The Divina Comedia: Inferno

The Divina Comedia (English: ‘The Divine Comedy’) is a long epic poem in three parts written by Dante Alighieri from c. 1308 to his death in 1321. It is considered the greatest piece of Italian literature and one of the greatest pieces of literature in the world. It is composed of 14,233 lines and divided into three canticas: Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory), and Paradiso (Paradise, or Heaven). It illustrates the concept about the afterlife of the Roman Catholic Church during the Middle Ages. The Divine Comedy is an allegory—an extended symbol—of the journey of a soul to God.

The Comedia narrates the journey of Dante through Hell, Purgatory, and finally Paradise. His guide through Hell and Purgatory is the Roman poet Virgil, the author of the Aeneid. But for his journey through Heaven, Dante is guided by Beatrice, a woman who Dante admired since childhood.

The first cantica, Inferno, begins with Dante getting lost in a forest (which symbolizes sin) until he was rescued by Virgil (who symbolizes human philosophy). Dante was given a tour of Hell, which is composed of nine concentric circles, each progressively deeper than the last. In each circle, each sin is punished in a form of poetic justice.

Inferno, with its various depictions of the punishment of sin, is a symbol of the soul being made aware of the true nature of sin.

INFERNO

Dante gets lost in the forest. (Engraving by Gustav Dore)

Introduction

It was on the evening of Maundy Thursday, 1300, when Dante, who was at the time “halfway along our life’s path” (35 years old, half of the biblical life expectancy of 70 years—Psalm 90:10) found himself lost “in a dark wood”. He was attacked by three beasts—a lion, a leopon (a half-leopard half-lion), and a she-wolf—which he could not evade. He was unable to find the “straight (or right) way” to salvation until he finds himself falling into “a deep place” where “the sun is silent”.

Dante was then rescued by Virgil, who claims that he was sent by Beatrice, and guides him into a journey to the underworld. They pass through the gates of Hell which has an inscription:

Abandon all hope, all those who enter here

The Circles of Hell

Acheron: the ante-room of Hell. Virgil and Dante arrive at Acheron, the ante-room of Hell (though not part of Hell itself). This is the place of the Uncommitted, those who have done neither good nor evil. Among those Dante found there are Pontius Pilate (or Pope Celestine V--the text is ambiguous), and outcasts who did not participate in the rebellion of the angels. They are made to chase a banner (representing self-interest) while being chased by wasps and hornets (representing the “sting of conscience”) as maggots and other insects suck their blood and tears.

Virgil and Dante then ride on a ferry piloted by Charon, boatman of the dead, to take them into Hell proper. Charon refused to take Dante but Virgil tells Charon, “So it is wanted there where power lies”—which means Dante was divinely sent on the journey. Dante hears the wailing of the souls being taken to Hell and the joyful singing of the souls being taken to Purgatory. He was not able to describe the horrors going to Hell because he faints in terror.

 "The Barque of Dante" by Eugene Delecroix, illustrating Virgil and Dante being taken into the underworld by Charon.

Virgil reveals that Hell is composed of nine concentric circles where sinners are punished according to their sin. Satan himself is in the lowest and innermost circle, found in the center of the Earth. He also clarifies that those who were able to ask for forgiveness before they die will go to Purgatory; but those who die justifying their evildoings will go to Hell.

First Circle (Limbo). The virtuous but unbaptized nonbelievers live in Limbo. They were not sinful but they did not accept Christ. It has a castle with seven gates, symbolizing the Seven Virtues. Virgil himself lives in Limbo. Among the people in the First Circle of Hell are: the Persian mathematician Avicenna; the poets Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan; the mathematician Euclid; the Roman statesman Cicero; the Greek doctor Hippocrates; the Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato, Aristotle; the Arab philosopher Averroes; and the Roman general Julius Caesar. Among the mythological characters there were Hector, Electra, Camilla, Latinus, and Orpheus. Saladin was also in Limbo.

As they were going to the next circles, Minos initially stopped the admission of Dante. As the judge of the dead, he would wrap his tail around himself, indicating the circle of Hell to which a soul is condemned. The sinners punished in the Second to Fifth Circles are guilty of passive sins.

Second Circle (Lust). In the Second Circle are those overcome by lust. They are punished by the terrible winds of a violent storm, representing the power of lust to lead people astray. In here Dante sees the Babylonian queen Semiramis, Dido of Carthage, Helen of Troy, Achilles, and Paris. There was also a woman named Francesca de Rimini who committed adultery with her husband’s brother Paolo Malatesta. They were killed by her husband, Giovanni (or Gianicotto).

