In his amazing, awesome creation, The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri painted in paints the paintings of the punishments of sinners. The expression "9 circles of hell" received a vivid visualization, which, undoubtedly, greatly affected believers. And in our time, the work of Dante is studied and interpreted, because as long as religion exists, the same amount of punishment for misconduct before God will be relevant. Our article is devoted to the description of the circles of hell in a famous work. Let us imagine a unique picture that stretches before the eyes of the heroes of "Divine Comedy".
Generalized Features of Dante's Hell
Traveling through the terrible circles of hell, you can see the pattern. The first circles represent the eternal punishment for intemperance in life. The farther, the sins of people are less material, that is, they affect the moral aspects of life. Accordingly, with each round of torture of sinners is more terrible. The way in which Dante presented 9 circles of hell to readers causes a storm of emotions and, as we hope, and what the author of antiquity hoped for, will warn people from evil deeds. Dante's pictorial representation of the geography of hell, of course, was not initial information. The poet expressed the experience and theories of philosophers and predecessors, describing 9 circles of hell. According to the Bible, such a representation is expressed in seven levels of purifying the souls of sinners.
So, Dante in his work relies on the centric structure of hell, where groups of circles are characterized by different severity of sins. As we have already noticed, the closer to the center, the harder the sin.
Aristotle in his work "Ethics" classifies sins according to categories: the first is incontinence, the second is violence against others and himself, the third category is deception and betrayal.
Now we will embark on a journey through a world where punishment reigns, and for each misconduct is fully repaid - we begin acquaintance with the circles of hell.
The first circle. Limbo
In the first round of hell, the suffering of sinners is painless. The punishment here is eternal grief, but it fell to those who were not baptized.
So, among the grieving souls on Limba there are the righteous from the Old Testament (Noah, Abraham, Moses), ancient philosophers (including Virgil). The circle is guarded by Charon - the very carrier of souls across the River Styx. Further - about the interesting, which contains the "Divine Comedy" by Dante, on other circles.
The second circle. Voluptuousness
On the second circle, created for punishment during the lifetime of the intemperate in love, sinners are guarded by King Minos himself , the very father of the monster of the Minotaur. Here he also acts as a fair judge, distributing souls in relevant circles.
On this circle there is a constant darkness in which a hurricane rages. The souls of those who cheated on their spouse are thrown mercilessly by the wind.
The third circle. Gluttony
On the third circle of hellish torment are those who during life were unrestrained in food. Glutton pours cold rain, eternal dirt underfoot.
A guardian with a glutton is a hellish dog with three heads - Cerberus. Those sinful souls that fall into his paws, he swallows. And we will continue to delve into how Dante introduced 9 circles of hell.
The fourth circle. Greed
In the next round, punishments become even tougher. Here are the souls of those who were greedy in different areas of life. The punishment looks like this: on a vast plain, two masses of souls push huge stones towards each other. When the lines collide, you have to diverge again and start work again.
Plutos, the Greek god of wealth mentioned in Homer's Odyssey, is on guard for greedy sinners.
The fifth circle. Anger and laziness
The fifth circle is a wide swamp. Violent and lazy souls constantly fight, swimming in swamp water. Phlegius, the founder of the Phlegian robbers, the son of Ares, was assigned to the circle of terrible punishments.
The circle of the sixth. False teachers and heretics
Everyone who preached other gods and misled peoples fell into the seventh (according to Dante) circle of hell. In the Flaming City are the souls of such sinners. There they are tormented in open, hot, like ovens, graves. They are guarded by terrible monsters - mythical Fury sisters with snakes instead of hair. Between the sixth and next circles, a delimiting fetid ditch. Distant areas begin, where they torment for even more serious sins.
The seventh circle. Assassins and rapists
Presented by Dante, 9 circles of hell continue the seventh - a place where the souls of murderers of different planes, including suicides, tyrants, are tormented.
Killers and perpetrators of violence are in the middle of the steppe, over which rain of fire pours. He scorches sinners, also here they are torn by dogs, they catch and torment harpies. Even into trees, forever standing helpless, they turn murderers in the seventh circle of hell. The horrible mythical monster Minotaur watches the regularly tortured souls.
Circle of the eighth. Cheated
Ahead we have the most impressive of 9 circles of hell. According to the Christian Bible, just like in other religions, deceivers are subjected to one of the most severe punishments. So they got a place in Dante, so destructive that only immortal souls can exist here.
The eighth circle represents the Cloaks - 10 ditches, in which amidst fortune-tellers and fortune tellers, guilty priests, hypocrites, sorcerers, false witnesses, alchemists. Sinners are boiled in tar, beaten with hooks, shackled into the rocks and poured over the feet with fire. Various bastards and diseases torment them. The guardian is the giant Gerion.
Circle nine, center. Traitors and Traitors
According to Dante's poem, in the center of hell lies Lucifer, frozen in the icy lake. His face is facing down. He also torments other famous traitors: Judah, Brutus, Cassius.
Amid the hellish cold, all the other betrayed souls are tormented. They are guarded by the giant Antei, the traitor of the Spartans Ephialt and the son of Uranus and Gaia Briaria.
Conclusion
Finally, we emerged from the hellish world created by Dante Alighieri. The Divine Comedy, the content of which we have thus embraced, is a work that has come down to us through the centuries due to its ability to impress the minds of readers. The work is deservedly considered a classic, a must read.
Now we know on the basis of what the legendary Dante created 9 circles of hell, and what they are. We note once again that the pictures presented to readers are striking in scope and content: as if all the person’s fear of death and the afterlife was embodied in a single thought expressed by the poem "Divine Comedy". If this book is not yet open before you, 9 circles of hell are quite ready to place your soul ...