Dante's Inferno, By Dante Alighieri

Dante’s Inferno, written by Dante Alighieri is a classical poem that tells a tale about Dante and Virgil, who journey through the nine gates of hell on a quest to heaven. What’s very intriguing about this poem is that is based completely off Dante himself and most of the characters are based off real people. This poem started being written around 1300, this was mostly due to Dante being exiled from Florence because of a scuffle with the pope. This resulted in Dante to often rant about the popes in his poem. His feelings of despair and anger resulted in one of the best pieces of written poetry today. Inferno starts with Dante waking up in a forest in Florence, Italy Dante is disoriented and confused as he sees a light atop a hill and wanders …show more content…
All of the circles have different (ironic) punishments for each sin committed. The first circles sin is limbo. It is a wasteland castle full of un-baptized babies and non-Christians who are forced to spend eternity in a land of decay. In this place Dante comes across Homer, Aristotle and Julius Caesar, along with many others who failed to devote themselves to a religion. The second circles sin is lust. It is full of people who yearned for others and their punishment is being blown by powerful winds, preventing them rest, which symbolizes the restlessness of a person who is driven by the desire pleasure. In this gate Dante’s comes across Cleopatra and Helen of Troy, who were notorious for their adulterous …show more content…
Greedy and unmannered people are guarded over by a worm-like Cerberus creature and the slush sinners are forced to lie in nasty slush, followed by never ending icy rain. This symbolizes overindulgence in cuisine, wine and other pleasures. The sinners also are not aware of each other, suggesting their indifference and egoism. The fourth circle is much like the third and greedy people who hoard or lavishly spend are sent here. The people are forced to push weights, which insinuates their selfish ambition for wealth. The fifth circle is where angry people are sent and they are forced to fight atop the river Styx. In the sixth circle people who have committed heresy, they are forced to burn in flaming tombs for eternity. Dante sees Pope Anastasius II and Roman Emperor Frederick II, along with other historical figures. The eighth circle of hell is for persons who have committed some sort of fraudulence; they are sorted into ten different trenches for each type of fraud committed. In order to pass through this circle Virgil summons Geryon, a flying monster to escort them to the ninth and final