Sin and Punishment in Dantes Inferno - Essay Example

Sin and punishment in Dante’s Inferno Dante’s Inferno is literally a walk through Hell, a place of terror, torture and pain, where sinners are condemned eternally for their sins. Yet, hell is not a place where everyone is uniformly treated. Since the nature of sin itself is such that it could be wide ranging and varied, there are different degrees of sin, some of which are very serious and some not so serious. The nature of the punishment that is meted out for sins in Hell also reflects a similar range and variety – there are different levels where different kinds of sinners are condemned. There is a basic relationship that exists between sin and punishment in that a person who commits sins in his or her lifetime will be punished for those sins in death. However Dante’s Inferno proves that there is a much more complex relationship between sin and punishment – the extent of punishment is directly proportional to the kind of sin which has been committed and this is revealed in the Inferno through the principle of contrapasso. Hell as revealed by Dante, is a place where eternity catches up with the individual, it is a place where time stands still and does not pass at all because it is the sum total representation of the past, the present and the future. An individual may commit many sins during a lifetime believing that he or she will not have to pay for them, but unlike life, the after life is an eternal state where a person will be held accountable for his or her sins. A sinner goes straight to hell after death but in hell, an individual’s sins are always in the forefront, they remain in the present and will not be reduced or alleviated or pass away with the passage of time. The punishment for sin is eternal, it is something that can never be escaped. Yet, although the hell that is revealed in Dante’s Inferno is an arena where people are subjected to eternal punishment for the sins they have committed in their lives; this punishment is meted out on the principle of contrapasso or a counter penalty. i.e, the degree of punishment that a person is subjected to is proportional to the enormity of his or her sin. People relegated to the sphere of hell do not suffer in an arbitrary fashion; rather the punishment is qualitatively and quantitatively dependent upon the nature of the sin that has been committed.(Bowers, 2004). The logic behind punishment in hell is that it is no more or no less than the actual sin itself, within every sinner one may note the observed retaliation which is in accordance with the nature of the sin that was perpetrated.(Dante 38:142). This is the basis of the contrapasso principle presented in the Inferno – the principle of punishment being proportional to the sin is exemplified in many ways. This may be noted in the example of the vestibule of Hell wherein lies the punishment for indifference. This area is located on the shore of Acheron and is separated from Limbo and the rest of Hell. The inhabitants of the vestibule do not get any attention either from Minos who is the judge of the damned souls or from Charon, the ferryman. The indifference shown to the inhabitants of the vestibule by the others in Hell and Charon and Minos is an accurate reflection of the same kind of indifferent attitude that they have shown to others during their sojourn on Earth. They are described as people who lived “without praise or blame.”(Canto III-35-6). As a result, the vestibule is the place where those who treated others with indifference during their lives are punished with a retributory indifference from others in Hell. The vestibule is the place reserved for those whose lives are so unremarkable as to be worthy of contempt. The inhabitants of the vestibule are unnamed and unknown, this is because during the course of their lives, they failed to take positive action and as a result, the fate they receive is that of “speak not of them, but look and pass on by” (Canto III:49). The sin of these people is that they have done nothing worthwhile with their lives, as a result when they get to Hell, their punishment is commensurate with their inactivity. Dante describes the inhabitants of the vestibule as those who “nor rebellious proved, nor yet were true to God, but for themselves were only”; as a result they are condemned to spend their days in eternity with “mercy and justice” also treating with the same lack of regard, i.e, with “scorn.” (Canto III: 36-48). Dante makes a specific reference to one person who is also recognizable; he “knew the shade of him, who to base fear.” (Canto III:56). This could be a reference to Pope Celestine V, who abdicated his office on the basis of false advice from a Cardinal, or it could be a reference to Pontius Pilate, who out of his cowardice, allowed an innocent man to be out to death. Dante is careful not to refer to the person by name, because none of the people in the vestibule must be named, their punishment is to be treated in death with the same levels of indifference and lack of concern that they meted out to others in life. This is a notable example of how the nature of the punishment is exactly equivalent to the sin of cowardice and indifference – since these people are only worthy of contempt, they are forced to remain naked and are stung by wasps, with worms sucking up their blood. At another level outside hell in the first circle, Dante is led into a place where there are “lamentations none but only sighs, that tremble made the everlasting air.” (Canto IV:26-27). Unlike the lamentation and anguish of the people trapped in the vestibule of Hell, who were being punished for their cowardice, the people in this first circle are merely subject to sighs, which “arose from sorrow without torment.” (Canto IV:28). The punishment of these people is not so great, because their sin is also not so great. Dante is provided the explanation that the people who are at this level are not those who ate strictly sinners because of the heinous nature of their actions in their lives. In describing the