Mr. Spielberger ShalashaskaPeriod 8
Part I. Summary
Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, while entirely fictional in nature, is told from a first-
person perspective with the author providing the narration and viewpoint throughout the
story. Inferno opens with Dante who, having lost his path in a forest, now wanders
aimlessly in the fearful wood. Spying a mountain, Dante believes he has found the way
out of his plight; however, his path up and out of the enclosed wood is blocked by three
beasts: a leopard, a lion, and a she-wolf. Dante is frightened off of his newfound path,
and finds himself again without a clear exit. It is then that the ghost (or shade) of the poet
Virgil, of Aeneid fame, appears to Dante and offers to guide him out of the forest. Virgil
reveals that he has been sent from heaven and can safely see Dante towards his
destination, though they will be forced to pass through Hell to do so. Though gripped by
fear, Dante agrees to accompany Virgil through Hell’s foreboding gates, and the story
begins in earnest.
Virgil proves to be quite knowledgeable about Hell’s structure, inner workings,
and inhabitants. He informs Dante that there are nine circles of Hell, each subjecting a
certain type of sinner to a certain form of punishment. Upon entering Hell, Dante and
Virgil find themselves in the Ante-Inferno, which holds those who died siding with
neither God nor Satan. Within, men chase a blank banner as they are eternally bitten by
hornets. Upon being taken into Hell by the ferryman Charon, Dante and Virgil are now at
the first circle of Hell. This layer contains men who died without knowledge of God or
Christianity, and therefore were unable to enter Heaven. The pair move on, deeper into
the Inferno. In front of the second circle, Dante and Virgil come upon the monster Minos.
Minos stand at the head of an immense line of sinners, and curls his tail around his body
to indicate which circle the sinner should be taken to. Passing into the second circle, the
pair find the Lustful; souls who were ruled by passion in their mortal lives, who are now
carried in a perpetual storm. Dante faints here, and regains consciousness in the third
circle of Hell, home to the Gluttonous. These souls are punished by a never-ceasing rain
of excrement and filth pouring down upon their heads, to compensate for their hungering
lifestyles. Dante and Virgil continue on to Hell’s fourth circle.
Within the fourth circle, they come across the Avaricious and Prodigal; these are
souls who are guilty of either hoarding or wasting their money. Their punishment is to
endlessly roll boulders at one another, repeatedly colliding. Deeper into the fifth circle,
the pair find themselves at the river Styx. Here, the wrathful bite and claw at each other
upon the bank. They are taken across the river by the boatman Phlegyas, at which point
Virgil informs Dante that under the waters of the Styx lie the Sullen, guilty of sulking and
cursing in their mortal lives.
The pair is temporarily stymied attempting to enter the sixth circle of Hell; two
demons guard the gate, blocking their passage. However, a messenger from Heaven
arrives, assuring their passage through. They are met with a burning graveyard, home to
the heretics. Finding a man he knew in life, named Farinata, Dante discusses politics with
the man and learns that as part of their punishment, the Heretics can see the future rather
than the present. Dante and Virgil continue to descend into Hell’s seventh circle, home to
the Violent. However, given the broad nature of the sin of Violence, the seventh circle is
subdivided further into three rings. The first ring holds those who were violent against
their neighbors in a boiling river of blood, to be shot with arrows by nearby centaurs. In
the second ring, the pair finds themselves in a gnarled forest; the realm of the Suicides
(souls who were violent against themselves) is filled with the shades of men warped into
trees that bleed when cracked or broken. Dante returns the scattered leaves to a bush that
was once a Florentine man, and the duo continues on to the third ring.
