Was Dante Trying to Scare the Hell Out of Us?
(A discussion of how Dante’s The Inferno, is used as a moral propaedeutic) “Heaven would be wonderful, but it looks even more wonderful when there is also a threat of Hell. People probably believe in Heaven more when they have just been threatened with Hell.” (Heflick). People of the church are often known for their ability to make individuals who do not attend church feel lesser and more sinful than themselves. This seems to be the case because those individuals believe in heaven and hell and by going to church, they think they are in the clear of hell. Dante was the first person to ever toy with the concept of what hell would physically appear like and his description is vivid and gruesome enough …show more content…
There are various depths to Dante’s interpretation of hell and each circle of hell coincides with some crime that is committed while the souls were alive. In a sense, individuals that do not repent for their sins will receive their own taste of karma for their actions once they pass away and enter hell. In Dante’s The Inferno, three main punishments serve as examples of how his creation of hell can be considered a moral propaedeutic. One of the more gruesome punishments in Dante’s, The Inferno, is what happens in hell to those who commit suicide. It seems as though this punishment would be the most relatable to modern times as a moral propaedeutic, due to the massive increase in suicide rates compared to that of Dante’s era. However, not many of the common people in modern society bother picking up any of his poetry, but if more people chose to, there is a possibility that the suicide rates would drop after reading what happens to those souls in hell. “Men we were, and now we are changed to sticks; well might …show more content…
Lately, there has been lots of violence in America between the police shootings and random mass murders, so it only seems fit to inquire about the special place in hell that Dante made for such vile individuals. “But turn your eyes to the valley; there we shall find the river of boiling blood in which are steeped all who struck down their fellow men” (Canto XII 46-48). Those who have killed a fellow neighbor are to boil in the river of blood in the afterlife of hell. That would appear to any sensible human a decent reason to not murder someone, as it would make sense that not many people enjoy eternity spent boiling in blood. “The fear of god may compel us to help strangers as circumstances permit and help neighbors as circumstances demand. Or, it may help us think twice before we throw a punch, hurl a nasty insult, or take more than is rightfully ours” (Schroeder). This punishment is one of many that is kind of ironic in the sense that a murderer bathes in the blood of their victims and so they must spend eternity bathing in blood for that severe sin. In a sense, hell does not even have to be a real place, it just has to be something that individuals believe in and fear, so that they will do morally right things during their short time on Earth. Murderers may read this poetry, yet never change
(A discussion of how Dante’s The Inferno, is used as a moral propaedeutic) “Heaven would be wonderful, but it looks even more wonderful when there is also a threat of Hell. People probably believe in Heaven more when they have just been threatened with Hell.” (Heflick). People of the church are often known for their ability to make individuals who do not attend church feel lesser and more sinful than themselves. This seems to be the case because those individuals believe in heaven and hell and by going to church, they think they are in the clear of hell. Dante was the first person to ever toy with the concept of what hell would physically appear like and his description is vivid and gruesome enough …show more content…
There are various depths to Dante’s interpretation of hell and each circle of hell coincides with some crime that is committed while the souls were alive. In a sense, individuals that do not repent for their sins will receive their own taste of karma for their actions once they pass away and enter hell. In Dante’s The Inferno, three main punishments serve as examples of how his creation of hell can be considered a moral propaedeutic. One of the more gruesome punishments in Dante’s, The Inferno, is what happens in hell to those who commit suicide. It seems as though this punishment would be the most relatable to modern times as a moral propaedeutic, due to the massive increase in suicide rates compared to that of Dante’s era. However, not many of the common people in modern society bother picking up any of his poetry, but if more people chose to, there is a possibility that the suicide rates would drop after reading what happens to those souls in hell. “Men we were, and now we are changed to sticks; well might …show more content…
Lately, there has been lots of violence in America between the police shootings and random mass murders, so it only seems fit to inquire about the special place in hell that Dante made for such vile individuals. “But turn your eyes to the valley; there we shall find the river of boiling blood in which are steeped all who struck down their fellow men” (Canto XII 46-48). Those who have killed a fellow neighbor are to boil in the river of blood in the afterlife of hell. That would appear to any sensible human a decent reason to not murder someone, as it would make sense that not many people enjoy eternity spent boiling in blood. “The fear of god may compel us to help strangers as circumstances permit and help neighbors as circumstances demand. Or, it may help us think twice before we throw a punch, hurl a nasty insult, or take more than is rightfully ours” (Schroeder). This punishment is one of many that is kind of ironic in the sense that a murderer bathes in the blood of their victims and so they must spend eternity bathing in blood for that severe sin. In a sense, hell does not even have to be a real place, it just has to be something that individuals believe in and fear, so that they will do morally right things during their short time on Earth. Murderers may read this poetry, yet never change