The Reason For Being Written By Dante

More commonly known as Dante, Inferno, The Divine Comedy: Inferno is a telling of Dante the pilgrim’s journey though the many rings of Hell by Dante Alighieri. At the time of its creation the poem carried a lot of weight by using nearly all of the prominent figures of the time to establish the dos and don’ts of Christianity. For example, when Dante’s journey begins he finds himself in the circle of the lustful where he lays his eyes on many recognizable figures that even those of us today can recognize, those such as; Dido, Helen of Troy, and Achilles. The story very carefully exaggerates the cardinal sin of these people in a way that clearly lines out how it lead to their doom, a brilliant teaching tool for new Christians. However, this

He is situated at the bottom of “a hill that [marks] one end of the valley that [pierces his] heart with terror,” which refers to his upward journey towards understanding and salvation (3). It is ironic that he must travel to Hell in order to save himself from eternal damnation. Indeed, those who are condemned to Hell have lost “the good of intellect,” a symbol for absolute truth: God (19). In Canto IV, Dante peers down into “a gulf so dark and deep and murky that … [he] could see nothing below” (27). Upon entering this “sightless zone” of the first circle of Hell, he and Virgil encounter sinners of “shadowy sadnesses” (27). Repeatedly, Hell is likened to a “hemisphere of darkness” and sin is associated with dark images (29). The reason Dante enters this blind world is so that he may gain his vision to see the truth.

The Inferno by Dante Alighieri is written by a man exiled from his hometown of Florence, Italy. He was taken away from his true love Florence and those he placed in the Inferno happen to be those who wronged him. This was seen with Dante’s focus on Florentines in hell and his focus on Julius Caesar betrayers. Furthermore The Inferno was an example of how personal bias affects literature, which was seen in Homers The Odeyssey and Virgil’s The Aenid. In the comparison of the two works with Dante’s

Dante is forever immortalized for his work named “A Divine Comedy” but most importantly the first part entitled “Inferno”. Dante invasions his hell as layers within the earth’s crust, hell is categorized with layers each one of the seven deadly sins in order. From upper layer to middle the sins are lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride. In the center is Satan who is frozen in ice up to his chest and gnawing on traitors in each of his three mouths. The reason that Satan is in the middle of the pride layer is because his pride was his downfall.

The theme of equilibrium between reason and faith is one of the core messages of Inferno and it is essential in conveying the main idea of the Divine Comedy and of the pilgrim’s journey that the exploitation of intellect and the misuse of will is the cause of sin, and that through faith, those who are morally lost find their salvation in God. In Inferno Dante makes it clear that he greatly values knowledge and reason in a way that is more characteristic to the Renaissance rather than of his own Medieval time. However, throughout this first book, the author reminds the audience of the Christian nature of his poem as he uses the stories of the sinners he encounters to stress the idea that without faith, the intellect is not sufficient to achieve divine salvation and that the misuse of reason can often lead to terrible sins.

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.

In a horrific burning plain, is where you will spend eternity for being with your same sex lover! Dante wanted to bring an end to immoral behaviors in Florence. Dante was born to a family that liked getting involved in the multifaceted Florentine political arena. He was born in the year 1295. The political setting that his parents were used to became a key theme in Inferno. According to historical findings, his mother passed away when Dante was 12 years of age. When he became of age, he was arranged for a lady who he would later marry, but was in love with another lady. After the death of his loved one, Dante began to venture into the field of philosophy and issues dealing with the political environment of Florence. Because of the writings that he wrote to the Florentine government, the Florentine leaders exiled him after falling out of favor. Being exiled from Florence was a great success for him because it was the period in which he became involved with his artistic work. He soon then wrote he Inferno, which was a section of the Divine Comedy. He later completed all the sections of the Divine Comedy, which is a comedy symbolizing the human life which he presented as a visionary journey through the Christian afterlife. He wrote the comedy to warn the corrupt society in order to lead a life of being just and righteous. In his comedy, he talks about the sin of homosexuality. Homosexuality or sodomy is a sinful practice which leads to destruction of souls and is found in

