Analysis of Dantes Inferno - Essay Example

? Dante’s Inferno Introduction Inferno is one of the most celebrated pieces of literature written by Dante Aligieri. It is allegory that constitutes the first part of the epic poem, Divine Comedy. It portrays the journey through Hell that Dante went through with the poet, Virgil. The Hell that Dante constructs contains nine levels or circles and each circle constitute a different sin and therefore a different suffering. The sufferings of the sinners in each circle of Hell are a contrapasso meaning that the suffering of the sinners is justice of the sin that they commit on Earth. The poem, Inferno is a journey of Dante where he both realizes and rejects the sins that he himself has committed and also the readers may be committing without their own realization. Circle 1: Limbo The first circle that Dante encounters is Limbo. This circle does contains sinners who may have been virtuous people but they were unbaptized and non-Christians. It was not their sins that led them to this circle but rather the fact that they did not believe in Christ. This circle is a lower form of Heaven where the sinners are living in a castle with green fields. The castle has seven gates and each gate represents a virtue. Here Dante meets with great minds such as Homer, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Julius Caesar, Horace, Plato, and some mythological characters such as Orpheus, Camilla and Latinus. The sinners in this circle do not go through any actual suffering. The only suffering that they experience is feeling the absence of God’s love. Dante hears many sighs from his circle as the dwellers wish to ascend to Heaven. According to Virgil, Dante’s guide, there are a few that have ascended to Heaven when Christ came and embraced them. These included Moses, Abel, Abraham, Noah and David (Aligheri and Lambardo, 19). Perhaps because Dante’s guide, Virgil belonged to this circle, Dante was allowed to interact with four other great minds. These included Homer, Horace and Lucin. Limbo is calm and contemplative place. The dwellers in this circle are not suffering in the real sense. The calm place symbolizes lack of God’s love. The people here live in a contemplative world so that they can reflect on the fact that they were not baptized. Since they did not commit any sin, they do not suffer but neither do they rejoice as the dwellers of Heaven do. Circle 2: Lust In the second circle of Dante’s Inferno reside the sinners whose appetite for sexual pleasure led to their doom. These include Helen of Troy, Cleopatra, Paris, Achilles, Francesca da Rimini, Paolo Malatest and many more. They suffer in a place that is constantly assaulted with a windy violent storm. The storm is so intense that the bodies of these sinners are constantly blown and they are never at rest. Dante, himself, finds it difficult to navigate in this circle. This suffering symbolizes that lack of aim and willpower in the sinners during their time on Earth. They were unable to control the desires of their bodies and now they suffer as they still have no control over the bodies. Their bodies blow around without any sense of direction because their lives had none. These sinners have no peace in their lives and Dante hears their shrieks upon arrival in the second circle. In this circle, Dante interacts with Francesca da Rimini and her love. Dante is interested to know about the sin that they committed and how they fare in this circle of Hell. Rimini recounts her tale where she fell in love with her brother-in-law, Paolo Malatest and thus committed adultery. She blames Lancelot and Guinevere’s tale as the reason for her sin since this story inspired the two to share their first passionate kiss. When Dante interacts with Rimini, he feels sympathy for the people and even loses consciousness because of the constant shrieks of Rimini’s companion. He points out that there is a fine line between love and lust and lust takes over when people are guided by their bodies rather than their minds. Circle 3: Gluttony The third of Hell is Gluttony. When entering the circle, Dante meets up three headed worm, Cerberus who opened his mouth, perhaps to devour Dante or to warn him off but Dante’s guide fills all three mouths with Earth and they pass through to the third circle of Hell. Here reside the sinners who like the sinner of lust were involved in sins of the flesh. However, their sin pertains to excessively of food and drink. The sinners in this circle experience constant rain and are wallowed in a puddle of mud. The rain is unlike the clean water rain that they enjoyed on Earth; rather it stinks and it is very cold in this circle of Hell. The constant dirty water falling and the slush at the bottom make the place very cold. This is punishment as however much the sinners eat; their bodies are unable to retain any warmth given the cold conditions around them. The food they eat and the drinks they consume do not give with happiness in this cold gloomy