Dante’s Inferno is one of the most well-known epics about Hell. His depictions severely detail his journey through the Inferno, most especially his encounter with Satan, “the emperor of the reign of misery.” This encounter holds in itself endless symbolism to be drawn out. Anthony Cassell, a medieval and Renaissance literature professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has spent many years in research on Dante’s masterpiece of Hell. Cassell published this analysis of the Inferno in 1984, titled Dante’s Fearful Art of Justice. One major point Cassell makes is that Satan’s immersion in ice is an image of baptism, that Satan is in contrast to Christ, and that his entire punishment is a contrapasso for his rejection of God. He
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He is very detailed in his reading of Dante’s Inferno. He also meticulously researched the baptism of Christ, looking through commentaries and paintings depicting his baptism. He supports all of his correlations between Satan’s immersion in ice and Christ’s immersion in the Jordan for his baptism. He is also careful to not say that Satan is the opposite of Christ or God, but that he is a reversal since he is simply a creation and cannot assume any equality with God, even in opposition. Although Lucifer’s fall occurred prior to the life of Christ, Lucifer was allowed the knowledge of what was to come and thus he turned from God. This is where he tried to deem equality with God, in thinking he could disagree with his almighty plans and it is exactly this deeming that imprisons him in ice, which as Cassell says, “mocks his desire for infinity” (96). Cassell shows that Satan’s punishment is a contrapasso because since he tried to be like God, he is punished by the reversal of Christ’s life on earth. Cassell does miss some details in his comparison however. The start of the canto says “the standards of the king of Hell advance,” which could symbolize how John the Baptist came before Christ to announce his coming, just as these standards are before Dante sees Satan to announce his presence. Also, since Christ is the source of all peace, Dante names Satan as the “source of every woe” making Satan the antithesis of Christ. Lastly, Virgil tells Dantes that it is time to depart “for Hell has nothing more for us to see” and since the end of Hell is the image of the baptism of Satan, it is the exact inverse of the life of Christ which began with
He is very detailed in his reading of Dante’s Inferno. He also meticulously researched the baptism of Christ, looking through commentaries and paintings depicting his baptism. He supports all of his correlations between Satan’s immersion in ice and Christ’s immersion in the Jordan for his baptism. He is also careful to not say that Satan is the opposite of Christ or God, but that he is a reversal since he is simply a creation and cannot assume any equality with God, even in opposition. Although Lucifer’s fall occurred prior to the life of Christ, Lucifer was allowed the knowledge of what was to come and thus he turned from God. This is where he tried to deem equality with God, in thinking he could disagree with his almighty plans and it is exactly this deeming that imprisons him in ice, which as Cassell says, “mocks his desire for infinity” (96). Cassell shows that Satan’s punishment is a contrapasso because since he tried to be like God, he is punished by the reversal of Christ’s life on earth. Cassell does miss some details in his comparison however. The start of the canto says “the standards of the king of Hell advance,” which could symbolize how John the Baptist came before Christ to announce his coming, just as these standards are before Dante sees Satan to announce his presence. Also, since Christ is the source of all peace, Dante names Satan as the “source of every woe” making Satan the antithesis of Christ. Lastly, Virgil tells Dantes that it is time to depart “for Hell has nothing more for us to see” and since the end of Hell is the image of the baptism of Satan, it is the exact inverse of the life of Christ which began with