The icy rain falling upon the gluttonous. Illustration by Stradanus.

   

Cereberus guarding the gluttonous in the Third Circle of Hell. Engraving by Gustav Dore.

Third Circle (Gluttony). Cereberus, the three-headed dog of Hades, guards the gluttonous. They are punished by being forced to lie in a “vile slush” (composed of burnt grease and fat) that is continually added to by a “foul, icy rain”. The gluttonous lie there without being aware of their neighbors, because gluttony makes blind to those around them.

The greedy and the squanderers pushing each other with money-bags. Engraving by Gustav Dore.

Fourth Circle (Greed). Two kinds of people are punished in here: the greedy (including many priests, popes, and cardinals) who hoard material possessions, and the squanderers, who foolishly waste money. They are guarded by Pluto, the god of wealth and the underworld (because precious stones and metals come from underground). The two groups are made to push against each other using huge bags filled with money.

 Phlegyas transporting Virgil and Dante into the Fifth Circle. Illustration by Stradanus.

Fifth Circle (Anger/Wrath). Phlegyas takes Virgil and Dante on his skiff across the Styx, the river of the unbreakable oath. The wrathful fight each other on the surface while the sullen lie beneath the water.

They reach the lower parts of Hell which are surrounded by a wall of the city of Dis, a city in the underworld. The walls are guarded by the fallen angels. Virgil tries to persuade them to let Dante enter. Dante is then threatened by the three Furies (Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone) and by the snake-headed Medusa. An angel of heaven descends and opens the gate to the lower parts of Hell. (This symbolizes that what Dante is about to encounter are sins that human philosophy cannot understand.) Virgil and Dante enter the lower parts of Hell where sinners who were guilty of active (rather than passive) sins are punished.

Sixth Circle (Heresy). The heretics are punished here, including the Epicureans, followers of the Greek philosopher Epicurus who taught: “Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die”—meaning that people should enjoy life because there is no life after death. They were trapped in flaming tombs—which, as one of the Epicureans explained, means that people know that they will go to Hell but they refused to believe it. Thus, nothing can now change their destiny.

Seventh Circle (Violence). This is composed of three rings guarded by the bull-headed Minotaur. Centaurs, who have the upper body of a man and the lower body of a horse, shoot arrows at those attempting to escape.

The Outer Ring contains those who are violent against people and property. They are immersed in Phlegethon, the river of fire, in a death according to their guilt. Alexander the Great is immersed up to his eyebrows, and the conqueror Attila the Hun is also there.

The Middle Ring contains those who commit suicide and the profligates. Those who committed suicide—who committed violence against themselves—are transformed into thorny bushes and trees and then fed upon by the Harpies. The profligates—who destroyed their lives because of money and property—are chased around by ferocious dogs.

The Inner Ring contains the blasphemers, who committed violence against God, and those who were violent against nature, including sodomites (men who have sexual relations with other men) and usurers (who lend money with excessive interest). They reside in a desert with flaming sand and fire raining from the sky. To his surprise, Dante finds his respected teacher, Brunetto Latini, here.

 Geryon, who flies Virgil and Dante into the Eighth Circle.

Eighth Circle (Fraud). To reach the last two circles of Hell, Virgil and Dante rode on the back of Geryon, a winged monster. Geryon is a symbol of fraud: it has the face of a man and the beautiful body of a wyvern (two-legged dragon), but with the paws of a lion and scorpion-like stinging tail. The Eighth Circle is composed of ten malebolge’s or ‘evil pockets’ which are ditches of stone with bridges across them.

Bolgia 1. Panderers and seducers march in opposite directions, whipped by demons. Just as they seduced people to do what they want, now the demons make them do their bidding. Virgil points out Jason (leader of the Argonauts), who seduced Medea but later abandoning her for Creusa. He also seduced Hypsiple, leaving her pregnant.

Bolgia 2. Flatterers are punished by being steeped in human excrement, representing the words by which they exploit people.

Bolgia 3. Those being punished here are guilty of simony—buying favors from the Church using money. They are placed head-first into holes in a rock (resembling baptismal fonts) with flames burning their feet. Dante sees several popes there. Also there was Simon Magus, who tried to buy the power of healing from St. Peter (Acts 8:9-24), after whom the sin was named.