side of Hell. Also the place stinks for the garbage that is placed in his circle. This is reminder to the fact that these sinners did not understand the waste they were producing as a result of their excessiveness. However might the sinners try, they cannot escape the rain or this circle of Hell as Cerberus looms over them and attacks anyone who dares to leave. When Dante enters this circle, he hears screams of the people trying to leave as Cerberus consumes them with the same ravage manner that they consumed their food and drinks on Earth. In this circle, Dante interacted with Ciacco who abruptly stands up from the slush that he is consuming and talks with Dante. Ciacco is a Florentine and Florentines were known for their love of excessiveness for food and drink. Therefore it was fitting that Dante found him there. When Dante interacts with Ciacco, he wants to know whether great people like Farinato, Tegghaiao, Jacapo Rustcucci, Arigo and Mosco went to Heaven or Hell (Sinclar, 91). Ciacco informs Dante they are deeper in the circles of Hell. Just as abruptly as Cicacco rose from the mud, he went back to his place. Circle 4: Greed The fourth circle of Hell that Dante enters is Greed. The fourth circle is divided into two parts: sinners who hoarded their materialistic possessions and sinners who squandered their wealth on Earth. The common element that binds them together is excessive attachment to materialistic wealth. The two groups roll stones with their chests and as they met together in the circle, they clash and the hoarders cry out, ‘Why Squander?’ while the spendthrifts cry out, ‘Why Hoard?’ Here they change directions again to meet at the opposite end of the circle with the same cry. Here again the suffering of the sinners is fitting for the sin that they committed. They did not achieve a balance in their materialistic wealth and thus they have to carry the weight of this wealth through eternity. When they enter into this circle, Dante and Virgil have to fight with the beast, Pluto guarding the sinners here. The weapons that they use are massive and they have to use their chests to push them, just like the sinners in this part of Hell. In this circle, Dante sees men of robes including Popes and Priests. Dante, in this circle, does not interact with anyone as he realizes that these sinners are too busy and weary to talk to him. Even the sinners in this circle are too exhausted to talk to Dante. Their sufferings do not give them the time to observe their guests. It is similar to the way that they lived on Earth where they did not observe the poor and the needy in their lives because they were busy with their love for wealth. The sinners in this circle have lost their identity and Virgil points out to Dante that it is pointless to engage with these people. Dante, realizes this, observes them and moves silently to the next level of Hell. This, he enters, by passing through the river of Styx. Circle 5: Wrath This fifth circle is reserved for sinners who let their anger control their emotions and actions. This circle is enclosed in the River Styx. The River Styx is more of a slum that contains sinners constantly at war with each other; tearing each other’s limbs. Below in the mud, reside those who have sunk to the bottom; for they are sullen and passive. Here the poet interacts with Flippo Argenti, against whom he had a personal grudge. Dante approaches him to curse him for a long stay in Hell; also realizing for the first time about the sins that he consciously and unconsciously commits. In this circle, Dante also encounters Phlegyas, a mythological creature whose rage leads him to this circle of Hell. Dante uses Phlegyas for gain a passage to the sixth level of Hell on Phlegyas’ boat. As Dante tries to move into the sixth circle which is situated in the city of Dis, he encounters resistance. This resistance is in the form of mythical creatures, Medusa and the Furies that comprise of Meqaera, Alecto and Tsiphone. In this situation, even Virgil is unable to gain passage and it is with the help of an Angel from Heaven that the two companions move on. The Angel opens the gate of Dis through his wand and admonishes the four wrathful creatures. Circle 6: Heresy The sixth circle of Hell is reserved for the heretics. From here begin the serious sins. These sinners did not believe in the existence of God and proclaimed that the soul died with the body; therefore they enjoyed the world to its fullest without caring for their afterlife. These sinners suffer by living in an opened fiery tomb. Their souls are trapped in the tombs which is punishment for the sin that they believed that their soul would be freed after death; instead it is trapped. The sinners here can also see the future but as the future dawns near, the vision blurs. This is punishment because the sinners did not believe in Christ and could not see what they would have to suffer in the afterlife but their sufferings include a peak in the future from where they can see