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” (25), he was stunned and couldn’t believe his eyes. Virgil tells Dante that this is Lucifer otherwise known as Satan. Dante then provides an in-depth description of Satan. He has three faces, six bat-like wings, six eyes, sharp pronged teeth and many other gruesome qualities. Each one of his faces are different colors, one was “fiery red” (39), another “something between white and bile” (43) so yellow and the last one was “the color that find on those who live along the banks of the Nile” (45), which would be black. Dorothy L. Sayers, a renowned 19th century English writer stated that Lucifer’s’ three faces suggests his control over the three main human races. The red face symbolizes the Europeans, the black face represents the African people and yellow for the people of Asia. She along with many other writers claimed that the faces represent a distortion of the Holy Trinity, instead of the all-loving, all-powerful, and all-knowing…
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…
through the inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. Since the artwork was done seven hundred of years ago, does did Dante accurately organize the circles? In other words, are the sins really worse as he heads to the center of Hell? Is greed really worse than glutton or lust? Is fraud really worse than heresy? Combining personal feelings from Dante himself and Christian Bible, Dante did organize an accurate hell even though the work was done seven hundred years ago. Dante’s writing is heavily relied…
(Williams). He wrote the Aeneid, in which Dante was very fond of and saw Virgil as the highest level of achievement and human intelligence (Schoder 414). Because of these reasons, Virgil fit Dante’s poetic purpose, making him fit to be Dante the Pilgrim’s guide in Inferno. He also served as a tutor, inspiration, and as an ideal representation of a poet to Dante (Schoder 414). When the pilgrim first sees him, the pilgrim cries…
acceptable in a society regardless of the fact whether it goes against any religious views or not. Hence, I, to some extent, do not agree with Dante’s ranking of sins. This is mostly because I do not think that some of the sins should be ranked where they are (in the book), in today’s world. It has can seen in many instances in Inferno that people are in the circles of Hell they are in because of a technicality. Dante and Virgil…
The first two books of The Divine Comedy, Inferno and Purgatory, by Dante follow Dante as he journeys from hell to purgatory. In Inferno, Dante meets the poet Virgil who guides him through the rings of hell. Once the two reach the bottom of hell, Virgil continues to guide Dante through the next realm in Purgatory. Throughout this epic adventure, Dante not only provides an entertaining story, but also presents numerous ideas concerning the afterlife. These ideas range from simple descriptions of…
Something very interesting but probably common sense about this work is that the actual translation of inferno means hell, it is fitting seeing as the main character travels on a path to get to heaven that must go through hell. The key theme that I found more interesting than the others that might be able to be taken from the text. I thought that god finding a balance between the sin committed and the degree of punishment you will suffer was interesting, it was weird to think that there was once…
In the Inferno, Dante begins on ground level and then he continues with his direction descending, going completely through the earth and hell. He winds up at the base of the heap of Purgatory on the opposite side. On the highest point of Purgatory there is the terrestrial heaven (the garden of Eden), and after that he works his way through the divine circles. It is the plot of the Divine Comedy and the account of Dante's adventure towards reclamation. The Inferno is for the most part thought to…
“On march the banners of the King of Hell!” (Canto 34, Inferno) Inferno has given us the idea to invade Kansas, and invade Kansas is what we shall do. Kansas has begun to revolt against the banning of red bull from the public school system. With Virgil and my invading army at my side we will make sure the innocent (those who don’t want red bull in school systems) get transported to a more refined state such as Nebraska, where we believe that red bull is a character flaw; while those who have…
In the Inferno, Dante takes us on a journey through the different levels of Hell guided by, ancient Roman poet, Virgil who enlightens Dante on the way. Through contrapassos, which literally translates to counter-punishment, Dante unpacks the punishment that sinners undergo. At the start of canto III, an inscription above the gates of hell reads “Justice moved my high maker, in power divine, wisdom supreme, love primal” (Canto III, 4-6). The interpretation is that God, the divine, created Hell on…