Punishment In Dante's Inferno

• After I regained my bearings, which were stunned by the sadness that I had for my family who gave me the sad news,
• New torments and new tormented ghosts I can see around me, everywhere I move and wherever I look at.
• I am now in the third circle of rain, forever, accursed, cold, pouring; the level never changes.
• Big hailstones, nasty water, and snow come down through the foggy air; the soaked ground dips even further.
• Cerberus, the harsh and brutal beast, barks like a dog with three throats louder than all the voices that are there.
• His eyes are red, his beard is black and greasy, he is fat, with large paws that have massive claws; grabbing the spirits, he tears them into parts.
• The rain causes them to bark like dogs; they use …show more content…
Dante uses this idea in almost every one of his punishments that he assigns for each sin in the different circles of hell and as the circles descend further, as do the sins and punishments assigned. It begins outside of the entrance to the Inferno with the people that never took a stance on either good or evil which in turn provided that they not be accepted into heaven nor wanted into hell. The punishment they receive is constant motion and never ending stinging by bugs (Dante 3.64-66). These are both fitting because they never took a stance so now they cannot stand still plus their choice to feel indifferent on the issue of good or evil has caused them to feel constant bites for eternity. Later on, Dante enters into the third circle which contains those who were gluttons in their lives and gorged themselves with food and drink. Since these individuals had to live in what they thought were the best conditions, the punishment that I see as fitting for them is to live in a complete wasteland (Dante 6.10-12), with rain and snow developing a never ending pit of mud for those to bath in for eternity. The fourth circle of hell contains those who either hoard all of their belongings and money and also those who spend everything that they have. These condemned souls are punished by being forced to continually roll stones back and forth opposed to each other just as they were opposed in their lives. I feel as if this punishment fits the crime because as they were so frugal or wasteful, now for eternity they must forever do something in which they have no control over. In circle five, those who cannot control their temper are punished by being submerged in a swamp unable to control much of their time spent there at all, “A shade covered with mud rose up, saying”(Dante 8.32). This fits there sin well

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Punishments In Dante's Inferno

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