The Divine Comedy describes Dante's journey through
Hell (Inferno), Purgatory (Purgatorio), and Paradise
(Paradiso), guided first by the Roman poet Virgil and
then by Beatrice, a lady he loved and admired greatly.
While the vision of Hell, the Inferno, is vivid for
modern readers, the theological niceties presented in
the other books require a certain amount of patience
and knowledge to appreciate. (They are very hard to
understand!!)
With a little help with our friends with
LEGOS…
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The virtuous unbaptized – those who died
before the birth of Christ or without being
baptized but were basically good people.
They are not punished…they merely stay
where they are, unhurt, but unable to see God.
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People who are overcome by lust.
Punishment is to be whirled around forever in
a gale of wind – in “the act” but never reaching
satisfaction. Their sinful pleasure in life is now
their torture.
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People who cannot stop eating.
The sinners here wallow in the mud while a
constant torrential downpour of rain, sleet, and
snow falls on them – the opposite of the warm
satisfied feeling induced by food.
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Spendthrifts - These people are the ones who
squandered their money in life on useless
things. Their punishment is to roll large stones,
clashing in head-on collisions with the
Avaricious who are trying to go the opposite
direction.
Hoarders – these people are the miserly, who
hoarded their money, never giving or sharing
freely. They try to push their stones in one
direction at all time, but are halted by collisions
with the spendthrifts.
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The Wrathful or Slothful
Wrathful are people who are constantly angry
and the slothful are people who are constantly
lazy.
The wrathful are punished by being forced to
fight on the sloppy, muddy River Styx, where,
mad with rage, they bite each other and
themselves.
The slothful must lie under the waters of the
River Styx.
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Heretics are individuals who hold religious
beliefs in conflict with the teachings of the
church.
The heretics are punished by the three furies in
the city of Dis – they are stuck in their coffins
and are tortured with flames that shoot out of
their graves.
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The Violent are organized in three categories:
1. Violence against another person. These are punished in
the Phlegethon, a boiling, tar-like river. It is guarded by
demons who will stab the sinners with pitchforks should
they try to come out of the river…they stay underwater,
surfacing for air like frogs.
 2. Violence against ones self. These people are those who
took their own life for granted, committing suicide. They
are now in the form of trees, immobile, and never again to
have bodies.
 3. Violence against God, nature, and art. These sinners
are forced to walk on burning sand for all eternity.
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People who commit fraud are sentenced to this circle of
hell. Dante identifies nine types of fraudulence – each
with a different punishment.
Panderers, seducers (Pimps and prostitutes)
Flatterers,
Simoniacs (people who buy religious services)
Fortunetellers
Lawyers
*Pimps and prostitutes are
Hypocrites
whipped
Thieves
* Flatterers are forced to wallow
Evil Counselors
in muck
Sowers of Discord
*Simoniacs are buried upside
Falsifiers
down and burned! Ouch!
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This circle is divided into four sub-circles of
TRAITORS:
Traitors to Kindred (family)
 Traitors to Country
 Traitors to Guests
 Traitors to Masters
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Satan: Here at the bottom of the pit, frozen in Lake
Cocytus, is the GREAT WORM in the core of earth.
Satan is represented as a three headed monster (a
twisted reflection of the Christian trinity of father, son,
and holy spirit) each of a different symbolic color, and
each chewing on a famous sinner.
RED: the color of Hatred. Opposite of Divine Love.
The middle face, chewing on Judas Iscariot.
YELLOW: The color of Impotence. Opposite of Divine
Omnipotence. He is powerless – uselessly trapped
here forever. The right face chews Cassius.
BLACK: The color of Ignorance. Opposite of Divine
Wisdom. He made his mistake and learned nothing
from it. It chews Brutus, who stabbed Caesar, his best
friend.
Before Viewing:
The film you are about to see was in theaters in
1998 and won an Academy Award for best visual
effects. It is a moving description of loss and love
that explores the clichés of both heaven and hell in a
visually stunning presentation. The film makes
visual connections with Dante’s imagining of the
layers of heaven and hell as well as following in
Milton’s example by seeking to justify the ways of
God to man. Visual representations of metaphysical
conceits and paradoxes are also frequently utilized in
the film!
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