Bolgia 4. Those who tried to see the future by forbidden means, like sorcerers, astronomers, and false prophets, were punished by having their heads twisted backwards, so that they cannot see where they are headed. Dante sees the Trojan prophet Tiresias there.

Bolgia 5. Corrupt politicians are immersed in boiling tar, which represents their sticky fingers and deeds done in darkness. They are guarded by demons called the Malebranche (‘evil claws’) and led by Malecoda (‘evil tail’).

 Malacoda and his demons, the Malebranche. Engraving by Gustav Dore.

Bolgia 6. Hypocrites, those who appear holy outside but evil inside, are made to wear cloaks of lead, which represents their falsity and the weight which hinders their spiritual progress. Caiaphas, the high priest who sentences Jesus to death, is crucified to the ground and trampled upon.

Bolgia 7. Thieves are guarded by the centaur Cacus, who has a fire-breathing dragon on his shoulder and snakes covering his horse back. Just as they stole other people’s property, so now their own identities are stolen: As they are bitten by snakes, they are turned into distorted animals.

Bolgia 8. Evil counselors, those who advise other people to commit fraud, are punished within individual flames. Among those there are Ulysses/Odysseus and Diomedes, for their deception using the Trojan horse. Ulysses tells of his final tale (invented by Dante and not included in the Odyssey), where he left his home and family to sail to the ends of the earth, only to have his ship flounder at Mount Purgatory. He also mentions Circe and how she seduced him.

Bolgia 9. The “sowers of discord” are cut apart by demons with swords, just as they divided people against each other. The wounds would heal, only for the demons to cut them again. Dante sees Muhammad, the founder of Islam, there, apparently for “separating” from Christianity.

Bolgia 10. In the final bolgia, the falsifiers, like alchemists, counterfeiters, perjurers, and impostors are given various diseases for being a “disease” to society. There is Potiphar’s wife, who accused Joseph son of Jacob of seducing her. The Greek spy Sinon is burning with fever because he tricked the Trojans to take the wooden horse inside their city, which burned to the ground.

 The Titans and the giants guarding the walls of the Ninth Circle.

Ninth Circle (Treachery). The lowest circle is guarded by mythological and biblical giants standing on its walls. These include Nimrod, Ephialthes (a Giant who with his brother Otus tried to invade Mount Olympus), Typhon, and others. The giant Antaeus lowers Virgil and Dante into the Ninth Circle, which is composed of four rounds. Traitors are punished in a lake of ice (not fire) called Cocytus.

Round 1. Named Caïna after Cain, who murdered his brother Abel. These are traitors who betrayed their own family. They are frozen here up to their chins. Sir Mordred, who rebelled against his father King Arthur, is punished here.

Round 2. Named Antenora after Antenor of Troy, who (according to Medieval tradition), betrayed the Trojans to the Greeks. Punished here are those who betrayed their party, city, or nation.

Round 3. Named Ptolomea, after Ptolomy, who invited Simon Maccabeus and his sons and then kills them. Punished here are those who betrayed their guests. They lie in ice on their backs with their face exposed.

 Dante speaks with the treacherous sinners in ice. Engraving by Gustav Dore.

Round 4. Named Judecca, after Judas Iscariot, who betrayed our Lord. Punished here are those who betray their liege lords or benefactors. They lie frozen in ice, trapped in contorted positions. Speaking is completely forbidden there, so Virgil and Dante quickly pass through there and into the center of Hell itself.

Conclusion

 

Satan trapped in ice in the center of the Ninth Circle of Hell.

The center of Hell. In the very center of Hell is Satan, who committed personal treachery against God. He is described as a giant with three heads, one red, one black, one pale yellow—a perversion of the Holy Trinity. He is trapped waist-deep in ice, wiping the tears off his six eyes, and flapping his wings as if trying to escape. His left and right heads gnaw on the heads of Cassius and Brutus, Roman senators who murdered Julius Caesar. His center head gnaws on the head of Judas Iscariot, and his claws skin his back.

Escape from Hell. Virgil and Dante climb on the back of Satan and pass through the center of the Earth. Now gravity pulls them “upwards” toward the other side of the world. They emerge on Easter Sunday “beneath a sky studded with stars”. They have reached Mount Purgatory, and their adventures are told in the next part of the Divine Comedy: Purgatorio.

Text summarized from and all illustrations derived from the Wikipedia article on Inferno (Dante).