spiritual, physical, moral or political; that is unclear at the start of the poem. The poem us written this way so reader can identify with Dante. It is also written in such a way that sometimes it is difficult to understand some parts, you sometimes have to read it backwards to get a better understanding. The way Dante characterizes…

It is one of the most known and referenced books of its time and is still a commonly read work of literature, but is Dante Alighieri’s The Inferno more that just one man’s interpretation of what hell is like? We know it now as a remarkable piece of literature, but some contend that it was a turning point in writing and how many viewed the world. Claims have also been made that it is an example of how man paved the road out of the Dark Ages and into the Renaissance, the period that shaped a lot of…

In the story Dante’s Inferno we as readers get to experience hell in a whole light. Throughout the narrative we find out that hell is not only what we know of it from the Christian bible. According to Dante Hell is a complex situation that is nothing like anything we have read earlier. There are many people who have read at least some portion of the Holy Bible. Whether it be because of personal reasons or educational ones, the holy bible most read (and sold) books in existence. Through reading…

heart of a poet, whether it be romance, adventure or simply a story from experiences. And perhaps there are no better poets that are better able to drag their willing audience along a journey than Homer and Dante. The epic tales of The Odyssey and Inferno, respectively, were seemingly written along a parallel train of thought when describing their characters journey, easily engaging the creative functions of the reader with adventurous tales of hope and adventure. Their characters, Odysseus and Dante…

Dante 's Inferno Vs. Milton 's Paradise Lost The two stories, Inferno by Dante and Paradise Lost by Milton, were written about the biblical hell and its keeper: Satan. Both of these authors had different views about the hell and Satan. In Paradis Lost, Milton wrote that Satan used to be an angel of God. The devil believed that he was equal to the Lord and he wanted to be greater than him. For this, God banished him to hell. Milton 's physical description of Satan is interesting. Since he…

of Hell in Dante's Inferno The idea of making up a "Hell", or inferno, is not an experience in which I, even in my wildest thoughts, had started to imagine. Call me an optimist, but the idea of imagining Hell never appealed to me. However, as I read through the Bible, I have come across many images of hell and will now attempt to create a partial picture. As I sit imagining my inferno, I see that it would be significantly different from Dante’s inferno. I do agree that an Inferno should have…

Getting What They Deserve: Punishment in Dante’s Inferno Dante’s The Inferno is his own interpretation of the circles of hell. The people that Dante places in hell tried to validate their offenses and have never seen the injustice of their crime or crimes. They were each placed in a specific circle in Hell, Dante has nine circles in his hell. Each circle holds those accountable for that specific crime. Each circle has its own unique and fitting punishment for the crime committed. There are…

Anyone who has read Dante’s Inferno is familiar with a certain main character, Virgil. Who is this Virgil that Dante put in his book and where did Dante get the idea of having Virgil as his guide on Dante’s journey through the spirit world? In addition to Virgil, readers of Inferno are also familiar with concepts and characters such as God, angles, demons, Satan, and Hell. Where did Dante get these concepts? Dante did not come up with these ideas on his own, but used familiar characters and places…

Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy is an epic poem that begins with the Inferno. The Inferno is an extremely influential part of European literature. The structure of story is for many people a piece of the vision of Hell. Religiously, this poem has had great prevalence. Dante paints a picture of the Hell that is both unsettling and justifiable. A whole world is created through his poem. The levels and intensity of sin is pondered. Crime is put to a level of small to large scale. Those…