Role Of Punishment In Dante's Inferno

In The Divine Comedy, Dante's Inferno, Dante takes a horrific journey through the Inferno. Throughout his journey, he enters, he discovers that hell is split up into many levels, the bottom where Satan resides. In these circles, he witnesses many people in pain who are being punished for their sins that they committed on earth. Each person's punishment is based on their crimes they have committed, but without all the allusions and justifications they had in their earthly lives. Dante encounters many people who knew him in their human lives but are paying for their misdeeds. He also witnesses the punishments of many. Two of which are the Gluttons, and Sorcerer’s (Diviners, Astrologers, & Magicians). The Gluttons punishment is that they wallow in mud in the cold rain as Cerberus feasts on them, and the Sorcerer's heads are twisted backward and are forced to walk rearward as they weep. However, are the punishments that Dante describes just or unjust? …show more content…
They are punished by wallowing in the mud under a cold, steady freezing rain. The rain freezes on their body and their wounds inflicted by their tormenter, Cerberus. These people would go beyond their needs, and begin to eat or drink just for pleasure. The “One who uses food or drink in such a way as to injure his health or impair the mental equipment needed for the discharge of his duties, is guilty of the sin of gluttony.” This sin is a grave on, for the reason that the food or drink they unnecessarily consume, could have been given to those who were starving. In the Bible, Jesus tells the parable of Lazarus, which can have many meanings, but one of the applications of this parable was gluttony. The rich man was already well fed and satisfied, not only with hunger but with his wealth. He does not give even a morsel or a penny to Lazarus so that he can use it for his benefit when he already has so