The True Meaning of Dante´s Inferno Essay

Dante's use of allegory in the Inferno greatly varies from Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" in purpose, symbolism, characters and mentors, and in attitude toward the world. An analysis of each of these elements in both allegories will provide an interesting comparison. Dante uses allegory to relate the sinner's punishment to his sin, while Plato uses allegory to discuss ignorance and knowledge. Dante's Inferno describes the descent through Hell from the upper level of the opportunists to the most evil, the treacherous, on the lowest level. His allegorical poem describes a hierarchy of evil.

Dante's "Inferno" is full of themes. But the most frequent is that of the weakness of human nature. Dante's descent into hell is initially so that Dante can see how he can better live his life, free of weaknesses that may ultimately be his ticket to hell. Through the first ten cantos, Dante portrays how each level of his hell is a manifestation of human weakness and a loss of hope, which ultimately Dante uses to purge and learn from. Dante, himself, is about to fall into the weaknesses of humans, before there is some divine intervention on the part of his love Beatrice, who is in heaven. He is sent on a journey to hell in order for Dante to see, smell, and hear hell. As we see this experience brings out Dante's weakness' of cowardice,

Dante and Virgil have just left limbo, the first circle of hell, and are now on their way into the second circle of hell, where hell really begins. It is here that Dante first witnesses the punishment brought upon the sinners. They encounter Minos, the beast-judge who blocks the way into the second circle. He examines each soul as they pass through and determines which circle of hell they must go to by winding his tail around himself. Minos warns Dante of passing through but Virgil silences him. Dante encounters a dark place completely sucked of any light and filled with noises more horrible than a tempest and sees the souls being whirled around in a

What goes around comes around. When sinners reach hell they are forced to experience the counter-suffering of contrapasso. For each sin, Dante gives a specific punishment relating to that sin. Some of these sins include violence towards self, violence towards God, sorcery, and hypocrisy. For the despicable lives they lived on earth, they are doomed to suffer relating consequences for all of eternity.

Dante’s work Inferno is a vivid walkthrough the depths of hell and invokes much imagery, contemplation and feeling. Dante’s work beautifully constructs a full sensory depiction of hell and the souls he encounters along the journey. In many instances within the work the reader arrives at a crossroads for interpretation and discussion. Canto XI offers one such crux in which Dante asks the question of why there is a separation between the upper levels of hell and the lower levels of hell. By discussing the text, examining its implications and interpretations, conclusions can be drawn about why there is delineation between the upper and lower levels and the rationale behind the separation.

Robert Herrick, an English poet, once said, “Hell is no other but a soundlesse pit, where no one beame of comfort peeps in it.” Picture any type of Hell with relief, happiness, or even the smallest crack of a smile. There is no place. In fact, one can only think of the complete opposite, whether it is a Hell filled with neglect, pain, disgust, or a never-ending life of horror. This is the place created by Dante Alighieri; The Inferno is exactly the type of Hell where no person would want to be. Even those who acted upon the lightest of sins suffered greatly. While each realm contained a different sinner, the punishment that each were forced to face was cruel, repulsive, and sometimes rather disgusting. Through grieving tears without an

The story of “Dante’s Inferno”, by Dante Alighieri is a dark story which depicts nine circles of Hell. The one circle of Hell that we will be discussing is that of greed which happens to be the fourth circle. In the Fourth Circle of Hell, Dante and Virgil see the souls of people who are punished for greed. They are divided into two groups (The Prodigal and the Miserly), those who hoarded possessions and those who lavishly spent it. They use great weights as a torture mechanism where they are pushing them with their chests. This symbolizes their selfish drive for fortune during their lifetime. As they make their way further down, they come across a swamp filled with naked people with their faces scared by rage. One other form of greed is that of anger, which overcame these terrorized souls. The two groups are guarded by a character called Pluto which also happens to be the God of Wealth from the Underworld. The fourth circle (Greed), is one of the iniquities that most incurs Dante's scornful wrath, thus is of great importance to understanding the text.

Dante Alighieri was a major Italian poet of the Late Middle Ages, he was born into a family with a complex involvement in the Florence political scene. In the Dante Alighieri's epic poem The Inferno, Dante, the protagonist, witnesses the Circles of Hell, guided by Virgil the character representing Human Reason. Alighieri shows compassion towards different sinners in Hell, which provides an insight on the way he feels about people who do not repent. Although they are illustrated as good people by the poet, they are punished within the different circles of Hell because they did not cleanse themselves of sin. Through the uses of diction, actions of Dante and Virgil, and imagery, Alighieri was able to show readers he felt compassion towards Farinata Degli Uberti, Pier Delle Vigne, and Count Ugliono.

