To begin, I posted this  because it is my view on Dante Alighieri's Inferno, not simply a review of this wonderful poem. I suspect many of you who happen to read it will view things differently, or perhaps the same.

As many of you may or may not know, Dante's Inferno is part of the Divina Commedia, or Divine Comedy. It has three major parts, Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. I've yet to read the latter two, but after having finished Inferno, you can bet they are on my "find and finish these soon" list.

What sparked my interested in a centuries old poem? Did a crusty old PhD. in Renaissance literature assign me the book? No. While watching Hannibal, I took interest in the book, especially as Dr. Lecter uses Dante's work as an allusion of what is soon to befall Commendatore Pazzi. Gruesome? Perhaps.

Although Dante's Inferno is a predominately Christian text, I found it rather enjoyable, simply because of the mass difference in today's Christian literature.

"Abandon all hope, ye who enter here."

I direct that comment not at open-minded Christians who are secure in their faith and willing to listen to one of another, but at those Christians who feel it is their God given duty to either call me a blasphemous sinner who shall perish in the fires of my own creation, or to pound away with me with the shallow logic of "believe as I do, and you shall be saved."

I didn't open this topic as a religious discussion, but more to the point of an intellectual discussion on a poem with religious undertones. Now, with that statement out of the way, let me get on with my view.

Dante depicts Hell much differently than that of the Hell we imagine from what we are told in the Bible. Sure, on the lower levels of Hell, there are the standard lakes of fire, worms tearing at the souls, that sort of wretched torment. Before we get to the levels of Hell that contain the heavy sinners so to speak, the Suicides, the Murderers, the Betrayers, Dante and his guide, Virgil, must pass through the upper areas.

Limbo
The first area, called Limbo bears the souls of those who were before Christ's time, or those who were never baptized. Here, Dante meets many of the classical poets and philosophers, Homer, Ovid, Aristotle, Socrates, and Plato. Dante asks Virgil if any of the souls in Limbo have ever received permission to leave Limbo for Heaven, to which Virgil replies with many old Testament figures, most predominately, Noah and Moses.

As Dante describes Limbo, you can't help but imagine this place as a purgatory for those souls who were never able to find redemption in Christ because he was after their time. The image that Dante paints of Limbo is a sad one, a place of sorrow without torment. There is no punishment in Limbo, only a peaceful yet sad air.

I found it very interesting that Dante would use figures from history, especially those that lived during "pagan" times in a sort of... unredeemable purgatory. To most Christians today, once again, please notice the keyword most, if you are not baptized, or you don't "know" Jesus, you are doomed to the Hell in which the Bible paints, lakes of fire, serpents and such. That a medieval poet could paint a picture of "Hell" in which the punishment is only as just as crime is very thought provoking.

Level 2
As Dante and Virgil descend lower into the bowels of Hell, they pass into a dark place in which torrential rains fall and gales of wind tear through the air. The damned souls in this circle are swept about helplessly by the wind and the rain. The second circle contains the Lustful, those who committed sins of the flesh.

When Dante asks Virgil about the souls contained within this level, Virgil points out Helen of Troy, and Cleopatra. Dante immediately feels sorry for the souls here, as they are essentially damned by love.

The punishment that Dante sees for those that have sinned by loving is one of uncertainty. The souls are ripped and swung by winds and rain, never guided and never sure which way they will be swung about next. As stated before, Dante paints the picture that the punishment is only as just as the crime, and we see souls torn about recklessly not by joy and love, but by torment.

Level 3
When Dante and Virgil move into the Third Circle of Hell, the rains still fall. Now, however, the rain is that of filth and excrement, with the whole Circle filled with a vile horrific stench. Cerberus, the three-headed canine that guards the Underworld in Greek mythology is here. The Third circle contains those who were gluttons in life. They lay in the mud and filth as excrement rains down on them.

Of course, my thought here is, what better way to punish those in life who were always in excess, with an excess of filth and things that no one living in their right mind would ever want to touch, much less lay in. Once again, Dante ties in the mythological Cerberus as another guardian of Hell. Since Dante is a Christian, by intertwining the two spiritual beliefs, Dante is submitting that Christianity is the supreme moral order. Lets continue on our journey, shall we?

Level 4
Dante and Virgil enter the Fourth Circle of Hell to see two groups of souls in a sort of jousting match. The roll great boulders in semicircles that crash them together, only to have them turn and repeat the process all over again. Virgil informs Dante that the Avaricious and Prodigal reside here. He mentions that most are corrupt clergymen, popes, and cardinals, but adds that the experiences they undergo here render them unrecognizable.

The fact that Dante mentions popes and cardinals in Hell would seem like religious blasphemy today. A pope? A cardinal? in Hell? These men are supposed to be the teachers and speakers of God, and yet, there they reside in the Fourth Level of Dante's Hell. It seems priests sodomizing little boys isn't such a modern thought after all.