what lies in their future; which is quite bleak. Here Virgil and Dante meet up with Farinata, a political leader who has certain disdain for Dante’s family. Dante is afraid to talk to anyone in this circle of Hell as he fears the fiery tombs from where the voices are comming. Dante, however, gets the courage to talk to Farinata when Virgil admonishes him in doing so and he ends up having a bout with Farinata. Dante also talks with Cavalcante de’Cavalcanti who wants to know about his son. His son is a poet and Dante’s friend. In their exchange, Cavalcanti wrongfully assumes that his son is dead and with this realization, he goes back to his grave very sad. Circle 7: Violence The seventh circle of Hell is reserved for those who were unduly violent in their life. This circle of Hell is divided into three rings. The outer ring is reserved for those who were violent to their neighbors; the second circle for those violent against themselves while the third one is reserved for those violent against God. This circle is guarded by the half-man, half-bull mythological creature, Minotaur. Virgil unconsciously provokes them and this result in both Virgil and Dante fleeing for their lives. Once they have freed themselves from the charges of Minotaur, they reach the Phlegethon River that is a boiling bloody river. This river is guarded by half-men and half-horse creature, Centaurs who are all armed with arrows and bows pointed towards the duo. Virgil here boldly asks them to talk to Chiron and proves to him that Dante is alive and on a mission from God. Once Chiron is satisfied, he asks Nessus, a murderer and a rapist to guide them to the rest of the journey. Nessus takes them inside the circle and introduces to them people such as Alexander and Ezzolino Da Romano. These people are submerged in the river of boiling blood and the level of submergence relates to their level of violence. The poet is able to cross the river where the blood is only ankle deep. Once the duo reaches the second level of Hell, they find themselves in a forest with black leaves, gnarled branches and poisonous briers. These trees, Dante later finds out, are actually humans. Since they let go of their bodies by committing suicide, they are robbed of their true human forms. They voice seems to have a burning quality referring to the fact that they burning from inside for the sins that they committed. Here Dante talks with Peir Della Vigna whom Dante unconsciously hurts when he tears the limb off a tree. Vigna, in an attempt to justify his crime, tells his story assuming Dante would tell the world about Vigna’s innocence. Dante is however not forthcoming in the interaction as he feels sorry for Vigna’ soul. Dante also meets up with a thorn bush whose branches are broken. Dante listens to his story and collects the broken branches for him as a sign of feeling sorry for the bush. Dante, then moves on to the inner most circle where he encounters a large stretch of sand. The sinners here are naked and they are in different states of posture: standing, sitting or lying. Their suffering is multiplied by the presence of the fire raining down on their naked bodies. The bodies lying on the sand are suffering the most and these include among others, Capaneus who went for a fight against Zeus. Capaneus is still arrogant but he repents his actions as he writhers in his burning body. Circle 8: Fraud The eight circle of Hell is reserved for those who committed the sin of fraud. The ninth circle of Hell is also reserved for the those who committed fraud, however, the ninth circle constitutes a worse degree of fraud because it is committed against those with whom the sinner shared some degree of fraud. Dante reaches the eighth circle of Hell by riding on the back of Geryon who typifies fraud in the sense that the monster has the face of a man, paws of a lion and is poisonous like a snake. The circle, like the ninth circle, is made up of ten stone ditches or Bolgia. The first Bolgia houses the seducers who use their seduction powers to get someone to do as they please. These seducers are punished by demons beating on their backs with whips and bidding them to continue marching forever. Here Dante only observes the sinners from far away and they include Venedico Caccianemico and Jason. The second Bolgia is reserved for the flatterers. They suffer as they live within human excrement for all the excessive use of false words that they used in the lives on Earth. The third Bolgia houses the Simonics who took favors on the behalf of the Church. The sinners in this circle are buried head down in holes and they are being baptized with fire instead of water. Dante here has placed all the Popes since his religious belief as a devout Christian make the choice obvious. The fourth circle contains the False Prophets and the Fortune Tellers who committed fraud by claiming to tell the future. Their punishment reflects this as their heads are turned backwards and they are unable to see what lies ahead for