Inferno from The Divine Comedy
Dante’s Divine Comedy.
This absolute tome of a book was succeeded by Purgatorio and Paradisio. The premise of these books is pretty straightforward. The author dies and travels from Hell to Heaven, seeking atonement, perhaps. Throughout this journey, he is given a tour of the three realms as if he is a mere visitor, and not himself involved in the process. He meets various people, during his ascent. Most of these people were people Dante knew from real life. This has lead analysts to believe that the Divine Comedy was nothing more than a manuscript by Dante, spiting the people he didnt like. I mean, the guy had free reign to dish out whatever punishments he wanted to his opponents, via the context of Hell. However, we also encounter other important historic personalities. While reading these books, I kept on telling myself that there are probably quizzes somewhere on the internet which determine ‘What circle of Hell you belong to?’. I made a cursory search and wasn’t disappointed.
Following is just a description and some interesting tidbits, meddled in with my opinion, of Dante’s Hell.
The Hell is composed of nine concentric circles. Each circle is worse than the previous one. In the epicenter, Satan, my dude, is big chilling. Every subsequent circle is presumably deeper into the bowels of Hell, and has more cruel punishments.
Intersetingly, the concept of method for punishments is something I liked a lot. Divine Revenge. Fundamentally, your actions determine the type of punishment that you will receive in Hell. This is very appropriate. It means that our actions on Earth have a direct effect on our afterlife. Not only do they dictate whether we’ll go to Heaven or Hell, but they also dictate how badly we’ll be engrossed in the dealings of Hell. The vice versa concept regarding virtue can be roughly felt in Paradisio.
People who try to justify their sins, haven’t asked for forgiveness
1. Limbo
Thats the first circle of Hell. Indubitably the least harmful. It is for the virtuous non-believers. If my notes do not deceive me, then this circle was referred to as the ‘lower heaven.’
All of the non-Christian Prophets were residing in this circle of Hell. Well, not all, but a major number of them.
Before I proceed further, just a reminder that Dante Aligheri was a staunch Christian
2. Lust
The people in this circle had it easy. Really. I feel like this is a bigger sin and Dante underplayed it. These sinners were thrown back and forth by strong gusts of wind without rest. Their bodies weren’t in their control and were governed by the external source, that is, the wind. I really dont need to elaborate the analogy, do I?
3. Gluttony
I always imagine the rich fat businessman from Mad Max whenever I hear the word Gluttony. The one with some sort of infection on his feet.These men and women were present in a dimension of decay. Everything around them was a part and parcel of the whirlwind of decay, within which they were submerged. I don’t see a clear analogy here, and there might really be none.
4. Greed
Now this part really confused me. Firstly, it was made clear that by greed, the author meant spendthrifts. Next, the explanation of their punishment/action wasn’t well thought out or it just did not convey nicely to me. I still tried to understand it for the sake of comprehension itself.
So the sinners were jousting, but with heavy weights, and they were being pushed by their own force; through their chests. When I try to envision it, it feels like a chestbump but with massive leaden weights. I dont know. My imagination runs rampant.
5. Wrath
Surprisingly, the penance for this vice was simplistic yet justified. Imagine an arena or a large field. Everyone who practiced wrath passively is lying down on the ground while everyone who practiced wrath actively is fighting: quite possibly tearing each others limbs and what not, while trampling the bodies lying underneath.
Not a particularly bruthish beating too. Also, maybe the people who are wrathful passively have it worse. They cannot really defend themselves, can they? Was Dante trying to make a point here? He didnt explicitly lay it down in the book. Or maybe this is something he overlooked…
6. Heresy
Again, a queer circle.
The sinners were trapped in burning tombs.
Not a very strict retribution for the sinners who’re supposedly the third worst. Like, being alone in the dark doesnt sound bad. Sure, it might drive you starking mad in a decade or so, but you have at least that much coming for you if you’ve ended up in Hell. The heat too wouldn’t be quite as aggravating as it sounds. Technically, you won’t even feel the heat after getting third-degree burns because your nerve endings would have been blazed out.
