Hell

One of the fundamental purposes of the idea of sin is to establish the threat of an eternity spent in Hell. The goal of this scare tactic is to encourage people to live a morally sound life in order to earn a worthy afterlife. But the idea that a happy afterlife must be earned by living a good life while alive is not a new concept. This idea has existed in several religions before Christianity and it’s (meticulous/precise) and specific list of sins to avoid. People do not need the specific…

actions that damn the so-called hero, their glorified sins no match for his unblemished integrity; while his demonstrations of morality attract the adoration of many, namely Dante, infatuated with his logic. Dante selects Virgil as his guide through hell due to his adulation for Virgil, displayed through his consistent praising of Virgil’s insightful works as well as through the continuous referral to Virgil as his superior. Virgil defines the concept known as human reason in varying degrees,…

At lines 101-103 he says, “The devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them, and swallow them up; fire pent up in their own hearts is struggling to break out: And they have no interest in any Mediator, there are no means within reach that can be any security to them.” Edwards is trying to scare the people into repentance so God wouldn't release them into hell and fall to their own torture. He says this to them with a…

souls in Canto 13 for their disobedience to common teachings. The Church also frowns upon suicide because it breaks the commandment: “You shall not kill” (Catechism 5). One who commits suicide is killing themselves, which in most cases condemns them to Hell, thus Dante puts them in the 7th Circle of…

In the 1st circle of hell, the pilgrim come across famous poets and writers, these shades of condemned are in limbo, for they are not Christians nor follow the Christian as faith as they should per the Catholics believes of the writer. Hence, when the pilgrim sees this shades as the writer sees them, he feels more admiration and reverence for his feeling for those in limbo are of respect. Quote “And right before us on the lustrous green the mighty shades were pointed out to me (my heart felt…

Milton’s devils heads Mammon’s advice and seek to improve hell, a group of “false” philosophers ponder their circumstances, another group heads off to explore every corner of hell, and the “more mild” (2. 546) devils decide to seclude themselves from the others and sing of their misfortune. The mild devils seem out of place, like they do not belong in hell. Milton places these devils in hell because even though they do not seem evil like their hell-bound companions their inability to recognize…

Dante’s purpose of his journey was to get through heaven so he could get to heaven, which means he has to enter the very worst part of hell. Virgil says to Dante, “Hope not ever to see Heaven. I have come to lead you to the other shore; into eternal darkness; into fire and into ice.” The last Circle in hell represents the worst of crimes, betrayal. An American writer and editor, Rob Dreher, explains Dante’s Inferno’s sinners, “They dwell forever in the pit because they…

In Dante’s Inferno, Dante states that pitying those damned in Hell is impious and highly discouraged. This is exemplified through the multiple instances of pity and its consequences throughout the book and through Virgil’s guidance. In this essay, I will discuss pity’s role within the Inferno and how it is proven to be a sign of impiety. Pitying the sinful never has positive consequences and surprisingly turns the person pitying the damned into a sinner themselves as they are restricting…

Sins undiscovered or unpunished in life will be eternally punished in death, exemplifying Dante’s view that one should never succumb to Earthly whims. As Dante travels through the concentric circles of hell, he meets many sinners who were heroes on Earth who were lauded in spite of their sins or sinners whose true crimes were never punished. In Canto XXIX, he meets Griffolino d’Arezzo who tells him that “the crime for which [his] flesh/was charred was not the one that brought [him] here” (XXIX.…

In Canto 20, Dante arrives at Bolgia 4 of the 8th Circle of Hell. “The Fourth Bolgia. Their heads are rotated backwards, and can only see what 's behind them. Their tears fall onto their behinds as a sign of shame, and some are blinded by the tears themselves”(Jones). Dante’s allegorical significance from the 4th Bolgia of the 8th Circle of Hell deals with the punishment of these fortune tellers. As explained by Matt Jones, Dante pictures the fortune…