Dante’s Inferno, Essay Example

In the dark and religious world of Dante, the Divine Comedy is written to help people make sense of life, death, punishment and sin. The most commonly quoted and visual scene is Inferno: the event of Dante’s travel through Hell. Through his eyes, the reader can see people who sinned, were punished and died. The scenes of Inferno are full of suffering, limitations and regret. The below paper will reveal what the author thinks about people’s life journey, sins and the question of divine punishment.

The Freedom of the Will

Before trying to understand the Inferno scenes of Dante’s Divine Comedy, it is important to analyze the moral system and philosophy the author had during the years he was writing the book. Dante believed in the Freedom of the Will, man’s ability to make moral judgments. However, he also states that men can be lost, God is there to show the way through other people, but one needs to listen to their inner voice.

“I found myself within a forest dark,

For the straightforward pathway had been lost” (Canto 1. Line 2-3 Dante, 1555)

This inner voice, for Dante is Virgil, who shows him around different parts of the after-world. Men would be put into either hell, purgatory or heaven, based on the life they lived. People choose to commit crime, do wrong for others, and therefore they have to suffer through either purgatory, or in the case of more serious sins Hell, of which there is no escape. The free will of humans makes them vulnerable, dependent and prone to giving up for sin. Still, people are able to obtain the “right us e of reason” given to them by God, or the “Divine Grace”. Men’s falling from grace depicted by the Bible’s Paradise scene is repeated every day. It also has consequences after one’s death. They can either live in Paradise forever, suffer in Purgatory or are sentenced for Hell: a death that has no end.

Reconciliation

Dante’s work states that God is seeking ways to reconcile with humans on a constant basis. He never gives up hope, but humans often turn their back on him and stop listening to the voices of divine wisdom. He gives people a chance to turn back to him, but after they miss this chance, justice needs to be made. Everyone is judged based on what they did in life: their actions, sins and failures. There are different stages of sinful life: all people are put into the circle of Hell that they most deserve. In Dante’s book, there is Upper Hell, Lower Hell and the Center of the Hell. The Center of Hell holds those who committed the most serious crimes, the Lower Hell (City of Dis) holds violent criminals and fraudsters, while the Upper Hell, interestingly has “Neutrals” living in. These are people who would not take a stand to fight against Lucifer with God. Angry, sullen and greedy people are also here, alongside with infants died without being baptized.

The Meaning of Life

The journey through the world that is beyond our world is a theme that returns in Dante’s poem, taken from classic literature. When we look at the Odyssey, the similarity of scenes, descriptions, even punishments is visible. Still, according to Dante, dead people, who are already in the after-life know more about the meaning of human existence than those who live now. That is the reason he sets off a quest to an unknown and powerful world. Using Virgil, who is a role model, a person who lived before Christianity, however, takes away some of the Catholic Church influences from the poem. The three types of beasts are depicted as the enemies and helpers of the soul, discovery and wisdom: the leopard representing self-indulgence, the lion as fraud and the greyhound bringing new perspectives, knowledge and wisdom.

The Meaning of Death

Death, according to the author, is the point where there is no chance for changing one’s ways. It is depicted as something that makes all the gates that lead back to human life close. Death is the way towards after-life, which can be eternal suffering, temporary suffering or eternal life. This depiction of death is in line with the teachings of medieval Church, and has the same scenes featured that are present in the Book of Apocalypse and contemporary Christian writing. Death, however, is also a higher level of life and being: delivers more knowledge, wisdom and supports intellect. Divine wisdom can be understood after death: relating to the writing of other writers in the same century. The meaning of death is, however, not only judgment, but also a chance for reconciliation with the Divine Wisdom.

Conclusion

The book of Dante does depict the scenes of prophecies detailed in the Bible, through the eyes of an intellectual, thinking and searching poet. He takes the readers on a quest to search for the meaning of life, death and sin. Using the power of words, wise people of the past and the teachings of the Church as a basis, he develops a tale that unfolds the rules of knowing what is right and wrong, questions the way people use their free will and shows a way out of the “dark forest” through thinking. The revelations of the poem are present in the border of consciousness and unconsciousness, as Dante states:

“I did not die, and I alive remained not;

Think for thyself now, hast thou aught of wit,

What I became, being of both deprived.” (Canto 34. Dante, 1555)

References

Dante, Aligheri (1555) The Divine Comedy. Inferno. Translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. A Penn State Electronic Classics Series Publication