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The Inferno by: Dante Alighieri Translated by: John Card "<< Summary of plot, organization and resolution o The Inferno is the first of a three part series by Dante known as the Divine Comedy. In this Divine Comedy Dante chronicles his journey to God through the levels of Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. The Inferno is his description of his journey through the levels of Hell. The Inferno begins with Dante lost in a dark wood, which possibly represented sin. Dante tried to exit the wood, but three impassible beasts blocked his path.
Dante is rescued when the spirit of Virgil is sent to lead him to salvation, however, Dante must journey through hell to reach salvation. Dante and Virgil then journey through the levels of hell, with the occasional help of a heavenly messenger sent to aid Dante in his journey. Virgil describes Hell as cone shaped, made up of increasingly smaller levels depending on the severity of the sins which a person committed. The levels of Hell were often sub-divided allowing for even more discrimination depending on the severity of your sin.
Dante completes his journey through hell when he and Virgil reach the deepest pit of hell, where they climb down the body of Lucifer to emerge in the southern hemisphere. "<< Tie to the middle ages and / or transition to the renaissance o The Inferno in some ways follows the mold of the middle ages, but the other ways it is more like a renaissance piece. o The Inferno ties to the Middle Ages through its total and absolute focus on God, and Dante! |s journey to reach salvation. o The main thing that caught my attention relating The Inferno to the renaissance was Dante! |s placement of several popes in several levels of Hell. Most Middle Age writers would not have thought of accusing a pope of sin, yet Dante saw the corruption of the church and didn! |t fear to write about it. "<< Surprises, delights, new ideas and / or intriguing sections o I found it interesting that! SSvirtuous by un-baptized!" pagans inhabited the first level of hell.
Even though these pagans were not Christian, as is always the case, they were good people, yet they were dammed to hell or all eternity. I find this does not fit well with the Christian ideal of a kind, all-loving, all-forgiving God. o I also found it interesting that Ulysses was sentenced to burn in hell his use of the Trojan horse in the Trojan War. This shows a stark contrast between the Greek outlook on life and the Christian outlook on life. The Greeks respected Ulysses for his cunning in the using the Trojan Horse, he was respected as a hero. Yet he was sentenced to burn in Hell in the Christian world. "<< Main ideas and major themes o This section of the Divine Comedy follows the mold of an epic.
In the second canto Dante evokes the Muses to! Site [his] aid, !" (7) and to! SS guide [him]. !" This evocation of the Muses fits the first qualification of the epic poem. The Inferno details Dante! |s journey through many trails through the levels of Hell, and he returns when he exits Hell onto the southern hemisphere. o One main theme of this work is that all aspects of the world have a purpose, and that purpose is part of God! |s divine plan o A second major theme of this book is that a person must respect, honor, and fear God and all his wishes. All the souls that Dante meets in Hell are there for some act against God. "<< Personal response o I definitely found The Inferno to be a very interesting piece.
Dante throughly describes the levels of Hell, yet one must wonder where he came up with his idea of Hell, he was a very imaginative man. I think it would be interesting to learn where Dante found his ideas for the different punishments for the different levels of hell. Some souls burned in tar, others in blood and even more spent eternity in a frozen lake. Overall I found The Inferno to be an enjoyable read and very thought-provoking.
Free research essays on topics related to: divine comedy, southern hemisphere, levels of hell, journey through hell, outlook on life
Research essay sample on Journey Through Hell Levels Of Hell
