Among the ranks of most loved Renaissance literature is Dante’s Inferno, the first part of La Divina Commedia, or the ‘Divine Comedy’. This is a work he completed in 1321, just before his death, and bears some resemblance interestingly to Virgil’s Aeneid, which Virgil did not wish to be published, even after his death. The other two parts of the ‘Divine Comedy’ are known as Purgatorio and Paradiso. During the Inferno, Dante journeys through nine concentric circles of hell with Virgil as his guide (referencing the poet, Virgil, who likely inspired Dante to write this famous piece). The origin of the story results from a woman named Beatrice who, at the outset of the story, summons Virgil to the Underworld so that Dante is not harmed on his unusual journey.
Dante was an Italian poet, born in Florence into a family of aristocrats. His involvement in politics later forced him into exile. It was during his exile that he wrote the Divine Comedy, motivated by the extreme brutality and turbulence of Florentine politics. His principal aim was to educate the wider audience about how people should really be living.
Dante depicts hell as comprised of nine concentric circles, which are the following:
LIMBO – inhabitants in hell are not to be blamed and are not punished, includes unbaptised non-Christian pagans e.g. Virgil
LUST- guarded by Minos, ancient king of Crete known for his sense of justice. Meets Paris, Dido
GLUTTONY – encounters ordinary people, Cerberus is found here
GREED – Dante and Virgil don’t speak to anyone here, expressing a certain degree of contempt
WRATH – travellers are threatened by Furies
HERESY – rejecters of political/social norms, e.g. Epicurus and Uberti
VIOLENCE – guarded by centaurs
FRAUD – people who consciously and willingly commit fraud
TREACHERY - where the devil exists as a three-headed beast. Each head eats a person – Brutus and Cassius (who betrayed Julius Caesar) and Judas (who was paid to betray Jesus). Dante saw them as the ultimate sinners because they betrayed the conduits of God
Dante’s Inferno has obtained numerous moments of recognition. Deemed as “a total impression of infinity” by renowned poet Samuel Coleridge Taylor, it is a timeless masterpiece that James Joyce declared he loved “almost as much as the Bible”.
Jiatan
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