even the plain eye to see. Here Dante observes Aruns, Guido Bonatti, Tiresias and his daughter, Amphiaraus. The Fifth Bolgia is reserved for the corrupt politicians who are submerged in a sticky tar. This is justice for their sin in the sense that they kept under the sticky substance for their underhanded ways and dealings. The sinners are guarded by the Malabranch Devils and the Malcodaoa who ensure that the sinners remain below the tar. Those who dare to come out are caught and tortured in the devil’s hooks and torn apart. Here Dante interacts with a politician from Navarre whom Dante sees clasped in the fork and feeling a little sympathy for him, asks Virgil to intervene. Navarre tells them about this story and also helps them escape the Bolgia by directing the attention of the devils to him and his companions. In the sixth Bolgia dwell the hypocrites wearing glided cloaks which may appear shiny and beautiful for the eye but in actuality are weighing the sinners down with their heavy weight; thus making it difficult for the sinners to enjoy spiritual progress. The chief sinner here is Caiaphus who is crucified for his world’s hypocrisy as retribution to the fact that he was responsible for Christ crucified for the world’s sin. The Jovial Friar whom Dante interacts with in order to find out about the bolgia lie to them about the way to the seventh circle (Zimmerman, 161). They go through the difficult journey in order to cross over to the seventh Bolgia which is reserved for the thieves. Here the thieves are bound tightly by serpents that coil through their hands and their private parts. Dante, later realizes that the punishment is much severe than that when a serpent attacks the jugular vein of a sinner which leads the sinner to disintegrate into ashes only to be born again. This is retribution for the sin that they stole something from other people’s lives and now their own identity is being continuously robbed of them till eternity. Dante here finds Vanni Fucci who was known for their anger and brutality. Dante interact with him to find out the real nature of his sin (Zimmerman, 168). The eight Bolgia houses the evil counselors and the dishonest advisors. Since they urged others to commit fraud but never came out in the open, they are concealed in burning flames. The sinners here include Odysseus, Diomedes and Montefeltro. In the ninth Bolgia, Dante and Virgil come across sinners who are being punished for their crime of sowing a seed of discord. They are being torn into two pieces by sword wielding demons. This is retribution for their sin that tore apart societies and people in general. Here Dante meets up with Muhmmad, Ali and Henry the Young King. In the tenth ditch, falsifiers are being punished. They are further categorized into alchemists, impersonators, counterfeiters and liars. Since they tried to change the world, their faces are changed hideously on account of some disease. The alchemists suffer from leprosy, the impersonators with madness; the counterfeiters with dropsy and liars with a smelly fever. Here again Dante feels some sort of sympathy of the sinners but Virgil is quick to reprove him, pointing out that the sinners are aptly punished for the sins they committed on Earth and that the punishment is quite fitting. Circle 9: Treachery The ninth and the most horrendous circle houses the sinners who committed treachery against people who trusted them. These included friends and family. This circle is also further divided into four rounds through the Cocytus Lake, frozen at the heart of Hell. The traitors here do not give up their identity in order to avoid becoming public; however, they easily give up the identity of those living with them. The first round is reserved for traitors to kindred and is Caina for Cain. The traitors in this round like the other rounds are submerged in ice. The ice covers their neck. The traitors here are allowed to submerge their faces into the water to shield their identity and also to escape of chilly wind that would otherwise shut their eyelids. In this circle, Dante meets up with Modred. In the second round, the sinners cannot submerge their faces as their necks are tightly secured. This shows that Dante considered traitors against the community to be worse than those against kindred. The third round, Ptolomaea, the sinners suffer worse than the second round and here their heads are placed in uncomfortable positions making them suffer more the chilly wind. The fourth round, Judecca houses the traitors who committed sin against their benefactors. These traitors are fully submerged in water preventing Dante and Virgil to interact with anyone and thus both move quickly forward to the end of their journey through Hell. Work Cited Alighieri, Dante and Lombardo, Stanely, Inferno, Indiana: Hackett Publishing, 2009 Sinclair, John, The Divine Comedy: Volume 1: Inferno, UK: Oxford University Press, 1961  Zimmerman, Seth, The Inferno of Dante Alighieri, Nebraska: iUniverse, 2003 Read More