Circles of Hell

What is the structure of Hell, according to Dante?

Interactive Visual of the Circles of Hell

• http://foxtwin.com/inferno/

9 circles of Hell

MAIN CHARACTERS - Dante & VirgilThe designation of different kinds of sins

beginning with sins of weakness, moving down to sins of malice, followed by sins of fraud and disloyalty, and finally descending to sins of betrayal and pride

The Vestibule

The Gateway to HellThe indecisive; no real beliefs, those who

don’t choose sidesNot good or evilCharon guides souls across the river StyxForced to move constantly while being

stung and bitten by wasps and flies for eternity

The First Circle

Limbo: Stuck between heaven and hell

Who is here: Virtuous pagans and unbaptized infants

Famous People stuck here: Homer, Socrates, Plato, Saladin, Avicenna (Ibn Sina)

The Second Circle

LustfulMinos sits in judgmentWho is here: "carnal sinners who subordinate reason to desire"

Famous Faces: Cleopatra, Helen/Paris, Achilles, Tristan

Punishment: Blown about forever by stormy winds just as, in life, they were blown about by the winds of passion

The Third Circle

GluttonsGuarded by Cerberus

Punishment: Wallow in mud and muck besieged by hail and filthy water.

The Fourth Circle

Greedy and WastefulTwo groups

Each pushing a boulder against each otherSymbolic of their mundane existence on

earth, with sin punishing in opposite sin

The Fifth Circle

Wrathful, Sullen/SlothfulPunishment: trapped beneath

the swampy water in the River Styx

attacking one another forever, or just skulking around

The Sixth Circle

HeresyPeople there: Atheists & Non

believers in the afterlifePunishment: Entombed in flaming

graves for all eternityThey believe the soul dies with the

body, so that is their fate

The Seventh Circle

ViolenceAgainst God, his creation, and self.1) Violent against Neighbors on the

boiling bloody River Phlegethon;2) Violent against Self in the Wood

of Suicides3) Violent against God, Art, and

Nature on the Burning Sand.

Usurers here, tooCentaurs keep the violent from

escaping

The Eighth Circle: Frauds

Pimps, panderers, fortune-tellers, flatterers, hypocrites, thieves, evil counselors, deceivers, the scandalous, falsifiers

Many different punishments for each

Seducers – Run forever in opposite directions and are whipped by demonsFlatterers – Lie up to their necks in human fecesSimoniacs – Those who mocked the church are placed head-first in flaming

holesSorcerers – Their heads are put on their bodies backwardGrafters – Trapped in a lake of burning pitchHypocrites – Made to wear brightly painted lead cloaksThieves – Chased by venomous snakes and who, after being bitten by thevenomous snakes, turn into snakes themselves and chase the other thieves in

turnEvil Counselors – Eternally trapped in flamesSowers of discord – Their bodies are ripped apart, healed, and then destroyed

againFalsifiers – Alchemists, counterfeiters, and perjurers are cursed with disease

The Ninth Circle: Lowest LEVEL!

Those who betrayed their benefactorsMost are frozen up their necks in ice, crying

out for those they betrayed for eternityHome of Dis (Lucifer/Satan/Beelzebub) who

has 3 faces. Devours the worst of the three betrayers

daily in each mouthFamous Faces:

Judas: Betrayer of Jesus ChristBrutus & Cassius: Betrayers of Julius

Caesar

Discussion Questions

•Why did Dante choose the punishments he did for each sin?