Research paper on Inferno Dantes - Essay Example

INFERNO DANTES The design of Dante’s poem can be d back to before 1660, however in order to interpret the beauty and uniqueness of Dante’s work, it is very important to take a brief introduction and look at the times when he wrote his work and what became his inspiration. Dating back to the fourteenth century, Dante was residing in Italy, a country which depicted a picture of misery, gloominess, and darkness. The Court of Rome and the superstitious nature that it had twisted the pure form of the religion of Christianity and the faith of the primitive Christians was badly twisted. The mankind was badly immersed in the sins, vice and ignorance and it looked as if the Satan, himself has been unleashed on the Planet with Pope being the Anti Christ himself as foretold in the Holy Book. In these abominable conditions of Italy emerged Dante, the Italian poet of the middle ages. Dante is renowned for Divine Comedy and he added one of the greatest literary work to the field of literature, composed in the Italian language but later translated to the English Language. Taking a look at the ‘Divine Comedy’ written by Dante, it starts from Inferno which is a morbid and a gruesome excursion through her. The port talks and discusses the different stages of hell and sinners who committed various sins dwell on each of the levels, undergoing the punishment which perfectly matches the sin they had committed. Limbo, emerges as the first circle of hell does not depict torture of any form but rather stagnancy, a forever stop where the souls who never embraced the grace of the Church inhibit. This circle of hell is not exactly the form of torture, the souls will simply sit there, and that too for an eternity. These ‘virtuous pagans’ were not bad; they do not deserve the grace and the Supremacy of the Lord. So Dante, along with his poet guide Virgil, penetrate deeper in to the Hell, to discover more and then they find the shades they meet guilty of more severe sin. Each have greeted the perfect matched fate in Hell, each punished appropriately for the sins they have committed. The ice lake in the ninth circle of Hell, known as the Cocytus is the lake where the treacherous individuals are thrown into for eternity. Since Satan was himself the biggest treacherous, is damned to this very circle where he stays with his closest followers, who were able to successfully mimic his deadly sin when they walked on Earth. Cocytus has even rounds and the first round is known as the Caina, which was given the name after Cain of Bible. Cain was the first ever human being to have committed a murder on Earth and he murdered his very own blood, his brother, Abel. Hence, those who were treacherous with their own family are damned to the first round. In this round, almost everyone who has sinned against their kin is damned to the icy lake of Cocytus, unable to move, unable to struggle. However this is contradictory to the notion of Satan burning and writhing with his followers in hell, searing in flames for an eternity. The reason why this set of damned have been frozen up to their faces in ice is because the burning of eternity can be viewed as lenient and an easy punishment, because fire is associated with light and warmth, the characteristics of God, his love and His Blessings. Hence this set of individuals has been damned to frigid ice because God wants to punish them in a way that can never be associated with him. These are the people who turned cold towards their own men and fellows on Earth have been punished in a way that they failed to find companionship with other sinners as well. The second round is with people who were treacherous to their country, calling this round Antenora, which was named after Antenor of Troy who betrayed his city to the Greeks. Although the bond a n individual shares with his country is not as strong as the one he shares with his family, but the mere act of treachery can have adverse effects on the country and the countrymen, exposing them to hardships, severe destitution and in some cases, genocide. The unique suffering in Hell intrigues Dante even more and he proceeds to the center of Hell, where he finds Abbati who was a traitor and betrayed his party in the Battle of Montaperti. Dante kicks the head of Abbati, which is a rhetoric way of saying no to this sin of treachery so that Dante can reunite with God in Heaven. Then comes the next round, the Ptolomaea, who were treacherous against guests. This round involves a very philosophical and logical thinking to fully understand and analyze this particular punishment since it goes against the ethics as well as the circumstances. The last round is where there is no exposure and the entire body has been immersed in the ice and encased in it. This is the punishment for violating the voluntary relationship and this get even severe when the damned’s tears become frozen, causing added pain since the eye freezes in the process as well. By the time Dante and Virgil arrive at the final round, the center of hell is approached which houses to the Satan himself. This round has been given the name of Judecca which has been named after Judas, the traitor who sold Jesus to the Jews. This round is for those who were treacherous to their masters and these are completely encased in ice, not able to move or to cry, bending in a strange position. Once the fourth round ends, Dante is headed to meet the figure, so pitiful that he is the epitome of damnation. No power, no pride, the angel sits in the middle of the ice lake, encased in ice till waist and makes a futile attempt every now and then to get away from Hell by flapping his wings. A never ending suffering, where Lucifer defied the Father and Judas betrayed the Son. “Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” (Matthew 12: 31-32) The ones damned in the Hell want to ask for forgiveness, beg for it and repent. However the end is here and this is their faith. Dante, with his best work of literature reminds to the readers, that this place is temporary and God keep a record of even the slightest actions of His creation. He reminds the readers of the importance of turning the head towards the sky, towards God and salvation. Dante’s poem, The Divine Comedy is a piece of work that shows and portrays the struggle of an individual form the godliness into sin and how he then returns to the Salvation. Using himself as the protagonist, he travels the stages of Hell and discovers many aspects of it, the terrifying journey where he saw the reality of the Lost and the suffering of the sinners. There is substantial significance and meaning associated with the journey Dante made to the Hell. References: Dante, Alighieri, Robert Hollander, and Jean Hollander. Inferno. New York: Doubleday, 2000. Print. Read More