The third ring of the seventh circle of Hell carries another subdivision; intended
for those who were violent against God, the ring is layered into three zones. In the first
zone, Blasphemers must lie upon red-hot sand, as burning flecks of fire rain down from
the sky. Here, Dante and Virgil find the source of Hell’s rivers, which is a statue of an
Old Man who weeps to form the waters. Moving into the second zone, the pair is now in
the realm of the Sodomites: those who were violent against nature. Here, Dante meets a
few men that he knows. First is Brunetto Latini, who tells Dante that he will meet
political gain in the future. Later, a group of men burned beyond recognition are
saddened to hear Dante tell them that Florence is now a city filled with the decadent and
foolish. The third zone’s inhabitants are less prone to conversation. They are the souls
who were violent against art, known as the Usurers. Their punishment is perplexing, as
each man is forced to eat his own family emblems as fire rains down from the third ring’s
sky. Dante and Virgil then mount the back of a snake-like creature known as Geryon to
reach the eighth circle of Hell.
The eighth circle contains the fraudulent, and is further subdivided for the many
varieties this sin entails. The eighth circle is known as “Malebolge”, meaning “Evil
Pouches”, due to the manner of subdivision. The first pouch contains Panders, Seducers,
and others who took advantage of women for their own gain. The second holds Flatterers,
who are held in a pit filled with sewage. The two quickly move on to the third pouch,
where the Simoniacs are left to burn. They meet Pope Nicholas III, who Dante treats
without pity. In the fourth pouch are found Astrologers, Magicians and other practitioners
of sorcery; they are doomed to walk with their heads twisted to face backwards. The fifth
pouch is a pit of bubbling pitch, which holds the Barterers. Barterers are souls guilty of
giving or receiving bribes in life. Here, Dante and Virgil unwittingly anger a group of
demons by allowing a man to escape their individual tortures; the pair flees to the sixth
pouch, which contains the Hypocrites. Head among these men is Caiphus, Pontius
Pilate’s high priest, who lays crucified on the ground. Within the seventh pouch, which
holds the Thieves, Dante is met with a horrifying sight: the souls lie in a pit of snakes,
with a snake returning to its human form when it bites a man, and the man reverting into
a serpent. The ninth pouch contains Sowers of Scandal and Schism, among whom walks
the prophet Mohammed. They walk in a circle, endlessly being split apart with a sword.
Lastly, the tenth pouch holds Falsifiers of all varieties: Counterfeiters, liars and the like.
Finally, the pair are taken to the ninth circle, where the traitors lay. It is a frozen
lake known as Cocytus. Passing traitors of ever-increasing magnitude, the pair finally
comes upon the center of Hell: Satan sits frozen in the ice, his three heads gnawing on
Judas, Brutus, and Cassius. Dumbfounded by horror, Dante is amazed when Virgil begins
to climb upon the tufts of hair on Satan’s back. The pair continue to scale the beast until
the end of Dante’s Inferno is finally reached, and Dante can see the stars once again.
Part II. Polemic
Dante’s Inferno is a tale tat is rife with allegory, symbolism, and criticisms of the
author’s life and times. Given that Dante wrote the book a few years before his current
time, and inserted himself as the protagonist, it grants him the opportunity to comment on
the state of the world while staying within the reasonable boundaries of the story’s plot.
However, it cannot be forgotten that Inferno is about a journey through Hell, and is
rooted heavily in the discussion and interpretation of Christian doctrine. Hence, Dante’s
polemic while writing the Inferno was obvious; he sought to use the book as a
commentary on both the life and times he lived in as well as figures from ancient (and
relatively modern) history, while providing a simultaneous commentary on morality and
sin..
Concentrating on the first segment of Dante’s polemic, it is impossible to miss the
allegorical (and more often than not, bluntly literal) references to times and people that
Dante both encountered or learned of. There is hardly a section of his journey in which
Dante (the character) does not reference, witness or converse with a figure of some level
of fame, and the references only serve to increase as the journey through the Inferno
progresses.
