Dante's Contrapasso In The Inferno

When Dante reaches the last level of hell he sees Satan, which is very fitting to the contrapasso. The contrapasso either fitted the level and punishment or it didn’t. Encountering satan in the last level fits very well as the punishment. since the ninth circle is the most worse from all the other levels. Only the souls in this level deserve to be in the ninth level with satan, chewing/eating them.

In Dante’s Inferno, he writes about his journey through hell for the purpose of recognizing his sins. He goes through this journey with Virgil, a voice of reason for Dante. Dante meets people through his journey of the many circles in the Inferno that lead him down into the center of hell, where Satan is. Satan is seen as being monster-like with three heads, representing a mocking of the Trinity and blowing his wings around the cocytus river. The final thing seen here is the fact that Dante’s description of Satan is a bit disappointing compared to the other descriptions he has written about the inferno.

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri is about the character Dante’s journey through the Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso, one that God has allowed him to take. In both the Inferno and Purgatorio there are souls who are being punished for their sins. In the second circle of the inferno and the seventh terrace of purgatorio the sin that most people are tempted by and is the least grave is lust. There are differences in the way Dante chooses to punish the lustful, in the Inferno and in Purgatorio. There is a similarity in the manner in which the lust the souls feel is portrayed.

God’s Justice in Inferno One of the most significant themes, if not the most significant theme within Dante’s Inferno is the perfection of God’s divine justice. Dante expressees divine justice within Inferno in a multitude of ways, with one of the the most prominent examples being the overall structure of Hell and how the punishment for the sinners (perfectly) reflects upon the sin. To the modern reader, Hell likely seems more like an act of cruelty than divine justice, much less a product of God’s love. At first,the torments that the sinners are subjected to seems extreme and grotesque.

Hell has been an idea passed from the first christians, a sort of boogeyman story to keep those away from societal bads, sins. Although it is described as the worst most gruesome pun-ishment to ever be, the ultimate price to pay with your eternal, everlasting soul, not a soul has stuck the fear deeper than Dante. His extremely fitting, well thought out punishments await sinners in Hell. Each a custom fit for every sin, from Non christians who lived rather virtuous lives being treated to a generic downgrade heavenly castle, to gluttons living in vile self degrading snow, to the most heinous sinners being frozen deep in the coldest ice, the punishments that the tortured souls are forced to endure as reprimanded for their unspeakable acts are

The carnage that he sees in this place is so gruesome that he states that “...any tongue would have to fail:...man’s vocabulary are not able to comprehend such pain”(4-6) this unearthly scene can only be described as hell. This place in Hell was littered with the bodies of those missing limbs or those with limbs being pierced through. The tournament here was constant, much like pain suffered throughout Hell. This pain equaled the punishment that was due for these sinners. This environment in which these sinners are kept is full of blood, pain and sorrow.

Dante’s vision of Hell is incredibly structured, with levels and sublevels dictating certain punishments for certain sins. The least of the sins is being unbaptized; pagan; or being virtuous, but before Christianity arose. This circle is called Limbo, and it is like Heaven, only slightly less glamorous. The worst of the sins is betrayal and treachery, and these sinners are trapped in the Ninth Circle of Hell, called Treachery. The worst sinner according to Dante is Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.

Dante’s Inferno is about a man name Dante Alighieri that goes thru the nine circles of hell. Each circle represents a sin(s) that you have committed and you’ll have to repent for them before your soul completely passes on. Limbo, the first circle of hell is for non-Christians and unbaptized pagans that reserve punishment from within entity of this circle from heaven’s inferno. Lust, the second circle of hell is for the people who are filled with nothing but lust, which means all they want is sexual pleasure, and they are punished by strong winds that violently push them back and forward. It is also one of the Seven Deadly Sins.

In the Inferno, Dante describes the different levels of hell and the punishment which corresponds to the sin. Dante categorize hell into three major sins consisting of incontinence, violence, and fraudulent. Fraudulent is portrayed as the worse sin in the Inferno while incontinence is seen as a less serious sin. Each category has sinners which have all been punished for their wrong doings in life. The three major sins consist of circles where Dante separates the different sinners.

This gives a lesson to the human race that all should listen to. Idols are what lead to sin, which leads to hell. After reading the Inferno every man should drop their idols, in fear of hell. God should be the only one worshiped and if this is followed then the human race will live with God eternally in

46-49). Dante the author once again uses imagery reminds us of the terror of hell as Dante the character enters a new bolgia. He uses the Christian values to to judge people for what they did against God’s will as it says in the values. He emphasises the punishments such as this one to create this atmosphere. Dante often punishes the sinners according to what they did.

Specifically unending torment vs. annihilationism. Unending torment being the the idea that hell is a place infinite suffering. Whereas annihilationism is the belief that condemned unbelievers will be annihilated, or destroyed after death, instead of spending an eternity

After reading about each circle of hell and seeing why each sinner deserves the punishment they have been given I have decided that Lucifer’s is the most contrapasso. Contrapasso is when a sinner is given a punishment that is fitting to the sins they committed in life. Lucifer also know as Satan, has the most contrapasso punishment for many reasons. He is known as one of the most evil souls in hell. Of course he wasn’t always like this.

Dante’s Inferno Essay There are many works of literature that we have studied in English class throughout high school that can be compared to hell. However, in this essay I will assessing the major characters in five different novels and how they fit into Dante Alighieri’s vision of hell. There are 9 circles of hell that Dante explores with the poet Virgil in Dante’s Inferno. Each circle has its own unique punishment for the sin committed in the overworld.

The punishment fits the crime. That statement conforms to the ideas of a system know as retributive justice. Retributive justice is rooted in proportionality. This means that a punishment should be to the same degree of ones sin. This system appeals to me personally because it avoids giving people the chance to seak revenge.