The Inferno By Dante Alighieri

The Inferno is a tale of cautionary advice. In each circle, Dante the pilgrim speaks to one of the shades that reside there and the readers learn how and why the damned have become the damned. As Dante learns from the mistakes of the damned, so do the readers. And as Dante feels the impacts of human suffering, so do the readers. Virgil constantly encourages Dante the pilgrim to learn why the shades are in Hell and what were their transgressions while on Earth. This work’s purpose is to educate the reader. The work’s assertions on the nature of human suffering are mostly admonition, with each shade teaching Dante the pilgrim and by extension the reader not to make the same mistakes. Dante views his journey through hell as a learning experience and that is why he made it out alive.

Dante Alighieri wrote the Divine Comedy from 1308-1320. The story narrates Dante’s pilgrimage through hell, purgatory, and heaven while guided by Virgil and Beatrice. Throughout this journey Dante conforms himself to virtue, properly orders his passions, and conforms his conscience, “Dante 's psychopoiesis operates through the mimetic deformation, reformation, and transformation of conscience” (Macready, 2). This essay will examine what a true conscience is according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and explore the nature of the conscience in Dante’s Divina Commedia. Additionally, this essay will examine the errors of Dante’s conscience regarding divine justice, love, and courage; and who contributes to this formation.

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.

In Dante’s Inferno and his levels of hell there are many things that we have in common as a person today’s society. This essay will discuss the issues in Dante’s Inferno and The Divine Comedy that are still true to this day as they were back when Dante wrote this comedy. Some views Dante considers are not the same to everyone, but some views are still apparent in today’s society. With these views being common it can be said that Dante’s views are common for people in today’s society. Many people do not understand the journey that Dante describes in this comedy. Finally, many of the sins considered by people today, were sins worthy of hell in Dante’s time.

This poem dramatizes the conflict between a man’s belief of worthiness and the truth of his destiny. The poem starts on a Friday evening after the speaker has already set out on his journey, following Human Reason, through Hell to stray back to the True Way; finding himself “tired and despairing.” Dante, while comparing himself to Aeneas and Paul, is wondering as to why he was chosen to be led back to the right path by Human Reason and then further on saved by Divine Love. Virgil - who personifies Human Reason, then explains to Dante why he went to him in the first place. Virgil serves as a conscience to Dante; Human Reason shows Dante the journey he has to get through to make it to Heaven.

Throughout the epic poem Inferno, Dante the Pilgrim travels in the different circles of Hell told by Dante the Poet. The story examines what a righteous life is by showing us examples of sinful lives. Dante is accompanied by his guide Virgil, who takes him on a journey to examine sin and the effects it has in has in the afterlife to different sinners. Through the stories of Francesca and Paolo, Brunetto Latini, Ulysses and Guido da Montefeltro, we are able to understand that people are self-interested in the way they act and present themselves to others and that those in Hell are there because they have sinned and failed to repent their sins and moral failings.

Jeovan Medina Professor Ohayon 04/14/15 Dante’s Inferno Literary poems and essays started booming during the twelfth centaury. From these great works we have Dante’s Divine comedy. In Dante’s comedy we have three parts that elaborate his journey through The Inferno, Pulgatorio, and lastly Paraiso. Dante’s portrayal of Hell in the Inferno is an undisputed masterpiece of visual and allegorical imagery, enriched not only by extensive use of figurative language, but by concrete physical descriptions as well. With his vivid and extensive imagery we will see Dante draws themes from biblical allusions, history sources, and classical.

With the mention of Hell, flames and spankings lick the minds of children, while adults contemplate the evil ratings of their own soul and the uncertainty approaching them. How uncertain should a person be in considering their afterlife? If a grand god randomly flings humans about, dividing them into heaven or hell, or if he chooses favorites, every cause for uncertainty and fear should remain. However, if the determination of a human’s placement into heaven or Hell was not soley the jurisdiction of a higher being, the question raises to what ability humans have in determining their place in the afterlife, and where does the perfect justice of an eternal God intervene? In God in the Dock, C.S. Lewis writes,“It's not a question of God 'sending'

   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 presents the importance of reason and his admiration for the classics through extensive allusions to ancient literature, specifically Virgil’s Aeneid, and through the inclusion and appraisal of his other favorite classical poets. Dante makes his belief in the power of reason and faith clear from the beginning, as he, through Virgil’s words, describes sinners as “people who have lost the good of the intellect” (Inferno 2.16). Through this claim, the author brings forth the idea that reason is needed in order to prevent one from wrongdoing, as sin is the abandonment of reason in the face of achieving an immoral goal.

The Journey of the Divine The Intro The journey of every man’s soul is the sum of his life experiences or is this just the beginning of the journey. Dante found that his soul in the afterlife had just started his woefully long journey to find his eternal rest.

When reading Dante’s ‘Inferno’, it becomes apparent that Alighieri used his writing as a means of cogitating on the events that happened in his life. In order to understand his references to early Rome, Florentine politics, and other characteristics of the poem, it is necessary for the reader to develop a foundational background of Alighieri himself. With this knowledge, one can begin to grasp the concepts of symbolism and idealism that are so prevalent within the text, experiencing the poem in a completely different way.

Dante’s Inferno provides a spiritual quest of human life by exploring the true nature of sin by traveling within the depths of hell. Hell is considered to be the universal request of God, providing the proper suffering according to God’s integrity. In Dante’s work Virgil, a classical roman poet, acts as a guide and master for Dante the Pilgrim. The relationship between the two grows as they go deeper in hell. Virgil proves to be a wiser figure and provides an earnest presence for Dante.

What If Virgil… Could Not Pass? In Dante’s influential The Divine Comedy: Purgatory, the character Virgil, Dante’s kindly guide throughout his endeavors, plays a crucial role from the beginning to end of the text; seemingly no events occur throughout Dante’s otherworldly perception of his religious universe without the intervention or involvement of Virgil along the path of the Dante character. For instance, in The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Virgil accompanies and instills holy knowledge upon Dante from his preliminary teachings about the souls stuck in his new home of Limbo, all the way the very edge of Hell as they escalate down the fur of Satan himself to the center of the universe.

Dante’s Inferno begins in a dark forest, a place of confusion, because he lost his way on the “true path”. Seeking an escape, Dante finds a hill where the sun glares down on him. This light seen in Dante’s Inferno symbolizes clarity as the sun represents God. After encountering three beasts and turning back to the murky forest, Dante crosses paths with the great Roman Poet, Virgil. Virgil is an aid and guide to Dante to Heaven, the ultimate Paradise. He warns Dante he must pass through Hell and Purgatory in order to reach his salvation in heaven. Virgil is depicted as nature or human reason perfected by virtue. It is strongly emphasized that Virgil can only take Dante so far in his journey by guiding him to heaven. Much like St. Thomas Aquinas’ reasoning, nature or human reason can only bring you so far in the journey to God. As Virgil and Dante approach the mouth of Hell, Virgil preaches to Dante about a woman in Heaven who took pity upon Dante when he was lost in hell. The woman Virgil speaks of is Dante’s departed love Beatrice. After Dante hears that Beatrice is heaven he now sheds the fear of traveling through Hell and Purgatorio.