Dante’s Divine Comedy
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)
Shakespeare gives the
greatest width of human passion; Dante the greatest altitude and greatest
depth. They divide the modern world between them; there is no
third.
—T. S. Eliot
The Divine Comedy
Poetic Structure
The Divine Comedy
Literary Structure
The Divine Comedy
Narrative Setting
The Divine Comedy
Narrative Setting
The Divine Comedy
Narrative Setting
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The subject of the work,
then, in its literal sense is ‘the state of souls after death’—and this is
without qualification, since the whole progress of the work hinges on and about
that subject.
Whereas if the work is taken allegorically, the subject of the work is this:
man becoming liable to the justice which rewards and punishes, inasmuch as by
the exercise of his freedom of choice he merits good or ill.
—Dante
The Inferno
The punishments that Dante
describes in the Inferno should not be seen as sadistic inventions; fitting the
crime as they do, these punishments are rather the ultimate and necessary
flowering of the sin itself . . .
So the reader should not
think that a vengeful God “sends” people to Hell. If God’s awesome love
respects human freedom, serious sinners who die unrepentant will be getting the
god they asked for during their lives—themselves . . .
Seeing clearly the
unworthiness of that disappointing divinity would be Hell. In the meantime, the
behavior of such self-centered divinities helps produce Hell on
Earth.
—Joseph Gallagher
The Descent into Hell
Hell’s Antechamber: The
Opportunists
Those who did nothing in life, for good or evil
They continuously pursue a banner for no cause,
as they are stung by wasps and hornets that fly after them
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The Gathering of the Damned
Charon ferries them across the river Acheron
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The Gates of Hell
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Hell’s Gate
“Abandon all hope, ye that enter”
Upper Hell: Sins of
Incontinence
Circle One
Limbo: Virtuous Pagans, Unbaptized Infants
Melancholy, desire without hope
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Circle Two
The Lustful
Blown forever by storm winds
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Circle Three
The Gluttons
Discomfort, all senses punished
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Circle Four
The Avaricious and Squanderers
Uselessly Push Rocks in opposite directions
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Circle Five
The Angry and Slothful
The Angry fight each other helplessly in the river Styx
The Slothful are submerged, emitting bubbles
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Lower Hell: Sins of Malice
Circle Six
The Heretics
Trapped in burning tombs
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Circle VII
The Violent
Against Neighbor: Submerged in Hot Blood
Against Self: Turned into Trees
Against God: On Burning Sand in Rain of Fire
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Circle VIII
The Untreacherous Fraudulent
Contains ten ditches for different types
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Ditch 1
Pimps & Seducers
Whipped by devils, running in opposite directions
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Ditch 2
Flatterers
Covered with human excrement
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Ditch 3
Simonists
Heads upside down in holes, feet on fire
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Ditch 4
Sorcerers and False Prophets
Heads twisted backwards
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Ditch 5
Corrupt Politicians (Barrators)
Covered by boiling pitch
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Ditch 6
Hypocrites
Wearing leaden mantles
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Ditch 7
Thieves
Chased by venomous snakes
When bitten they turn into snakes and chase other thieves
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Ditch 8
Evil Counselors
Trapped in flames
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Ditch 9
Sowers of Discord
Rip each others bodies apart,
only to be healed and attacked again
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Ditch 10
Falsifiers
Diseases
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Circle IX
The Treacherous Fraudulent
Contains four rings on a frozen lake
Ring 1
Traitors of Kindred
In Ice to necks, heads bent forward
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Ring 2
Traitors to Country
In Ice to necks
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Ring 3
Traitors of Guests
In Ice to necks, heads bent backwards
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Ring 4
Traitors to Lords and Benefactors
Completely submerged in ice
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Center of the Earth
Lucifer
Half submerged in ice
Three Jaws chew on Judas, Brutus & Cassius
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Exit from Hell
The Journey through
Purgatory