By: Michael Jaramillo

Introduction Written by Dante Alighieri in Dante’s Inferno is the first part of The Divine Comedy. There are three parts to The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. Comedy did not mean humor when The Divine Comedy was written. The title Divine Comedy refers to the ancient definition of Comedy, which describes the perfect union of man and God in heaven. The Divine Comedy was written between 1308 and the year of Dante’s death, 1321.

Inferno The Inferno covers Dante’s journey through the Nine Circles of Hell. Dante is guided by Virgil through Hell so that Dante can eventually get to Heaven. Each sinner suffers something similar to the sin they committed. There are XXXIV Cantos in Inferno.

The Beginning Dante is around 35 years old and finds himself in a dark forest. He encounters three beasts (a leopard, a lion, and a wolf). While fleeing, he meets Virgil. Virgil explains that Dante must travel through Hell to get to Heaven. Virgil also explains that Beatrice (someone Dante loved) and St. Lucy sent him to help Dante. Virgil tells Dante that only two other men have ever journeyed through Hell, Aeneas and St. Paul. Canto I and Canto II takes place.

First Circle: Limbo At the beginning of Canto III, Dante and Virgil stand outside the gates of Hell. Dante sees Pope Celestine V and other historical figures here. Virgil lives in Limbo because he never knew of Christianity, but he and three other poets have God’s special favor. In Canto IV, Dante asks Virgil if he witnessed the harrowing of Hell. The harrowing of Hell was allegedly when Jesus went through Hell between his death and resurrection and saved the especially virtuous souls of Hell.

Second Circle: Lust Canto V marks the entrance into the Second Circle. Dante and Virgil pass by Minos, the judge of the dead. Minos is from Greek mythology. Dante sees Francesca da Polenta and Paolo Malatesta. Francesca and Paolo had an affair, but were discovered by Francesca’s husband, Giovanni Malatesta, who killed the two lovers. Paolo Malatesta was Giovanni’s brother. Francesca tells Dante that her husband will be in a deeper circle of Hell for murdering his wife and brother. Dante then faints with pity.

Third Circle: Gluttony Canto VI begins when Dante regains his consciousness, he and Virgil are in Third Circle of Hell, Gluttony. Dante and Virgil have to pass by Cerberus, the legendary three-headed dog. Cerberus is the guard of the Damned. Dante asks Virgil what will happened during the Second Coming of Christ to which Virgil replies that they will be returned to their bodies and their eternal torment will increase.

Fourth Circle: Avaricious and the Prodigality In Canto VII, Virgil and Dante have entered the Fourth Circle of Hell. They are challenged by Plutus, god of wealth. The Fourth Circle is inhabited by those who were greedy. The avaricious were people who hoarded their possessions (clergyman, popes, and cardinals) are here. The prodigal are people who had wealth and wasted it.

Fifth Circle: Wrath and Sullenness Canto VIII begins with Dante and Virgil arriving at Styx, a marsh filled with the souls of the angry and the sullen. The angry souls are on top attacking one another while the sullen are below the water, at the bottom, gasping for air. Phlegyas takes the duo across Styx to the city of Dis. While being taken across the marsh, a soul claims to know Dante. The soul is that of Filippo Argenti, a wealthy noble from Florence. Filippo was responsible for increasing the violence in Florence.

Sixth Circle: Hersey After crossing Styx reach Dis, the gateway to deeper Hell. The devils of Dis refuse Dante and Virgil entrance and send the Gorgons out to attack them. An angel from Heaven appears and commands the devils to let Dante and Virgil pass. Dante and Virgil enter Dis to discover a large graveyard in flames, the circle for heretics. When Canto X starts, a soul, Farinata degli Uberti, recognizes Dante and the two address each other with respect. The Ghibellines were a Florentine family that fought the Guelfs, the family Dante belonged to. In Canto XI, Dante and Virgil stop at the burning tomb of Pope Anastasius, who, in the fifth century, denied the divine birth of Jesus Christ. Virgil then explains the layout of the rest of Hell.

Seventh Circle: Violence The Seventh Circle is divided into three sections: the violent against others, the violent against self (suicides), and the violent against God and his creations (blasphemers, usurers, and sodomites). In Canto XII, Dante and Virgil go to border between the Sixth and Seventh circles. They spot the Minotaur and flee to Seventh Circle. The Seventh Circle is guarded by centaurs who shot arrows at those who try to escape. The first part of the Seventh Circle has to violent against others standing in boiling blood. Dante sees Alexander the Great up to his eyebrows in blood. The second part of the Seventh Circle has to suicides who are turned into trees. In canto XIII, Virgil has Dante snap a twig off one tree and the tree bleeds. The tree tells Dante that during the second coming, their bodies will hang from the branches of the trees their soul occupies. The last part of the Seventh Circle and the beginning of Canto XIV has the violent against God and his creations. A large desert that rains fire is filled with the sinners. The blasphemers have to lie on their backs, the usurers sit, and the sodomites walk around. Virgil and Dante walk across the desert in a stream with paved banks. Virgil explains that the rivers in the underworld all come from a man in Crete made up of different metals that represent the ages of man. The man is split in two and tears pour out and into the afterworld.