At the book’s onset, Virgil’s appearance is where the literary allegories begin. By
including the famous poet, Dante seeks to acknowledge not only the greatness of the
classical authors, but to affirm his own literary prowess by referencing the man who is
often regarded as the finest author of ancient Greek times. Upon conversing with Virgil,
Dante learns that he has been sent from Heaven thanks mainly to the efforts of a woman
named Beatrice. Beatrice was a great love of Dante’s, who died suddenly of illness.
Dante inserts her into the poem as a guardian of his in order to pay tribute to her memory
and to affirm that she was, indeed, a virtuous individual, gazing down on him from
Heaven. Even before entering the abyss, Dante’s mind swings towards the two other men
who have entered Hell and managed to exit intact: the Apostle Paul, and the ancient hero
Aeneas. In the face of such steep competition, Dante (the character) fears that he is
unworthy, which is the source of much of his duress and anxiety through the opening
sections of Inferno.
Upon entering Hell, Dante describes meeting many famous poets in the first
circle, Limbo. Virgil meets a group of men containing Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan,
poets who are revered for their ancient works. Dante (in the form of the author) seeks fit
not to punish these characters in Inferno, more likely due to a respect and admiration for
fellow writers than a lack of sin with which to condemn them to. Thus, the ancient
literary heroes simply wander through Limbo, in a relatively un-Hellish Hell. In a similar
vein, the two protagonists Aristotle, Socrates, Ptolemy, Euclid, and other famous Greek
thinkers; this is Dante seeking to affirm and acknowledge the genius and merit of the
ancient masters.
Within Hell’s second circle, Dante finds no shortage of famous Lustful in the
swirling tempest. Recognizing Helen (the woman who prompted the Trojan War) and
Cleopatra, Dante wishes to call out and converse with these souls. He is answered by a
woman named Francesca: she lives among the damned due to a love affair inspired by the
ancient story of Lancelot and Guinevere. Once again, Dante seeks to insert ancient works
of literary mastery into his own epic, in order to compare himself (and possibly liken, or
even raise himself above) to literary masters.
Dante meets a more contemporary figure in the third circle. One of the Gluttonous, a
Florentine named Ciacco, predicts the political future of Florence when Dante requests it
of him. Ciacco tells Dante that Florence will continue to be mired in political infighting
and discordance. When Dante inquires about past political leaders, Ciacco surprises him
by telling him that they reside in a far deeper circle of Hell. While Dante the character is
surprised by this revelation, Dante the author obviously sought to condemn the politicians
of his city’s history for what he perceives as grave and immoral wrongs. Dante seeks to
echo the “everyman” through his own character; Dante (the character) is naïve and
innocent in his belief that most of the political leaders of the past were ruled by good
intentions. Further reinforcing Dante’s desire to comment on contemporary ideals, Ciacco
asks Dante to recall his name after leaving Hell.
While traveling across the river Styx, Dante recognizes another man that he knew
in life. It is Filippo Argenti, one of Dante’s political enemies and a key figure in his exile
from Florence. It is obvious that Dante still resents this man greatly, for his character
looks on with satisfaction as he is torn apart by his fellow Avaricious. Given that Dante
the character seemed, up to this point, to be a meek individual, such a change in conduct
seems unexpected. However, it only further mirrors Dante’s desire to comment on those
he saw as immoral, cruel and sinful in life, by placing them in the realm of otherworldly
torment. Upon reaching Hell’s sixth circle, Dante has an extended discussion with a
group of the Heretics, where a man known as Cavalcante de’ Cavalcanti inquires why his
son Guido, who is a close friend of Dante’s, is not present on the journey. While Dante
attempts to explain, the ghost makes the assumption that his son has died, and leaves in
despair. While another man, Farinata, is obviously one of Dante’s political enemies,
Dante treats the man with polite respect, and Farinata likewise. They discuss the matter of
Dante’s exile, and Dante leaves still unsure about how long he will be banished from his
beloved hometown.
Here, we see the rational nature concerning what is seemingly Dante’s (the writer)
vindictive nature and the motivation behind the punishment he consigns various souls to.
