The Inferno by Dante Alighieri
Synopsys and Main Theme
The Inferno by Dante is a mythical journey in the nine circles of hell. In the world of spirits, Dante is accompanied by the spirit of the Roman poet Virgil acting as a guide through the nine circles of hell. Dante’s hell highlights how sinner are punished in hells. Each sinner is punished according to the sins they committed and every category of sin is punished differently. The deeper the circle the more serious the sins are and the more severe the punishment (Love, 2017, p.270).
In the eight circles of the nine hells, Dante introduces this as the place where panderers and seducers are punished and names it Malebolge which refers to its or evil ouches. The most interesting pouches include the first ouch where sinners are being whipped while their heads are twisted backward. In the fourth ouch, Dante sees sorcerers, magicians, and diviners being punished. In the fifth ouch, speculators, conmen and corrupt people in government are seen being punished in this ouch (Alighieri, 2017, p. 133).
The eight circle also interests Dante as it is filled with poisonous snakes biting the sinners. In the ninth ouch, corrupt individuals and fraudsters are seen with wounds and severely punished. This category includes sinners who sinned in church and politics (Marx, 2010). The most interesting art in the inferno by Dante is the realization that God punishes sinners according to the measure or the magnitude of the sins.
Virgil acts as a guide and seems to protect Dante as he takes him through the canto. Virgil role to become Dante’s Inferno is symbolic in the Aeneid where Virgil work becomes Roman Empires national epic (Mazzotta, 2014, p.36). The growing beast named Minos, a ruler of Crete in ancient Greek is portrayed as the first demon every sinner meets in the Conte. Minor hears sinners confessions and allocates sinners their respective Evil it or Cantos (BarolinI, 2006).
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Love, E.D. (2017), Dante’s Eighth Circle: Why Scientology’s Narconon Must Be Stopped NY smart people today’s publishing.
Marx K. (2010). A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy. In: Sitton J.F. (eds) Marx Today. NY: Palgrave Macmillan
Mazzotta, G. (2014). Inferno 5–7. In Reading Dante. New Haven; London: Yale University Press.