Eighth Circle: Fraud In Canto XVII, Virgil and Dante ride the Geryon, a creature who represent hypocrisy. The Geryon has the face of a man, a serpents body, two hairy arms, and a scorpions tail. The eighth circle is called Malebogle, or Evil Pouches. It has ten canyons for each type of fraud. – Bolgia 1: Pimps and Seducers – Bolgia 2: Flatters – Bolgia 3: Simony (Corrupt Clergyman) – Bolgia 4: Sorcerers, Astrologers, and False Prophets – Bolgia 5: Corrupt Politicians – Bolgia 6: Hypocrites – Bolgia 7: Thieves – Bolgia 8: False Advisers – Bolgia 9: Sowers of Discord – Bolgia 10: Falsifiers

Bolgia 1-3 Bolgia 1 has the seducers and pimps being marched and whipped by demons. Bolgia 2 has flatters forced to stand in human excrement, supposedly to symbolize the words they used. Bolgia 3 has the corrupted clergyman buried headfirst with flames engulfing their feet. Dante talks to Pope Nicholas II in Canto XIX, whose flame is redder than the others.

Bolgia 4-7 Bolgia 4 has the mystics and sorcerers walking forward with their heads facing backward so that they may only see behind them. Bolgia 5 has the corrupt politicians submerged in boiling tar with devils battering the souls who come with hooks. Two devils allow Dante and Virgil to pass on to Bolgia 6. Bolgia 6 is home to the hypocrites who are forced to wear cloaks made of lead that gilded in gold. Others are crucified to the ground and are trembled by the walkers. Bolgia 7 is where to thieves are in hell. The thieves are chased by many snakes. When bitten, the thieves burn up and the snakes turns into the thieves.

Bolgia 8-10 Bolgia 8 is where the false advisers are on fire for eternity. One soul is that of Ulysses, who like Dante, came upon the mountain of Purgatory, but died instead gaining divine assistance. Bolgia 9 is where the souls who caused disruptions are dismembered or cut open. Bolgia 10 is where falsifiers are cursed to have horrible skin conditions like uncontrollable swelling.

Ninth Circle: Betrayal The Ninth Circle is divided into four parts: Caina, Antenora, Ptolomea, and Judecca. The entire Ninth Circle is frozen in ice. Caina is where the treacherous to family are frozen so their bodies and face are in the ice. Dante asks who one soul is, but the soul refuses. A neighbor soul, however, calls the first soul’s name out and all the other souls’ names out.

Antenora and Ptolomea Antenora is home to the treacherous of country. The souls are frozen like in Caina, but their faces point forward. Like in Caina as well, the souls betray another when Dante asks who one soul is. In Canto XXXIII, Dante and Virgil spot two souls frozen together; one behind the other. The back soul is biting and chewing on the head of the first. They are Archbishop Ruggieri (front) and Count Ugolino of Pisa. Ugolino was betrayed by Ruggieri, who locked Ugolino and his two sons and two grandchildren in jail and let them starve to death. Ptolomea has the souls of the treacherous to guests frozen so their face points upward and their tears freeze and blind them. One soul cries out to the duo. He is Fra Alberigo who invited his younger brother and son to a banquet and murdered them. Dante says that Alberigo is still living, but Alberigo tells Dante that when a horrible sin is committed, the soul goes straight to hell, while to body becomes possessed by a devil.

Judecca After leaving Ptolomea, Dante and Virgil arrive at the final part of Hell. Dante sees Satan for the first time. Satan has three pairs of wings that freeze him and the souls in the Ninth Circle. Satan has three faces (red, yellow, and black) and he cries tears of blood. In his three mouths, he mangles the three souls of Judas Iscariot, Brutus, and Cassius. Judas betrayed Christ while Brutus and Cassius betrayed Julius Caesar. Virgil tells Dante to grab hold of him. Virgil carries Dante through a gap in the rock and the are now under Satan. Virgil tells Dante that they must now begin the journey through Purgatory.

The End of the Inferno Dante and Virgil continue on their journey to Heaven. The Inferno was not only a religious poem, but a largely political one as well. Dante died seven years after Inferno’s completion.