There is a significant amount of differences between Dante's image of Satan (for example, the three-faced, silent being stuck in ice) and more usual images of Satan (for example, the pitchfork-wielding devil in fire). I choose this topic because I thought the way Dante portrays Satan in Dante’s Inferno was a very interesting and different way than the way Christians and other modern religions portray him. There have many papers and articles written about this that have changed my perspective of looking at our image of Satan. I think this topic is important because it shows that things can progress over time and people have different opinions. As scholars read more in depth about Satan, whether it is in the Bible or Dante’s Inferno, our image
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When Dante was around 12 years old, he had an arranged marriage but he was in love with another women, Beatrice Portinari, who became a huge influence when writing the Divine Comedy. When Beatrice died, Dante began to study philosophy and the politics in Florence. He held a number of important public posts. However, in 1302, Dante was exiled for life by the leaders of the Black Guelphs and Pope Boniface VIII. This was the beginning of his most productive artistic period, and began to write The Divine Comedy. This piece of work has flourished for more than 650 years, when he wrote it, and is now considered a major work of art. Dante died in 1321 and is now seen as the father of modern Italian. Dante wrote the Inferno to describe to his readers the journey he took through his imagination. He was in a lost place in his lifetime and wasn’t sure who he was anymore. He was looking for divine guidance. He imagined as if he was in the woods and couldn’t find the route back to salvation. By asking the question. “Who am I?”, he was able to answer with Virgil and Beatrice guiding him. Dante also had time to devote to writing after he was exiled from …show more content…
The most common is the pitchfork-wielding devil surrounded by flames; a fiery, dark beast. He is portrayed with horns, a pointed tail, cloven horns, wearing red tights, almost looking like a dragon. This imagery is derived from both the Bible and ancient Greek mythology. In the Revelation 12:3-4, St. John writes “it was a huge red dragon,with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems,” giving us the image of horns and diadems. The pitchfork may have come from the Greek god, Hades, who had all power over the dead. Like Hades, Satan can be viewed as having “power” over all of Hell, giving Satan the image of having a pitchfork. In “The Satanic Phenomenon: Medieval Representations of Satan”, Mark H. Muska writes that “Satan as a dragon or lion stirs emotions within us of a fearful creature with great power, one who preys on human beings.” This gives us the image of Satan being a hurtful, scary creature with great power over Hell. In Genesis 3:1, it is written that “Now the snake was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made.” This gives us the modern-day image of Satan looking a serpent. Although our modern idea of Satan is a ruler of a fiery, dark place, Dante portrayed Satan as a ruler of a frozen, cold place. This gives the images of Satan two opposite, contradicting
When Dante was around 12 years old, he had an arranged marriage but he was in love with another women, Beatrice Portinari, who became a huge influence when writing the Divine Comedy. When Beatrice died, Dante began to study philosophy and the politics in Florence. He held a number of important public posts. However, in 1302, Dante was exiled for life by the leaders of the Black Guelphs and Pope Boniface VIII. This was the beginning of his most productive artistic period, and began to write The Divine Comedy. This piece of work has flourished for more than 650 years, when he wrote it, and is now considered a major work of art. Dante died in 1321 and is now seen as the father of modern Italian. Dante wrote the Inferno to describe to his readers the journey he took through his imagination. He was in a lost place in his lifetime and wasn’t sure who he was anymore. He was looking for divine guidance. He imagined as if he was in the woods and couldn’t find the route back to salvation. By asking the question. “Who am I?”, he was able to answer with Virgil and Beatrice guiding him. Dante also had time to devote to writing after he was exiled from …show more content…
The most common is the pitchfork-wielding devil surrounded by flames; a fiery, dark beast. He is portrayed with horns, a pointed tail, cloven horns, wearing red tights, almost looking like a dragon. This imagery is derived from both the Bible and ancient Greek mythology. In the Revelation 12:3-4, St. John writes “it was a huge red dragon,with seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadems,” giving us the image of horns and diadems. The pitchfork may have come from the Greek god, Hades, who had all power over the dead. Like Hades, Satan can be viewed as having “power” over all of Hell, giving Satan the image of having a pitchfork. In “The Satanic Phenomenon: Medieval Representations of Satan”, Mark H. Muska writes that “Satan as a dragon or lion stirs emotions within us of a fearful creature with great power, one who preys on human beings.” This gives us the image of Satan being a hurtful, scary creature with great power over Hell. In Genesis 3:1, it is written that “Now the snake was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made.” This gives us the modern-day image of Satan looking a serpent. Although our modern idea of Satan is a ruler of a fiery, dark place, Dante portrayed Satan as a ruler of a frozen, cold place. This gives the images of Satan two opposite, contradicting