Dante's The Inferno

The Inferno is the first part of Dante Alighieri's poem, the "Divine Comedy", which chronicles Dante's journey to God, and is made up of the "Inferno" (Hell), "Purgatorio" (Purgatory), and "Paradiso" (Paradise). In Dante's Inferno, Dante Alighieri, expresses his views on sin, the punishments of hell, and redemption. He does this through the main characters of Dante and Virgil. Dante is taken by Virgil on a journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise in order to teach him the nature of sin, its punishments, and the way to salvation. On this journey he fills a thirst for knowledge, in a quest to regain his soul, and to find his way back to god. Dante's inferno is " a record of his moral and spiritual experience of illumination, regeneration, and beatitude" (Norton 1012).

In "Dante's Inferno" Dante divides hell into different sections, each having a different punishment. He allocates each sin to a different level, depending on the severity of the sin committed.

Gustave Doré's illustration to Dante's Inferno. P...

English: Dante Alighieri's portrait by Sandro Bott...

Domenico di Michelino, La Divina Commedia di Dante...

Dante's Hell is shaped like a funnel that extends all the way to the center of the earth. It is situated underneath the city of Jerusalem, which is at the center of the northern hemisphere. Opposite Jerusalem, at the center of the southern hemisphere is the mountain of Purgatory. Lucifer is stuck at the bottom of Hell, where he fell after the defeat in his rebellion against God. This funnel is composed of nine circles. The first circle is the widest and progressively, the ninth circle is the smallest. This ninth circle surrounds Lucifer. Each circle is reserved to a different class of sinners: Limbo, the first level of hell is located in "Ante-Hell", but those in Limbo are damned nonetheless. The rest of Dante's Hell can be categorized by Upper Hell and Lower Hell. Upper Hell, or...