While Farinata was obviously important to Dante’s exile, and the two are opposed, Dante
sees fit not to heap any further indignity upon the man. Though he is, obviously, in Hell,
Dante, in both writer and character, gives Farinata a measure of respect not granted to
those such as Filippo Argenti. Obviously, while he regards Farinata as a sinner, he does
not see him as an overly immoral or hateful one.
In the realm of the violent, Dante meets two important figures. One is from
ancient times; Virgil points out Capaneus, a king who besieged the city of Thebes.
Capaneus is represented as a giant, ranting and raving in defiance against the
punishments of hell. This inclusion of a historical figure is another obvious display of
Dante’s admiration for both classical art and history. Next, in the realm of the Sodomites,
Dante meets a man named Brunetto Latini. Given that Latini was a kind, mentoring
figure to Dante in life, it is perplexing as to why writer-Dante has so coldly placed him in
the realm of such an undignified sin. Even more confusing is the fact that Latini was a
political ally of Dante’s in life. The only reasonable conclusion is that Dante seeks to
remove a semblance of bias from his work; in order to affirm that his placement of some
of his political allies is not simply resentment and rancor seeping into his writing, Dante
puts one of his kindest friends in a particularly undesirable circle of Hell. By this move,
he seeks to grant his work additional credibility.
Moving through the Fraudulent of Hell’s eighth Dante encounters two figures,
one new and one old. Jason, of mythological fame, lies there because of his betrayal of
Medea. Likewise, a man from Bologna is present because he sold his sister into bondage
at the hands of a noble man. In a later, and unmistakable allegory, Dante notices that one
of the brightest-burning Simoniacs is Pope Nicholas III, an obvious commentary by
Dante the writer on how he regards the practice of simony. So strong are his feelings that
the character Dante makes an impassioned speech regarding simony’s evils, representing
a sameness of character that is hardly so present within the rest of the novel. Within a
later pouch of the eighth circle, Dante and Virgil find Caiphus, high priest under Pontius
Pilate. Caiphus is crucified and trodden on, a clear description of Dante’s feelings for the
historical betrayer.
One of the more interesting inclusions in Inferno is the presence of the prophet
Mohammed in the eighth circle of Hell. More specifically, within the pouch set aside for
Sowers of Scandal and Schism. Mohammed is among the many who walk in a circle,
being split by swords as their words split men. As the sinners walk, their wounds are
healed, leaving them free to suffer again in a distinctly Promethean form of punishment.
While the views of the present day preach tolerance, Dante’s feelings are clear
representations of the thought of the time. Diverging from Christianity was not a simple
matter of preference or interpretation; it was a sin, and an extremely dire one at that. As a
leader of what Dante obviously regarded as a false (or at least misguided) faith,
Mohammed is punished harshly for working contrary to God’s will.
While numerous other figures from history and from Dante’s own life are present
within the various succeeding circles of Hell, there is no example so clear in its nature as
that at the very center of Hell. Within Satan’s three mouths lie the most famous of
history’s traitors: Judas Iscariot, who sold Christ to die, and Brutus and Cassius,
conspirators and orchestrators of Julius Caesar’s death. Two of the most constant themes
in Inferno is Dante’s staunch Christianity and his love for the ancient classics. Thus, it is
fitting that the one who caused the death of Christ, and the men responsible for Caesar’s
end, have the most horrid punishment in all of Hell. It is their fate to be chewed on by the
mouths of Lucifer for all eternity. The nature of this punishment displays an interesting
facet of Dante’s views on religion; while perhaps the worst trio of traitors deserve their
fates, many of the sinners described beg the reader to question their place in Hell. It
seems confusing as to why the fraudulent are placed in a deeper circle than the murderers.
However, examination of Christian doctrine provides a rationale for Dante’s organization
of the sinners. “Sin” is defined as an act contrary to God’s love and will. Hence, while
murder (and violence as a whole) is a violation of Christian and moral law, fraud
constitutes the rape of trust, and thus is seen as a far more pervasive and twisted crime.
