Casey Klaric
ILS 4190
Professor Taraborelli
17 April 2016
Divine Comedy
The question that has been much debated throughout the term has been “Why people do evil?” There has been numerous reasoning’s from a society and culture aspect to evil is based off the psyche. However, a more important question has arose since reading the works of Dante. What happens to people who have committed acts of evil once they have perished? Some believe that the soul leaves the body and makes a journey to either heaven or hell while for some it is much simpler. Dante’s Inferno is the depictions of hell based on the story of Dante Alighieri. Dante’s journey begins when he is met by Virgil, who promises to show him the punishments of Hell and purgatory. …show more content…
The eighth and ninth stages of hell can be reached by descending down a vast cliff. Dante and Virgil complete this feat by riding the back of Geryon, a winged monster who is a symbol of fraud. Geryon owns the face of an honest man with a beautiful colored body but he possesses a poisonous sting in his tail. “The face was as the face of a just man, its semblance outwardly was so benign, and of a serpent all the trunk beside.” (Inferno. 17. 10-12) Enron was an American energy, commodities and service company based out of Texas. Kenneth Lay was the CEO of Enron from 1985-2002 and is responsible for one of the most prevalent fraud cases in U.S. history. Lay was the spearhead of a company that committed multiple acts of corporate abuse and accounting fraud. Over 20,000 employees had lost their jobs and most had lost their life savings while investors lost billions. Lay was indicted on 11 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud and making false and misleading statements. “The full horror of the thieves ' punishment is revealed gradually: just as they stole other people 's substance in life.” …show more content…
People like Cain, Judas and Ephilates are distinguished from those who are fraudulent because their acts betrayed a special relationship of some kind. The ninth circle is separated into four zones of traitors in order of seriousness. The four zones are betrayal of family ties, community ties, guests and liege lords. Hell is depicted as fiery, however, the treacherous are frozen in a lake of ice with each group encased in ice to greater depths. Aldrich Ames was one of the most notable figures of treachery in United States history. Ames worked for the CIA but in 1994 the U.S. found out that Ames was a double agent who was working for the KGB. He had sold multiple intelligence secrets and is responsible for exposing hundreds of American agents transplanted in the KGB and at least 10 deaths. Ames’ espionage earned him millions of dollars and a lifetime prison sentence.
The real world applications of ISIS, Kenneth Lay and Aldrich Ames are just a few examples of the works of Dante and the nine circles of hell. Dante’s depiction of hell has transformed my view of evil and why people do evil. It has shed new light on the idea of hell as a whole and I enjoyed how the inferno is structured. Earlier in the course after reading Staub and Zimbardo I viewed evil as strictly violence and Dante made me realize that certain acts can be associated with
ILS 4190
Professor Taraborelli
17 April 2016
Divine Comedy
The question that has been much debated throughout the term has been “Why people do evil?” There has been numerous reasoning’s from a society and culture aspect to evil is based off the psyche. However, a more important question has arose since reading the works of Dante. What happens to people who have committed acts of evil once they have perished? Some believe that the soul leaves the body and makes a journey to either heaven or hell while for some it is much simpler. Dante’s Inferno is the depictions of hell based on the story of Dante Alighieri. Dante’s journey begins when he is met by Virgil, who promises to show him the punishments of Hell and purgatory. …show more content…
The eighth and ninth stages of hell can be reached by descending down a vast cliff. Dante and Virgil complete this feat by riding the back of Geryon, a winged monster who is a symbol of fraud. Geryon owns the face of an honest man with a beautiful colored body but he possesses a poisonous sting in his tail. “The face was as the face of a just man, its semblance outwardly was so benign, and of a serpent all the trunk beside.” (Inferno. 17. 10-12) Enron was an American energy, commodities and service company based out of Texas. Kenneth Lay was the CEO of Enron from 1985-2002 and is responsible for one of the most prevalent fraud cases in U.S. history. Lay was the spearhead of a company that committed multiple acts of corporate abuse and accounting fraud. Over 20,000 employees had lost their jobs and most had lost their life savings while investors lost billions. Lay was indicted on 11 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud and making false and misleading statements. “The full horror of the thieves ' punishment is revealed gradually: just as they stole other people 's substance in life.” …show more content…
People like Cain, Judas and Ephilates are distinguished from those who are fraudulent because their acts betrayed a special relationship of some kind. The ninth circle is separated into four zones of traitors in order of seriousness. The four zones are betrayal of family ties, community ties, guests and liege lords. Hell is depicted as fiery, however, the treacherous are frozen in a lake of ice with each group encased in ice to greater depths. Aldrich Ames was one of the most notable figures of treachery in United States history. Ames worked for the CIA but in 1994 the U.S. found out that Ames was a double agent who was working for the KGB. He had sold multiple intelligence secrets and is responsible for exposing hundreds of American agents transplanted in the KGB and at least 10 deaths. Ames’ espionage earned him millions of dollars and a lifetime prison sentence.
The real world applications of ISIS, Kenneth Lay and Aldrich Ames are just a few examples of the works of Dante and the nine circles of hell. Dante’s depiction of hell has transformed my view of evil and why people do evil. It has shed new light on the idea of hell as a whole and I enjoyed how the inferno is structured. Earlier in the course after reading Staub and Zimbardo I viewed evil as strictly violence and Dante made me realize that certain acts can be associated with