Inferno Essay
Dante Alighieri, as all great writers of the Middle Ages, was the heir of the Greek, Roman, and Christian worlds. How does the Divina Commedia exemplify this? As Virgil leads Dante through the depths of Hell in Inferno, the reader is immediately made aware of some of the fears Dante has. Walking with his mentor, Dante can only recollect two men who have ever traveled to the place where he is headed. Dante stresses to Virgil "But why should I go there? Who sanctions it?/ For I am not Aeneas, am not Paul;/ nor I nor others think myself so worthy"(pg 15, lines 31-33). Dante does, however, prove to be worthy throughout the journey, right up until the end where the to travelers meet Lucifer himself. The reason that Dante is able to hold such an honor is simple, and is displayed throughout the book. By bringing certain events into the story, making particular references in the text, and dealing with historical events in certain ways Dante is able to use the Divina Commedia as a symbol. What this symbol represents, exactly, is that Dante is a rightful heir to the Greek, Roman, and Christian worlds. The intermingling of concepts from the different eras is the main reason that Dante is able to claim such status. On such e
His reason is that "one can't absolve a man who's not repented,/ and no one can repent and will at once;/ the law of contradiction won't allow it"(253, 118-120). Dante makes other such connections through the punishments he deals out to many of the characters. For committing the ultimate crime against Christianity Dante gives him the ultimate punishment, forced to be trampled upon by the other lead toting hypocrites. Judas, Brutus, and Cassius, the three worst sinners of mankind in Dante's mind, receive the fiercest punishment. Just as Christ serves as the perfect manifestation of religion, it can be inferred by the punishment of these two men that, in Dante's mind, Caesar is the epitome of politics. He is able to, through the punishment of three interesting men, make a number of statements. Through the use of Minos and Medusa, Dante makes a connection with the Ancient Greek world and through! this connection stresses the point that he is, in fact, a rightful heir to the Greek world. xample of this is the way Dante reasons with and, in turn, deals with some of the punishments. Caiphas served as the high priest under Pontius Pilate, and "counseled the Pharisees that it was prudent/ to let one man-and not one nation-suffer"(213, 116-117). In Canto V Dante and Virgil are confronted by Minos, "gnashing his teeth;/ examining the sins of those who enter"(41, 4-5). Another character taken out of mythology and thrust into Inferno is Medusa. In doing so, he continues to stress the fact that he is highly capable to intermingle all of these concepts from many different eras, more so than any other writer.
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