Dante Alighieri grew up among Florentine nobility. As a youth, Dante struck up a friendship with a renowned poet who urged Dante to write in Italian rather than Latin. Dante’s greatest work, The Divine Comedy, is a narrative poem in the Italian dialect common in Florence. Dante also wrote lyric poetry and works on moral and political philosophy. During his life, Florentines experienced civil wars and were often politically divided. Dante began actively opposing papal policies around 1300, and by 1302 a death sentence effectively exiled him from the city. Dante worked on The Divine Comedy from around 1308 until the end of his life. As he aged, he traveled through the north of Italy, visiting many noble homes. He was buried with honor following

Inferno is the first part of the epic poem, The Divine Comedy, followed by Purgatario and Paradisio. In this leg of his journey, Dante travels through the nine circles of hell, each representing sins and punishments in great detail. This was unique in that it was combining Christian beliefs and ancient Greek and Roman myths to create a new picture of hell and Lucifer. For example, he depicts Lucifer in a frozen lake of his tears rather than a fiery pit that is usually used. He also used major figures of both the past and his time. These included Ciceros, one of the main influences for the Renaissance, and Pope Boniface VIII, who had a hand in Dante’s exile from Tuscany. He achieved his vengeance by depicting the pope in the eight circle of hell for fraudulence and simony, which he did by selling offices to those who supported him to increase his power and resulted in the removal of Dante in his leadership position and subsequent banishment. Dante’s commentary on the world around him, such as his assessment of this pope, and his utilization of figures from ancient Greece to current Italy further established the epic poem as a piece of the Renaissance. The Renaissance had a great emphasis on looking to the past cultures and values of ancient Greek to achieve an understanding of the current world. Another major Renaissance element to Inferno was that he had the great Roman poet,

At the same time, however, the religious function of Dante’s poem must not be neglected. In the opening lines of The Inferno, Dante embarks on a journey and finds himself “in a dark wood, for the straight way was lost” (Inferno, I, 2-3). Dante’s description of the dark wood indicates the lack of God’s light, and thus informs readers of the life he lived in the condition of sin. These opening lines establish the religious context for the poem, as Dante has deviated from “the straight way”, the way to God. Furthermore, Lee H. Yearley contributes to this religious perspective by

Furthermore, the Dante’s way of reasoning shows his confession about his imagination of hell through the dark wood perhaps based on the various traditional ideas. The characteristic of the reasoning as witnessed can be assumed to follow the medieval platonic image of the chaotic world and the classical word as describe by Virgil. Evidently, the confession of the journey through hell is painted out through the cultures of medieval period. Dante’s seems to confess that there is some darkness in the cultures of the people particularly as he discovers in his journey through hell. Clearly, he confesses that people are sinful and he does it by showing how each level of hell has its own members.

Religious people always fear that they will not make it to Heaven or the place their God resides. The bible and other religious text give advice on how to avoid the pain of Hell. Dante Alighieri, a famous Italian poet, wrote about the physical description of Hell and the punishments each sinner would receive for their sins. Although The Divine Comedy chronicles Dante's journey from the depths of Hell to the glory of Heaven it contains a deeper meaning. Dante reveals the true meaning of the Inferno through his leading motif, his interactions between the sinners, and the intertwining of other literary works into the Inferno.

Dante Alighieri, an Italian poet and writer of the 13th century, creates a fictional account of his visions of his journey through Hell. His background as a Catholic influences his life and his writings, including The Inferno. He uses the historical and political events of his lifetime to influence his writings as well. Dante is educated and very familiar with the history and literature of the classical world. In The Inferno, he expresses his admiration for Greco-Roman history, literature, mythology, and philosophy, but he also places limitations on the ability of the classical world to gain salvation as taught and believed in Christian doctrine.

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;

Dante Alighieri’s poem, The Divine Comedy, has sparked controversy ever since its first publication. On one hand, people seemed to have immediately recognized the genius and originality of Dante’s prose. On the other, people have questioned and analyzed his work word-for-word for hundreds of years, determined to cast a new light or argument on what now seems like an ancient story. Controversies stem from as little as to what a word may or may not have meant in its original Italian to as large as to what type of sin an entire Canto was meant to punish when Dante first wrote it. What makes it even more confusing is the fact that Dante often contradicts himself. This inconsistency lies at the foundation