Echoing this sentiment, Dante meets a woman named Myrrha in the eighth circle of Hell,
guilty of disguising herself in order to satisfy her perverted lust for her father. While it
seems obvious that her lust would place her into the second circle, her disguise is seen as
fraud, a much more dire crime, and thus she is confined to the eighth circle.
Given that it is so rife with allegories, and ones that were politically relevant at
that, it seems amazing that Dante’s Inferno has managed to remain a classic to the present
day. However, further analysis proves that the source of the book’s enduring popularity is
not simply its amusing (and often thought provoking) interpretation of an individual’s
sin. Rather, it is the fact that these individuals serve as guides, as foils in order to
demonstrate the nature of sin and how it is contrary to Dante’s view of God’s will.
Hence, while Inferno is inexorably concerned with the politics of Dante’s time, it can just
as easily be viewed as a broad examination of morality, with the allegory added simply as
an aid to explain humanity’s nature and crimes against faith.
Polemic Pt. II
Examining the polemic of Dante’s Inferno, his purpose in writing the novel
becomes clear to most readers. Even without any excessive deliberation, Dante’s ideals,
opinions and values are made to “leap out” at the reader; this was not a book that Dante
wished to be misinterpreted, and therefore while the book does not echo the themes of
sin, morality and punishment to the point of redundancy, they present themselves again
and again in the form of allegorical references to historical and (at the time)
contemporary figures. This is not to say, however, that all the allegories in Inferno are
simply tools with which Dante furthers his own broad set of values; most of the
references are twofold. Dante was a man who harbored both resentment, pain and love;
Beatrice’s presence within the novel can be regarded as not only literal (his love is
guiding him from on high) but symbolic (the presence of a benevolent force aiding man
in times of need). Most of the characters in the novel follow suit with this example, and
the end result is a story where a political enemy is a political enemy, but he is also a
reflection of much greater sins. This twofold illustration, one part commentary and one
part moral exploration, is the embodiment of Dante’s objective with Inferno.
Impact
Like most other people you encounter, I have always been meaning to sit down
and read some of the classics. Hence, it is a good thing that I was forced to read Inferno
for school, or it would never happen. While I was a bit wary of Inferno, mainly due to my
uncultured disdain for the poetic form, my interest eventually overcame my
apprehension. After finishing the book, it is obvious that fortune does, indeed, favor the
bold; the book is excellent, to such an extent that I am now considering reading
Purgatorio and Paradiso to see the continuation of Dante’s journey. One of the most
enjoyable parts of the book was, in my opinion, the way that Dante handles the
symbolism that is used throughout his novel. It seems he is able to strike the perfect
middle between shoving each symbol down your throat, and making it all
incomprehensible without some sort of reference. The finished product is a book that
really can be enjoyable on any level. The prose and the storyline make for a good, simple
read, while the layers upon layers of meaning that are embedded within the novel could
occupy a more dedicated reader for no small stretch of time. The book does not plod, and
Dante does an excellent job of realizing that not all parts of Hell are created equal: he
spends as much time as is necessary to paint the necessary description of each circle and
zone, without boring the reader in the interest of a uniform length. All in all, I would
surely recommend Inferno for the permanent roster, as it has everything that a
schoolbook needs: entertainment value, heavy opportunity for interpretation, and a
relatively kind page count.
Abstract
Dante Alighieri’s Inferno tells of the author’s fictional journey through Hell,
accompanied by the ancient poet Virgil, where his encounters with historical figures and
people from his own present day are used to illustrate the world around him as well as his
greater views on morals. Making heavy use of symbolism, nearly every character Dante
encounters on his journey is representative of some greater evil or folly of mankind, with
enemies (and some friends) of Dante added, mainly as a condemnation of political
enemies and those he viewed as corrupt or immoral.
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