Dante’s descent into Hell in Inferno, the first part of his Divine Comedy, tells of the author’s experiences in Hades as he is guided through the abyss by the Roman author, Virgil. The text is broken into cantos that coincide with the different circles and sub-circles of Hell that Dante and Virgil witness and experience. Inferno is heavily influenced by classic Greek and Roman texts and Dante makes references to a myriad of characters, myths, and legends that take place in Virgil’s Aeneid, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, and Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Some of the most important references, however, are the most obvious ones that are easily overlooked simply because of the fact that they are so blatant. Dante is being escorted through Hell by the

   In The Inferno, Dante explores the ideas of Good and Evil. He expands on the possibilities of life and death, and he makes clear that consequences follow actions. Like a small generator moving a small wheel, Dante uses a single character to move through the entire of Hell's eternity. Yet, like a clock, that small wheel is pivotal in turning many, many others. This single character, Dante himself, reveals the most important abstract meaning in himself: A message to man; a warning about mankind's destiny. Through his adventures, Dante is able to reveal many global concepts of good and evil in humanity.

Dante’s Inferno is an epic tale of a journey through Hell to find spiritually and peace whole. The beginning of the poem starts with how Dante is lost in sin, moving on to the ancient poet from Rome Virgil who appears to Dante as a spiritual guide. Virgil’s message to Dante is that the only way for him to alleviate the darkness within himself is to take a journey through Hell, this will be an aide to Dante in order to recognize the impact of his actions. During the trip, Dante witnesses the unfathomable punishment that happens to those that have been damned to hell, along with several faces that are familiar. The interactions that Dante has with several people have told him of the predictions they have had about him and what horrors lie ahead if he continues to follow the path that he has been on. Soon after several horrendous close calls and interactions Dante finally makes it to purgatory with Virgil.

In Dante's view the next circle of sin consists of acts of fraud. He classifies these sinners as seducers and panderers, flatterers, simoniacs, fortune tellers, grafters, hypocrites, thieves, evil counselors, sowers of discord, and counterfeiters or falsifiers. These are the souls who in life betrayed the confidence of another. They preyed on other people solely for gain and knowingly deceived without concern for their victims' psyche or physical being.

Solely based on moral beliefs Dante's poem is obviously a deeply Christian standpoint. One might be surprised, then, to find that it is filled with allusions to pagan mythology and is populated not just by biblical figures, but also by characters of Greek and Roman myth and history. However taking place in hell on the evening of Good Friday through the morning of Easter Sunday in approximately the year 1300. The Inferno is an evil that is a contradiction to God's will; as most of the punishments of the sinners correspond symbolically to the sins they committed themselves. The walk through a dark and confusing world represents the life journey of men and women. Dante’s extensive literary treatment of death and afterlife aims to both comfort and warn; envisioning rewards for the

Three beasts face against Dante within the beginning of the narrative poem: The Leopard, The Lion, and The She-Wolf of Incontinence. Alongside to meeting the three animals, Dante also metaphorically encounters the three main kinds of sin committed within the Christian world: Incontinence, violence and fraud. Each sin corresponds according to a sin in the Bible and matches with each of the three beasts. Once Dante follows away from the three monsters and towards a pathway through hell, he encounters a "ravenous three headed dog of Hell" who characterizes as "monstrous Cerebus, the ravening beast" (Alighieri 44 – 45). Dante's usage of the number three within his choice of monsters furthermore portrays the reoccurring usage of the number in Inferno. In addition, Dante encounters Satan whom has three faces, each of different color. Each monster encountered by Dante within the narrative poem Inferno symbolically displays the number three which moreover connects the number to the Christian idea of

In Dante's inferno, Dante first begins describing himself in a dark forest and in the distance on top of a mountain sees paradise where his love, Beatrice, resides. He then begins making his way to the mountain when he sees 3 creatures, a lion, a leopard and a she-wolf. He then meets the spirit of Virgil, who was a roman poet. Virgil guides Dante through the 9 rings of hell in order for Dante to reach Beatrice.