nferno (Italian for "Hell") is the first part of Dante Alighieri's 14th-century epic poem Divine Comedy. It is followed by Purgatorio and Paradiso. It is an all egory telling of the journey of Dante through Hell, guided by the Roman poet Vir gil. In the poem, Hell is depicted as nine circles of suffering located within t he Earth. Allegorically, the Divine Comedy represents the journey of the soul to wards God, with the Inferno describing the recognition and rejection of sin.[1] Contents [hide] 1 Overview and vestibule of Hell 2 The nine circles of Hell 2.1 First Circle (Limbo) 2.2 Second Circle (Lust) 2.3 Third Circle (Gluttony) 2.4 Fourth Circle (Greed) 2.5 Fifth Circle (Anger) 2.6 Sixth Circle (Heresy) 2.7 Seventh Circle (Violence) 2.8 Eighth Circle (Fraud) 2.9 Ninth Circle (Treachery) 3 See also 4 Footnotes 5 External links 5.1 Texts 5.2 Secondary materials Overview and vestibule of Hell[edit source | editbeta] The poem starts on Maundy Thursday in the year 1300. The narrator, Dante himself , is thirty-five years old, and thus "halfway along our life's path" (Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita)âhalf of the Biblical life expectancy of seventy (Psalms 8 9:10, Vulgate). The poet finds himself lost in a dark wood in front of a mountai n, assailed by three beasts (a lion, a lonza [usually rendered as "leopard" or " leopon"],[2] and a she-wolf) he cannot evade. Unable to find the "straight way" (diritta via, also translatable as "right way") to salvation, he is conscious th at he is ruining himself and falling into a "deep place" (basso loco) where the sun is silent (l sol tace). Dante is at last rescued by the Roman poet Virgil, who claims to have been sent by Beatrice, and the two of them begin their journey to the underworld. Each sin 's punishment in Inferno is a contrapasso, a symbolic instance of poetic justice ; for example, fortune-tellers have to walk forward with their heads on backward , unable to see what is ahead, because they tried to see the future through forb idden means. Such a contrapasso "functions not merely as a form of divine reveng e, but rather as the fulfilment of a destiny freely chosen by each soul during h is or her life."[3] Dante passes through the gate of Hell, which bears an inscription, the ninth (an d final) line of which is the famous phrase "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intr ate", or "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."[4] Before entering Hell completely, Dante and his guide see the Uncommitted, souls of people who in life did nothing, neither for good nor evil; among these Dante recognizes either Pope Celestine V or Pontius Pilate (the text is ambiguous). Mi xed with them are outcasts who took no side in the Rebellion of Angels. These so uls are neither in Hell nor out of it, but reside on the shores of the Acheron, their punishment to eternally pursue a banner (i.e. self interest) while pursued by wasps and hornets that continually sting them as maggots and other such inse cts drink their blood and tears. This symbolizes the sting of their conscience a nd the repugnance of sin. This can also be seen as a reflection of the spiritual stagnation they lived in. As with the Purgatorio and Paradiso, the Inferno has a structure of 9+1=10, with this "vestibule" different in nature from the nine c ircles of Hell, and separated from them by the Acheron. The Barque of Dante by Eugène Delacroix
After passing through the "vestibule," Dante and Virgil reach the ferry that wil l take them across the river Acheron and to Hell proper. The ferry is piloted by Charon, who does not want to let Dante enter, for he is a living being. Virgil forces Charon to take him by means of another famous line: Vuolsi così colà dove si pu ote, which translates to "So it is wanted there where the power lies," referring to the fact that Dante is on his journey on divine grounds. The wailing and bla sphemy of the damned souls entering Charon's boat contrast with the joyful singi ng of the blessed souls arriving by ferry in the Purgatorio. However, the actual passage across the Acheron is undescribed since Dante faints and does not wake up until he is on the other side. Virgil then guides Dante through the nine circles of Hell. The circles are conce ntric, representing a gradual increase in wickedness, and culminating at the cen tre of the earth, where Satan is held in bondage. Each circle's sinners are puni shed in a fashion fitting their crimes: each sinner is afflicted for all of eter nity by the chief sin he committed. People who sinned but prayed for forgiveness before their deaths are found not in Hell but in Purgatory, where they labour t o be free of their sins. Those in Hell are people who tried to justify their sin s and are unrepentant. Allegorically, the Inferno represents the Christian soul seeing sin for what it really is. What the three beasts may represent has been the subject of much cont roversy over the centuries, but one suggestion is that they represent three type s of sin: the self-indulgent, the violent, and the malicious.[5] These three typ es of sin also provide the three main divisions of Dante's Hell: Upper Hell (the first 5 Circles) for the self-indulgent sins, Circles 6 and 7 for the violent s ins, and Circles 8 and 9 for the malicious sins. The nine circles of Hell[edit source | editbeta]
The Harrowing of Hell, in a 14th-century illuminated manuscript, the Petites Heu res de Jean de Berry First Circle (Limbo)[edit source | editbeta] In Limbo reside the unbaptized and the virtuous pagans, who, though not sinful, did not accept Christ. Limbo shares many characteristics with the Asphodel Meado ws; thus the guiltless damned are punished by living in a deficient form of Heav en. Without baptism ("the portal of the faith that you embrace")[6] they lacked the hope for something greater than rational minds can conceive. Limbo includes green fields and a castle with seven gates to represent the seven virtues. The c astle is the dwelling place of the wisest men of antiquity, including Virgil him self, as well as the Persian polymath Avicenna. In the castle Dante meets the po ets Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan; the Amazon queen Penthesilea; the mathematic ian Euclid; the scientist Pedanius Dioscorides; the statesman Cicero; the first doctor Hippocrates; the philosophers Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Averroes; t he historical figures Lucretia, Lucius Junius Brutus, and Julius Caesar in his r ole as Roman general ("in his armor, falcon-eyed");[7] mythological characters H ector, Electra, Camilla, Latinus, and Orpheus; and many others. Interestingly, h e also sees Saladin in Limbo (Canto IV). Dante implies that all virtuous non-Chr istians find themselves here, although he later encounters two (Cato of Utica an d Statius) in Purgatory and two (Trajan and Ripheus) in Heaven. Beyond the first circle, all of those condemned for active, deliberately willed sin are judged to one of the lower eight circles by the serpentine Minos. Minos initially hinders the poets' passage, until rebuked by Virgil. Minos sentences e ach soul by wrapping his tail around himself a corresponding number of times. Th e lower circles are structured according to the classical (Aristotelian) concept ion of virtue and vice, so that they are grouped into the sins of wantonness, vi olence, and fraud (which for many commentators are represented by the leopard, l ion, and she-wolf).[8] The sins of wantonness â weakness in controlling one's desire s and natural urges â are the mildest among them, and, correspondingly, appear first , while the sins of violence and fraud appear lower down.
