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What Is Each Circle In Dante's Inferno?

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As the first part of the epic poem Divine Comedy, the Inferno was written in the beginning of the fourteenth century by Dante Alighieri. Inferno describes the journey of its author through nine circles of Hell. For the entirety of his journey, Dante is led by a poet Virgil, the representation of Human Reason who is familiar with many of the sinners in the underworld. Each circle in the epic poem illustrates a different type of sin with contrasting consequences, fluctuating according to the level of the felony committed on Earth. In the course of his journey, Dante lets his political and religious views overpower his understanding of God’s justice; however, he eventually understands the perfection of God’s decisions as he goes deeper in Hell. …show more content…

This final circle of Hell is described throughout four rings, the first being Caina and the second called Antenora. Dante immediately sees the sinners suffering in an icy lake sobbing and some who were without limbs. In the first ring, Dante sees two sinners attached together eventually learning that they were brothers who murdered each other in a dispute for inheritance. One can argue that God believes betrayal is the biggest crime one can commit because it can include a little piece of all the crimes. In this case, the wanting of power, authority, money, and political control all contributed to the two brothers killing each other. When Dante and Virgil advance to the second ring, the reader sees a whole new side of the journeyman when he has a fierce encounter with a sinner named Bocca and ultimately pulls out his hair. Antenora is named after the Trojan War leader Antenor, who betrayed his country Troy, resulting in his homeland falling to the Greeks. The reasoning behind Dante’s strong hatred towards Bocca is that he was a Florentine traitor who wanted more political power. Again, the reader sees that Dante’s political views affects his relationship with the …show more content…

Ptolemy, the captain of Jericho, murdered his own guest while they were being honored and was immediately killed and put in Hell. In this entire circle, Dante completely agrees with God’s punishment towards the sinners and doesn’t show any sympathy. In addition, Divine Justice has absolutely no expectations in this circle because of the fact that all of these sinners are wrapped in a lake of ice with the exact same punishment. This goes to show that God believes that all forms of betrayal are cruel and there is no level to which form is the most

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