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Dantes Inferno

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Dantes Inferno
Dante Alighieri’s poem The Divine Comedy is a literary piece of work that depicts ones struggle from godliness, into sin, and eventually back into the light of god. Dante uses himself as the protagonist in his trio of epic tales. The Divine Comedy consists of three areas that Dante must travel through which are the Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise. Dante traveling into these three places allow him his redemption with God, but Dante’s terrifying journey into the depths of Hell is what brings the reality of his own sin to life. In The Inferno Dante encounters many aspects of Hell. His journey allows him to see the suffering of sinners, the reality of the lost, and many mythical creatures. These aspects of Hell in the Inferno bring about the moral purposes of The Divine Comedy. This essay will include thorough descriptions of Dante’s journey in the Inferno, and will allow one to envision the petrifying images of Hell. These aspects will include the trio of beasts that stop Dante from fleeing the dark wood, the friendship made between Virgil and Dante before his daunting journey began, and Hells intent to chastise sinners with the very sin they chose to commit during their lifetime. Although these are only a few aspects, Dante shows substantial significance to their meaning and symbolism throughout his trip in the Inferno.
In the begin of the Inferno Dante comes to realize “that he has strayed from the True Way into the Dark Wood of Error” (Alighieri 766). As soon as Dante makes this realization he sets for a quest upon a sunlit hill. The sunlit hill is a symbol of divine illumination, therefore Dante is filled with hope that he will again come to peace with God. Dante’s journey comes to a halt almost immediately after being “blocked by the Three Beasts of Worldliness: The Leopard of Malice and Fraud, The Lion of Violence and Ambition, and The She-Wolf of Incontinence” (Alighieri 766).

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