Wednesday, August 12, 2020

The layers of Hell

 So I thought it would be interesting to see Dante's description of Hell abstracted a bit and look at the big picture. So here goes:

Vestibule:

The futile are here, who never made any choice at all. They are condemned to forever pursue banners moving to and fro to no particular purpose.

Circle I - Limbo:

This is the destination of the virtuous pagans and unbaptized children. They experience no torment, but neither do they gain the blessings of God's presence. Their sin was a failure to hope.

Circle II - The Lustful:

The lustful are here tossed forever in a windstorm. These are those who surrendered to mutual, though illicit, desire. The more vicious forms of sexual disorder are found in other regions further down.

Circle III - The Gluttonous:

Those who failed to control the appetite for food are found here subject to a perpetual rain and covered in mud and filth. They are preyed upon by Cerberus.

Circle IV - The Hoarders and Spendthrifts:

Those who wasted their money recklessly and those who miserly hoarded their wealth are condemned here together. They endlessly roll boulders around an arena and slam them into one another. If I recall correctly, this is the first place Dante explicitly mentions clergy being found in Hell.

Circle V - The Wrathful:

Those who were overcome by incontinent rage are here sunk into a fetid swamp.

City of Dis:

This is the start of deep Hell, guarded by walls of red-hot iron.

Circle VI - The Heretics:

Here, those who willfully rejected the teachings of the Church are found encased in burning tombs.

Circle VII - The Violent:

This is the first circle clearly subdivided. Here, we have three types of violent offenders.

1. The violent against their neighbors

War-mongers, robbers, and tyrants are found here in a river of boiling blood, the depth of their location corresponding to the grievousness of their offense.

2. The violent against themselves

We have two types in this section: the suicides, who have been transformed into bare, gaunt trees, and can only speak when they have been damaged, and the profligates who are pursued and attacked by black hounds.

The profligates are wasteful like the spendthrifts, but not merely wasteful, have gone as far as actively destroying their own goods rather than merely wasting them.

3. The violent against God, nature, and art

This area is made up of burning hot sands where burning flakes fall upon the damned like flaming-hot snow. Blasphemers, sodomites, and usurers are condemned here in various positions.

Circle VIII - The Fraudulent

This is the malebolges, the most sub-divided circle of Dante's Hell. Here we have various kinds of fraudsters split up according to their offenses.

1. Panders and seducers

Those who exploited sexuality for material gain are found here, constantly running in opposing directions and scourged by devils.

2. Flatterers

Those who debased language are here condemned to swim in dung. They spewed bullshit all their life, and now they get to enjoy it forever.

3. Simoniacs

Those who bought or sold church offices are plunged head-first into holes in the ground with their feet set on fire. Simoniac popes have one hole together, and when a new one dies, they are all shoved further down.

4. Sorcerers

Those who attempted to foretell the future are condemned to endlessly walk around this trough with their heads twisted the wrong way round.

5. Barrators

Those who corrupted public offices for personal gain are here plunged in boiling pitch and harassed by devils if they attempt to raise themselves above it.


Since this is as far as we've gotten in the book, I'll stop here. What do you guys think of the overall arrangement? Should this sin or that be moved up or down? Are there any major categories Dante has missed? What about the punishments Dante assigned for the various sins?

No comments:

Post a Comment