The Inferno*

Foreword:
In the early 1300's a poet by the name of Dante Alighieri wrote the epic canticle and poem The Divine Comedy. I have read the whole comedy from start to finish and have also read Inferno many times by now. Personally, i think that Inferno is the best out of the three due to its amazing symbolism and overall quality of content. Because it is my favorite of the three and my favorite piece of literature i have ever read I think that writing an informal blog about it would not due it justice so I am going to write it in essay form so that the point of how great this poem is can be expressly seen. I am writing it this way out of respect for Inferno and for Dante. So without further adieu, my examination of two punishments in Hell.

In The Divine Comedy: Inferno by Dante Alighieri, Dante sees many different punishments for the damned souls of Hell on his journey through the underworld. Above all, two of them stood out for their uniqueness and contrast of each other. The first of these two punishments that stood out manifests itself in the Ninth Circle of Hell, in the innermost sub-section known as Judecca, named for Judas Iscariot. This circle contains those who are treacherous to their masters. Of the minor damned, whom of which remain unnamed, they are condemned to an eternity of being frozen in ice in various distorted positions. Dante, in recounting the sight of the contorted bodies, says, “Some lie stretched out; others are fixed in place upright, some on their heads, some on their soles; another, like a bow, bends foot to face.” Besides these minor sinners of the circle, there are the major sinners. In this circle lies Satan, or Lucifer by any other name, who is trapped in the ice with his wings batting helplessly trying to escape. This batting of the wings creates the cold gusts of wind that Dante notes upon arriving in the Ninth Circle. Inside Lucifer’s mouths however are the three chief sinners. These sinners are Judas, betrayer of Jesus; Brutus, betrayer of Caesar and Cassius, co-conspirator to Caesars assassination. Their torment is to be forever ripped apart and chewed by the teeth of Lucifer’s three heads.

The second punishment stands out for its characteristic of being almost completely opposite of the Ninth Circle. This plain of torment occurs in the Seventh Circle of Hell which contains, at the end of it, a plain of burning sand and a rain of eternal fire housing the violent against God, Nature and Art. In this plain of burning sand there are three classes that are defined by Dante. The first class is the Blasphemers who are those violent against God. The Blasphemers are condemned for speaking of God in an irreverent, impious manner. The second are the Sodomites who are known as being violent against Nature. These are the people who are guilty of sodomy. The last are those known as the Usurers, the violent against Art, which Virgil explains to Dante, is deemed as the grandchild of God. The Usurers crime was that they lent money at an exorbitantly high rate of interest.

Afterword:

Dante and his Inferno is my favorite piece of literature that i have ever read. At the sake of writing too much for a blog post i will leave it at just an examination of two punishments but know that each punishment has its own unique characteristic and has its own surface and deeper meaning.