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Theorized Punishments In Dante's Inferno

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Have you ever wondered why in some states the death penalty is legal, while in others it is outlawed? Simply put, some jurisdictions have different opinions than others on what punishment for certain crimes is acceptable and what isn’t. There are those who believe that to take the life of someone who committed an act of murder is perfectly fair, while there are others who cry in outrage, Who are we to play the role of God? Though the time periods between now and the time Dante’s Inferno was written are vastly different in many ways, the simple fact that certain sins are viewed as unacceptable remains true throughout. Dante Alighieri, the Italian poet who wrote Dante’s Inferno in the Late Middle Ages, used his literature to convey an allegory with this same concept; and even takes a step further so as to describe the theorized punishments that were linked to each sin in his day in age. First up: greed. As Dante is guided through the …show more content…

Here, until Judgement Day, the souls of the heretics who once roamed the Earth are to spend eternity in flaming tombs, and on Judgement Day, the tombs will seal and the souls inside will be trapped forever within their earthly bodies. To an untrained ear, so to speak, this punishment may seem a little...out there. However, it actually makes sense; remarkably so, in fact. At this point in time, heretics believed that the human body did not contain a soul. Though this was not the case, they spoke out against the Church and the widespread Christian belief that everyone had a soul; and because of this, Dante portrays them to suffer by being confined to a burning tomb, destined to have their souls and their earthly bodies joined together for the remainder of time. The heretics’ punishment is yet another example of Alighieri’s ability to provide well thought out, well described details to his

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