Level 5
The river Styx runs through the Fifth level of Dante's Hell, where the Wrathful sit on the banks, growling and biting at one another. Below the murky waters of the Styx, the Sullen reside, those who sulked under the light of the sun. Dante and Virgil cross the river Styx and approach the city of Dis, or Lower Hell. For the first time, Virgil is unable to negotiate Dante down through the levels, as fallen angels angrily shut the gates in Virgil's face.

Not soon afterwards, a messenger from Heaven arrives and demands the gates be opened for the travelers; he is obeyed. Dante and Virgil pass through the gates and enter into Lower Hell.

By dividing Lower and Upper Hell, Dante is dividing the magnitude of sins. Those in Lower Hell are the "heavy sinners" and as Dante continues, you get the sense that he is losing the pity he once felt for those on the Upper Levels.

Level 6
The Heretics inhabit the Sixth Level of Hell. Dante meets a rival political party member and they begin discussing politics in Florence. As Dante speaks with Farinata, he realizes that his soul can only see future events, not those of the present. That is part of the punishment of the Heretics.

Since one can only be a heretic if their views are controversial to the beliefs of the modern time, the punishment of the Heretics is once more just. As Dante moves forward through Hell, you begin to see that the punishment instituted upon the souls seems to try and correct the wrong, albeit it doesn't work, it serves to remind the sinners in eternity their crimes through reverse punishments.

Level 7
The Seventh Circle of Hell punishes the Violent. They are divided into three categories, those violent against neighbors, those violent against themselves, and those violent against God. Those who were violent against their neighbors boil in a river of blood. Alexander the Great, Dionysius, and Atilla the Hun are punished here a tyrants and warmongers.

The Second Ring of the Seventh Circle contains the Suicides. Here they reside as tree souls. They are wounded and pecked by Harpies. When the time comes for all souls to retrieve their bodies, these souls won't reunite fully, because they parted with their body willingly.

The Third Ring of the Seventh Circle is a desert of red-hot sand, where flakes of fire drift down for eternity. This ring is reserved for those who were violent against God. They are divided into three groups, the Blasphemers, the Sodomites, and the Usurers. All three writhe under the heat of the sand on their naked souls.

Perhaps the most vivid image depicted within the Seventh Circle is that of the Suicides. Because they took their life willingly, they will never be fully reunited with their bodies at the Last Judgement. They will be forced to reside in Hell with their bodies tied to their branches, weighting them down, as Harpies peck at their bodies and branches. As vivid as a punishment Dante describes the Suicides enduring, he doesn't seem to have much pity on them, much like today's view towards Suicide. Perhaps some things just don't change.

Levels 8 & 9
The Eighth Level consists of several "pouches" of sinners, the Pimps, the Seducers, the Flatterers, the Pardoners (much like the Pardoner of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the clergymen and even the a pope who reside here sold ecclesiastical pardons), the Diviners, the Magicians.

Each sinner here has a just punishment, the Flatterers lie in a pit of excrement, the Pimps run from one demon's whip to another, just as the woman they peddled on earth did. As Dante speaks to the Pardoners, specifically Pope Nicolas III, he rails at him, telling him he deserves the punishment he has received.

It is clear after reading that portion of Dante's work, that Dante and I share a distate for the Catholic Church.

The Ninth Circle of Hell is frozen, which while I was reading it, I couldn't help but laugh, considering the many cliches about Hell and being frozen over. The greatest scene in the Ninth Level is when Dante comes across Lucifer, who is chewing on the three great Betrayers, Judas Iscariot, Brutus, and Cassius. Once again I was suprised to see the mixture of Christian and Roman figures, but considering Dante, the mixture isn't hard to swallow. Dante held Rome in high regard, and thus, the betrayal of Caesar was, although incedental, a betrayal of Rome.

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After having finished Dante's Inferno, it is clear that Dante was a Christian man, but considering the time in which he lived, it is hard to imagine his distaste for the Catholic Church, especially living in Florence. His distaste for the Catholic Church ultimately earned him exile from Florence, but it could not silence his feelings, which he was left behind for us to enjoy in his Divina Commedia.

I am looking forward to finishing up with Purgatorio and Paradiso, while Inferno has not altered my views of Christianity, it has opened my eyes to the changes only time can make. By looking at the works of our past, and those that we have today, I can tell that Christianity has gone the way of almost any major revealed religion, it holds an essential truth to it's believers, but it has been marketed and published and commercialized to the point of falsification the rest of the world and perhaps a few of its followers.

Can Christianity continue as the majority of the worlds population's religion? Or, like greek or egyptian mythology, will it fade over time, to become nothing more than a legend? Who knows.</p>