7. Violence
This was further divided into 3 sub-categories:
→Against Neighbours= these guys were skinny dipping in a sea of boiling blood whilst being shot by arrows. Every white man’s holiday retreat.
→Against Self= I honestly did not expect Dante to even make this point, and was surprised to find it here. So, suicidal humans were turned into thorny trees and Harpies (will come to what these are later) fed on them.
→Against God, Art & Nature= all of these miscreants were let loose in a desert where flames rained down endlessly. Those who had sinned against God were stretched wide on the sand. Sinners against Nature kept on running in circles; very nauseous, if you ask me. And sinners who committed violence to art just sat in the desert and endlessly cried. The last part thoroughly amused me. Dante gave vandals a position in the deep crevices of Hell.
8. Fraud
This was the most extensive portion in the entire Divine Comedy. Fraudelent acts were themselves categorized into divergent sub-sections. I am going to enlist all of them, because I enjoyed this part (in a non-sadistic manner of course):
i) Panderer & seducer= they were made to walk in opposite directions while they were whipped. Not very intense
ii) Faltterers= they were doused in poop. Really. And it makes sense. They tried to make their way in world by serving false compliments and now they get to experience the true essence of their feelings and words.
iii) Simoniacs= I didnt know who these were until I had to search some more. These are men and women who hold religious posts but sell them to the highest bidder, or more appropriately sell their duties to the highest price. They were buried upside down: head in the ground and soles on the outside. Their soles were lit on fire too.
iv) Sorcerers= their heads were twisted, and they walked backwards. This is because they tried to twist nature out of its proportions and tried to see in the future and that came to bite them in the ass in the afterlife
v) Civil Servants= in boiling tar pit you go
vi) Hypocrites= they were made to wear beautiful robes, but the robes were immensely heavy and they couldnt stop walking. Thus, they appeared alright from the exterior but in reality, they’re troubled and bothered by the efforts with which they maintain their outward appearance.
vii) Thieves= monstrous reptiles would come and torture them and evetually take their identities and the cycle would repeat itself
viii) Counsellors of fraud= these are people who instigated people to do fraud and advised others on how to successfully deceive. these humans will be converted into literal flames…I know really, what the heck Dante
ix) Discord= Ah, this one made me chuckle out loud. These include folks who created dissent amongst religions, civilizations or within one family. I am just going to jolt down what Dante said here. He said that the Last Prophet falls in this category because he created the biggest rift between humanity by creating Islam, and furthermore Ali, his son-in-law created the other gap within Islam. Just foods for your thought. I’m going to skip their punishment part at the risk of being ‘blasphemous’ but it sure as heck was brutal
x) Falsifiers= alchemists, impostors and perjurors comprise this category. They were diseased. Crippled with every possible pathogen in human history.
9. Treachery
The last circle of Hell. Very anti-climactic. Treacherous people reside in the last, deepest and worst circle of Hell. I don’t know what I was expecting. Maybe furries? It definitely wasn’t treachery.
I like how the retributions actually didn’t worsen as we went deeper into the circles of Hell. Sometimes, they were clearly less hard-core. I also want to know the thought-process of Dante when he came up with these. What was going on in his head? Is it safe to assume that Dante was a bit of a psychopath, considering how he abstractedly subjected people from real life into horrifying scenarios?
Anyway, in the last circle of Hell, the people were trapped in ice. Yes, the starking contrast, the irony. None of it escaped me. There were then four divisions and each of them had different punishments:
i) To Kindred
ii) To Country
iii) To Guests
iv) To Their Lords
I cannot really call this an ending to this book. If anything, there was no plot. Moreover, Paradisio is the only plot that comes close to any ending to Dante’s writings. Nevertheless, I found this underwhelming and I cannot stress this enough.
Some interesting beings that made appearances in the book.
Which cirlce of Hell do you think you belong to? I personally think bits of me belong in all of them. Thank God, Dante didn’t know me personally.