people at this level, Dante’s guide Virgil says, “they have committed no sin and if they have merits, that is not enough because they are not baptized.” (Canto IV: 34-5). The nature of the sin that these people have committed is that they lived before Christ and therefore could not be baptized. Therefore, the fate that meets them is also not so severe; they are made to live “without hope….but with desire” (Canto IV: 42). These individuals are up in the first circle rather than relegated further down in hell where their suffering would be greater. The reason why their suffering and anguish has been reduced is because allowance has been made for the fact that they did not have an opportunity to be exposed to Christ and his message. These pagans are not being punished for their lack of belief in Christ; in effect even those who might have committed serious misdeeds that would have sent them further down in hell have received some amelioration in their punishment; they have been treated more mercifully because they come from a time before Christ. The nature of the punishment accorded is thus fair when considered in the context of the sin of these people. They are not guilty as such of deliberately rejecting Christ and his message of salvation; rather they are condemned to no salvation because they were not exposed to it at all. As a result, the fate of these people is to live with desire, rather than to moan and lament in anguish like those who are more culpable. For example, when compared with the people who are in the vestibule, they suffer a fate that is less painful. While those in the vestibule must be stung by wasps and ignored by everyone, condemned for ever to a state of non entity, those in the first circle only sigh without accompanying torment and their fate is not as painful as those in the vestibule who were guilty of deliberately being cowardly and indifferent to others during their lifetime. Furthermore there is also hope for those who are in the First circle, because as Virgil informs Dante, there were people who were redeemed from this circle and blessed; individuals such as the sons of Abel, Moses, Noah, Abraham and Rachel among others, where the piety and devotion of the parents contributed towards the blessing of Christ being extended to their progeny as well. This circle therefore shows that unlike the other areas of hell, the people in this part are not being so severely punished, because they are not fully responsible for the sin of being pagans which they are guilty of. In the second circle of Hell, Dante finds the lustful people who are condemned to remain in a place where they are subjected to the “infernal hurricane that never rests” (Canto V:31) and there is shrieking , wailing and lamenting as it strikes them. Such torment assails the people who have allowed their reason to become subjugated to their lust. The punishment these people receive is also in accordance with their sin of passion, because just as they allowed themselves to become subject to it in their lives, they are now to subject themselves to being constantly being lashed by the fury and passion of nature in death. One notable aspect about this level is that Dante notes the presence of Dido, the Queen of Carthage. In the normal case, Dido would have been condemned down into the wood of suicides which is placed in the seventh circle of hell. Since suicide is a crime of violence, therefore this area is guarded by the Minotaur who also has a violent and bestial nature. Moreover, those who are guilty of suicide – or a crime against themselves, are condemned into dark woods with twisted and knotted branches, to be tormented by harpies as a punishment for their grievous sin of violence against their own persons. But Dido is not condemned to this level, she is in the second circle, because the mitigating circumstance is that during the times that she lived, there was no existing precedent that classified suicide as a sin. As a result of her ignorance, her sin has been deemed to be less severe and she has been accorded a less severe punishment. There are many other instances in Dante’s Inferno that demonstrate how the punishment that is meted out is exactly in proportion to the nature of the sin. For example, those who are guilty of the crime of fortune telling are forced to walk about with their faces turned in a direction away from where they are moving, condemned never to know where they go because they presumed to know what the future held. On the basis of the above, it may be seen that the kinds of eternal punishment that are being administered in Hell are entirely dependent on the nature of the crime that has been committed. As Bowers (2004) states, the quantitative and qualitative measure of the punishment is proportional to the severity and nature of the crime. While those who were indifferent and cowardly in life are punished with an equal amount of indifference and contempt being shown to them, those who are sinners through no specific fault of their own are not punished so severely but allowed to sigh without torment. From the above, it may also be noted that sometimes, those individuals who would merit a much more severe punishment, such as Dido, the Queen of Carthage, are also judged by taking mitigating circumstances into account before their punishment is meted out. There is also hope for those who are in the First circle because Christ reaches down even into Hell to redeem some souls who have been condemned because they did not have the opportunity to hear his message of salvation. Dante’s Infero thus illustrates the principle of contra passo, or punishment according to the sin. The relationship between sin and punishment is that the punishment will be proportionate to the nature of the sin that has been committed. References: * Bowers, Terence N, 2004. “Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Dante’s Inferno”, The Explicator, 62(2): 91-95 * Dante, Alighieri. “Inferno” IN “The Divine Comedy. The Portable Dante.” Mark Musa edn and translation), New York: Penguin, 1995. Read More