In Dante’s Inferno, Dante is led by Virgil through the nine circles of Hell: Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Wrath, Heresy, Violence, Fraud and Treachery. Dante was directly influenced by Virgil’s Aeneid when writing the poem, therefore he alludes to some of the rivers of the Underworld.
The first circle contains all those did not accept Jesus Christ as their god. These also include those who lived before Jesus’ birth. Since they are innocent, Limbo is described as a deficient form of Heaven. Dante meets a few Roman poets such as Homer and Ovid and then encounters the Roman leaders Julius Caesar and Aeneas. The second circle, Lust, comprises of those who have an overwhelming desire for something or someone, regarded as sinful. This circle is also inhabited by Minos, whose role is to sentence the sinners to whichever circle they pertain to. The people Dante encounters there are condemned because they let their lust overcome their sense of reason. These include certain prominent figures such as Dido, Helen of Troy, Cleopatra, and Achilles.
Cerberus guards the third circle, which is where those who are gluttonous reside. Dante describes this place as covered in mud, comparing sinners to pigs. Later, he meets the hog ‘Ciacco’. The fourth circle of Greed is watched over by Hades, the ruler of the Greek Underworld and the deity of wealth. Belonging here are both the avaricious, those who hoarded possessions, and the prodigal, who wasted money. Dante observes that they have lost their sense of individuality and have been rendered unrecognisable. The fifth circle is located in the river Styx, and so the sinners have no choice but to remain in the swamp for the rest of eternity. Since it is the circle of Wrath, Dante observes from his boat that they are constantly fighting and wrestling with one another. After the journey across River Styx, Dante and Virgil reach the City of Dis in which the rest of the circles are located, including the fifth circle: the circle of Heresy. Here reside many so-called heretics, such as Epicurus and his followers.
Dante arrives at the seventh circle of Violence, which is divided into three rings: violence against neighbours, violence against yourself, and violence against God, art, and nature. In the first ring, Dante picks out Alexander the Great, Dionysius, Attila the Hun and many other infamous tyrants and murderers. Whilst the second ring is occupied by those who have attempted or died by suicide, including the unfortunate Pietro della Vignam, with Dante presenting suicide as a great sin and an ‘insult to the body’. The eighth circle, shaped as an amphitheatre, contains all those who were considered fraudulent in their past lives. These include Jason who married the princess Medea, only to later desert her, as well as Odysseus and Diomedes who created the Trojan Horse, deceiving the Trojans. The final circle, the circle of Treachery is the last circle of Dante’s journey through the Underworld. Described as a large frozen lake, he sees that the sinners trapped in the ice, for eternity. The traitors that Dante spots are Cain who killed his own brother and committed the first murder ever; Mordred who was the traitorous son of King Arthur and Judas, who was known to have betrayed Jesus. At the centre of Hell, Dante finds the fallen angel Lucifer, who rebelled against God, resulting in his expulsion from Heaven.
-Edene
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