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A review by dorothy_gale
The Inferno by Dante Alighieri
3.0
ALL HOPE ABANDON, YE WHO ENTER IN! For the 9 circles of Hell, I think I will stick with the animated versions. First published 714 years ago in 1307, this "poem" has A LOT of versions. Different languages and translations, and then illustrated, annotated, analyzed... or not. Some of the illustrated versions have amazing artwork. Inferno can be found as a stand alone (as my version was), but is often with the other two parts of 'The Divine Comedy.' I know this because I attempted to get a written version to go along with my audiobook, which was translated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Good ole Henry was apparently the first American to translate it from Italian. I looked at the summary on Sparknotes. I pulled-up a Great Courses+ video on YouTube. Even with all of these aids, Inferno still didn't spark for me.
In terms of application, if Dante's Inferno were real, my soul wouldn't make it past the 1st Circle (Limbo) because I lacked the faith. I would be a virtuous pagan sentenced to an eternity of damnation and denied entry into paradise, but I get a seat next to Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. Thankfully, the Roman Catholic Church effectively buried the concept of Limbo in 2007 after it filled-up with unbaptized babies. The 2nd Circle of Hell is Lust. Dante saw Lust as a mutual indulgence, and therefore the least heinous of sins, with the most lenient punishment. So, I'm going to go ahead an promote myself to the 2nd Circle with my girl Cleopatra. The 3rd Circle of Hell is Gluttony where souls are punished for over-indulgence and over-consumption. It was difficult to recognize anyone here because they were wormlike gelatinous blobs. The 4th Circle is Greed, where those who cared too much for material goods would be punished. Here there are two groups: (1) those who would hoard their possessions and money, and (2) those who spent their money freely but neglected the value of their possessions and squandered everything they had. The 5th Circle is Wrath. What happens here seems personal for Dante. I think this was the first time I heard mention of fire. Before the 6th Circle, there was an unexpected surprise for me (I won't spoil it). Next is Heresy, where the Epicureans who value pleasure above all else are found. Circle 7 is the Circle of Violance, which is further divided into three sections: (1) those who commit an act of violence against others and their property, like Attila the Hun, (2) those who committed acts of violence against themselves, including suicide, and (3) those who committed acts of violence against god or nature. After Circle 7, it became evident to me where the talking trees in the Wizard of Oz came from (haha). Here he described flakes of fire raining from above and "eternal burning." There are 3 people that Dante encounter around this time who gave me surprise #2 on the nature of Hell. The 8th Circle is Fraud, which has 10 inner circles, each one punishing a different act of fraud. I won't go into detail on those but I was surprised to see pimps here (haha). Those punished for sowing discord... HOLY! Something like those who tore others apart would themelves be torn apart. The last and 9th Circle of Hell: Treachery. This has 4 sections: (1) traitors to family, (2) political/national traitors, (3) traitors to guests, and (4) traitors to their lords/benefactors. In the center of this final Circle of Hell is Satan himself, who committed the worst sin of all -- treachery against god himself. And on the other side is Easter! Why doesn't anyone tell this story on Easter?
My take away is that I need to learn about definitions for poetry and how it has changed over the centuries. Was poetry intended to be read aloud? I don't consider this whole Inferno thing a poem. Fight me.
I will totally admit... I am very curious about what happens in Purgatory. However, not from the book; I prefer the cartoon version.
In terms of application, if Dante's Inferno were real, my soul wouldn't make it past the 1st Circle (Limbo) because I lacked the faith. I would be a virtuous pagan sentenced to an eternity of damnation and denied entry into paradise, but I get a seat next to Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle. Thankfully, the Roman Catholic Church effectively buried the concept of Limbo in 2007 after it filled-up with unbaptized babies. The 2nd Circle of Hell is Lust. Dante saw Lust as a mutual indulgence, and therefore the least heinous of sins, with the most lenient punishment. So, I'm going to go ahead an promote myself to the 2nd Circle with my girl Cleopatra. The 3rd Circle of Hell is Gluttony where souls are punished for over-indulgence and over-consumption. It was difficult to recognize anyone here because they were wormlike gelatinous blobs. The 4th Circle is Greed, where those who cared too much for material goods would be punished. Here there are two groups: (1) those who would hoard their possessions and money, and (2) those who spent their money freely but neglected the value of their possessions and squandered everything they had. The 5th Circle is Wrath. What happens here seems personal for Dante. I think this was the first time I heard mention of fire. Before the 6th Circle, there was an unexpected surprise for me (I won't spoil it). Next is Heresy, where the Epicureans who value pleasure above all else are found. Circle 7 is the Circle of Violance, which is further divided into three sections: (1) those who commit an act of violence against others and their property, like Attila the Hun, (2) those who committed acts of violence against themselves, including suicide, and (3) those who committed acts of violence against god or nature. After Circle 7, it became evident to me where the talking trees in the Wizard of Oz came from (haha). Here he described flakes of fire raining from above and "eternal burning." There are 3 people that Dante encounter around this time who gave me surprise #2 on the nature of Hell. The 8th Circle is Fraud, which has 10 inner circles, each one punishing a different act of fraud. I won't go into detail on those but I was surprised to see pimps here (haha). Those punished for sowing discord... HOLY! Something like those who tore others apart would themelves be torn apart. The last and 9th Circle of Hell: Treachery. This has 4 sections: (1) traitors to family, (2) political/national traitors, (3) traitors to guests, and (4) traitors to their lords/benefactors. In the center of this final Circle of Hell is Satan himself, who committed the worst sin of all -- treachery against god himself. And on the other side is Easter! Why doesn't anyone tell this story on Easter?
My take away is that I need to learn about definitions for poetry and how it has changed over the centuries. Was poetry intended to be read aloud? I don't consider this whole Inferno thing a poem. Fight me.
I will totally admit... I am very curious about what happens in Purgatory. However, not from the book; I prefer the cartoon version.