Canto

In Canto VIII, Dante and Virgil travel through the fifth circle of hell where they encounter Filippo Argenti, a long time enemy of the Guelph’s, while they are riding a boat on the river Styx. The reader is struck with an image of a wrathful Dante and Virgil and must decide whether or not their actions are justified. Depending on what the reader decides, it shows whether they too are wrathful or not. Within lines 31-66, Filippo comes up from the river to ask who is in hell before his time. Dante…

before us on the lustrous green the mighty shades were pointed out to me (my heart felt glory when I looked at them). There was Elektra standing with the group, among whom I saw Hector and Aeneas, and Caesar, Falcon-eyed, and fully armed.” (ALIGHIERI)(Canto IV, Lines 119-123) Here the writer is describing his admiration for these great…

I explored Canto XXXIV of Dante Alighieri’s The Inferno. This canto describes Dante’s and Virgil’s expedition into the last circle of hell, Cocytus. As well as detailing their interactions with a number of significantly important characters. Virgil leads Dante into the last circle of hell and they are immediately shaken by a great icy wind. They look over to see a massive horrid creature stirring up the windstorm by flapping it’s wings. Dante said “I did not die, and yet I lost life’s breath”…

The Code of Hammurabi is one of the oldest deciphered texts in human history, dating back to approximately 1700 B.C.E.; the code was a set of laws and punishments during the reign of the sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi. The code is regarded as a moral and fair set of laws that is also the oldest collection of codified law to ever exist. Throughout the Inferno, it is clear that Dante Alighieri reiterates the theme of “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” in his interpretation of hell, only…

Earlier on before reading The Inferno, typical depictions of Hell centered on the idea of a dark pit, adorned with fire and torture. However, in Canto XXXIV Dante describes Hell as a frozen icy lake. In relation to religion, the ninth circle of Hell is farthest from the light of God. In duration of Dante’s time period, everyone was very religious and the government was controlled and up-held by the…

Dante Alighieri’s Inferno explores the vastness of hell while illustrating his political, religious, and artistic beliefs. In Canto 15, he comes across the Sodomites walking through fiery rain in the Seventh Circle, one of which he recognizes as his friend and mentor Brunetto Latini. Dante’s encounter with Brunetto emphasizes his religious belief in the righteousness of God while clarifying that although Florentine politics are important, religion is his primary motivator. At first glance,…

demarcated the life Pope so eagerly wanted to ridicule (Pope 15). Popes main protagonist Belinda was a symbol of materialism which shun light onto the vanity of the 18th century. Belinda’s room table was adorned with accessories, perfume, and makeup. In Canto II we come across Belinda’s locks which represents the symbolism of vanity and…

committed as dates are more valuable than figs. However, in medieval Italian culture the banquet and hospitality were of utmost importance therefore from the medieval perspective, such a punishment would surely be justified. Blindness to one’s crimes in canto XXXIII is also exemplified by Count Ugolino, who reportedly went blind due to his starvation, a punishment he received for his treason against others during life (Landas). Therefore, when he tells his story, he assumes innocence though the…

in the verses of “In Memoriam.” Prompted by the untimely death of companion Arthur Hallam, questions of justice, morality of God and natural law became more obscure and complicated. The often quoted line, "nature, red in tooth and claw," found in canto 56, can be related back to the scathing rhetoric of Carlyle 's Past and Present, published seven years earlier, and, perhaps even further back to the Old Testament 's Book of Job, an early inquiry into the justice and morality…

In Canto 3 of The Divine Comedy: Inferno, the pilgrim, and Virgil arrive at the gate of hell. They enter and as Virgil explains, the souls who had no goal in life, no direction, no intellect to choose God, reside here. They are the neutrals. They move along until they reach the river of Acheron where Charon, after a bit of hesitation, takes them across to the other side. On this side, there is an earthquake which causes Dante, the pilgrim, to faint. In this canto, Dante takes us through the…