Dante Alighieri's Hell

What comes first into your mind when you hear the word ‘Hell’?

Pain? Depression? Eternal Suffering? Lucifer?

Hell was known to be a place where the wicked or unrighteous souls are punished after their death. A place of never ending pain, turmoil, chaos and wretchedness. Up to our time now, this depiction of Hell has been widely accepted.

This early and most recognized non-religious view of Hell was originally depicted by Dante Alighieri’s ‘Inferno’. Inferno was part of a set of works, known as “The Divine Comedy”; it also includes ‘Purgatorio’ and ‘Paradiso’.

Dante’s Hell can be compared to a funnel that seemingly extends its way to the center of the earth. Some say it can be found beneath the city of Jerusalem, which happens to be the center of the northern hemisphere. At the bottom of this funnel awaits the betrayer and the enemy of God, Lucifer. The said funnel is made up of nine circles; each corresponds to a different classification of sinners. The position of the circle depends upon the graveness of sins. The ones near the bottom possess the most severe sins. And the ones at the top are the lightest.

The first circle, known as Limbo includes people who were still wandering where to go after their death, either heaven of hell. The next three, Lustful, Gluttonous, Avaricious, represent people with the sins of weakness. These sins comprise of damaging things that we do to ourselves. The other three, Wrathful, Heretics, and Violent characterize the sins of malice. Sins that were intended and usually involved actions toward other people are part of these sins. The last two and the gravest, Fraudulent and Treacherous symbolize the sins of betrayal and pride. Satan, who himself guilty of these sins, serves as the epitome of all evil.

Dante's description of the Hell has been very clear and detailed up to the point where Dante even equated the people in Hell to those he knew on earth...