The Divine Comedy: Part 1 Dante’s Inferno by Dante Alighieri
1472 / 251 pgs Classic

The Divine Comedy is a very long poem broken into 3 parts, Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.  Dante and his guide Virgil, another poet who wrote the classic Aeneid, travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven to reunite Dante with his dead girlfriend, Beatrice in Heaven.  Essentially, Divine Comedy is a love poem full of horror, brimstone, and punishment. 

The Poem itself is interesting; however, also understanding the background of why this was written is very fascinating.  However, dear reader, I won’t bore you with many details as you could, if you so choose, Google search and watch many videos and read all about it. I’ll just whet your appetite with a few highlights.    

1. Dante was on the run from Florence as it was taken over by the Holy Roman Empire during a long dispute between the HR Emperor and the Pope on who was in charge. 
2. Dante had a grunge with many Popes and how they were conducting the church, including the current one of his time, and they make an appearance in the Inferno. 
3. Dante was Italian, which is rooted in Roman history, and despises Greece. 
4. Dante was married, not to Beatrice; Beatrice was a girl he meets maybe twice and would be considered a youth crush. However, he never forgot her after she died, and this is why he used her in this Poem.

Now, the palate is pleased. Let’s dive into HELL.  (That doesn’t look right, does it)

The Inferno is part of the passage that Dante needs to transverse to get to Beatrice.  He must go through each level…and there are many levels to this place.  Hell, in Dante’s vision, is broken into Nine Circle’s.  A few of these Circles have semi-levels broken within.  They take the overall theme for the level and break it down, as we shall see.  For each sin/crime, there is a punishment designed to symbolically represent the crime they committed in the flesh and now are eternally suffering for it.

To get to the first Circle, the party must cross the river Acheron via the boat piloted by Charon, Ferryman of the Dead.  At the gates, they see the sign that states, “All hope abandon, ye who enter in!” – Dante’s Inferno

Circle I. Limbo: Unfaithful and Unbaptized. They are just stuck, waiting.  Nothing happening. 

Circle II. Lust: Here, one is greeted by Minos, King of Crete and Judge of the Dead.  Here is where ladies like Aphrodite and Cleopatra are residing.  Again, just stuck waiting.  However, if you must get stuck in hell with Aphrodite and Cleopatra, I’m sure that some wouldn’t consider it torture.

Circle III. Gluttony: The punishments begin!  This Circle is guarded by Cerberus, the three-headed hound of Hades. It’s constantly raining. 

Circle IV. Wealth [Greed]: Everyone is pushing large boulders to the top of a hill.  After they collide in the middle, one side screams “Horde Possession and Money” and the other “Spend freely neglected their value.” 

Circle V. Irascible and Sullen [Wrath]: The Circle is the River Styx.  In the river, the people are constantly attacking each other.  To cross the River, Dante and Virgil have to catch a lift from Phlegyas. 

Once reaching shore, our adventures see the city of Dis with its large gates.  The first V circles are minor hell.  The real fun begins beyond this gate!  There are astounded by some demons who try to bring Medusa to turn them to stone.  However, an Angel comes down and stops this action and opens the gate to allow our protagonists to continue.

Circle VI. Heretics.  Locked in burning tombs.

Circle VII. The Violent. Lovely land with a river of boiling blood flowing through it with Tyrants and Pillagers condemned within.  Alexander the Great is here.

As one keeps moving through the Circle, they go into a land of leafless trees that the souls of Suicides are condemned.  Any breaking of any branch caused great pain and agony.  Harpies continuously feed off the trees.

Finally, they enter a vast desert with raining fire for the souls of those that committed acts against God, art, and nature.           

Circle VIII. The Fraudulent and Malicious.  This Circle is carved into 10 Bolgia’s (long ditches)

Bolgia I. Seducers and Panders: Condemned walking around and being whipped continuously by demons

Bolgia II. Flatterers: Condemned covered in shit

Bolgia III. Simoniacs:  Buried head first with only their legs and feet uncovered so their soles can be burned.  There are many Popes buried in the same hole, one on top of another in this method.

Bolgia IV. Soothsayers [Sorcerers]: Heads on backward.

Bolgia V. Peculartors [Politicians]:  Condemned are in a lake of boiling tar guarded by the Malebranche that lift them up out and munch on them.

Bolgia VI. Hypocrites: Wear Orange cloaks made of lead.

Caiaphas is here crucified to the ground, so everyone that past must walk on top of him.

Bolgia VII. Thieves:  They are in a pit of snakes that bite them and either change them into other forms or cause them to fall and be destroyed in flames, only to be reborn and bitten again.

Bolgia VIII. Evil Counselors:  Condemned is ablaze in individual flames.

Bolgia IX. Schismatics:  Condemned are continually being chopped, split, or pierced only to heal up and go again.

Bolgia X. Alchemists. They are suffering from many diseases.

Circle IX. Traitors: Like the previous Circle, this is broken into 5 divisions.  Also, interestingly the entire Circle is the frozen lake of Cocytus.

As Dante and Virgil reach the final layer, they find three giants, two frozen and one not on the outer layer.  The free Giant lowers them into the last Circle.

Division I. Caina: Named after Caine, this is Traitors to the Kindred.  Frozen in the ice up to their necks, but their heads can rotate. 

Division II. Antenora: Traitors to their country, Frozen to their heads, and they can’t move.

Division III. Ptolomaea: Traitors to the friends.  Frozen in the ice.

Division IV. Judecca: Traitors to their Lords and Benefactors.  They are just frozen in the ice.

Lucifer – Reserved for betrayers to God himself: Frozen up to his waist in ice but moves above.  He has three faces on one head.  Large bat wings always flapping, keeping the wind and cold air moving.  His three mouthes are reserved for the most heinous of sinners.  On the left is Cassus, and on the right is Brutus.  The center is Judas Iscariot.

To leave Hell, Dante and Virgil climb down and then up Satan’s leg to break through and see the Mountain, which is part 2 of their journey.   

This is just a summary of what the Inferno is.  Many times Dante stops to have a conversation with someone.  A few times, they have to have guides or even mounts to get them through a circle.  It took me about 4 days to read through this part.  The poetry has no rhyme to it, and it’s ancient compared to more modern poetry.  I often had to slow down and reread a line to ensure I understood what Dante was saying.  This is a very dense reading. However, it’s delicious to challenge one’s mind with complicated writing.  This is a classic that should be read. 

Naturally, I started Part II already.  That will be the next review.   

Enjoy a good cup of coffee and a good book!

Lopaka