Corruption in Hell

A devil carrying a soul of the damned in his claws runs toward Dante and Virgil. They watch in horror as the devil throws the sinner into a river of boiling tar. This is the circle of the grafters, those corrupt politicians who abused their authority in office. Florentine politics are evident in this canto where the fraudulent leaders who exiled Dante the poet from his home reside.  Those in position of leadership, particularly in the church evoke the harshest punishments from Dante.  Do our leaders have a moral responsibility to be held to a higher standard?

Ten Reasons to Read Dante

Dante's Divine Comedy is a journey through the afterlife of Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise, written by one of the greatest classical poets in history. Here are ten reasons why this great work of literature should still be read today.

1. The Divine Comedy is a gripping and fascinating journey through the afterlife unequaled in literature.

Many scholars believe that the Divine Comedy is the greatest single work of poetry ever written. In the words of T.S Elliot: "Dante and Shakespeare divide the world between them - there is no third."

2. The story is as exciting and fresh today as it was in the 14th century.

Monsters, adventure, politics, sex, love, relationships, good and evil, this story has it all.

3. It can be enjoyed and appreciated on many levels.

Besides being the ultimate adventure, The Divine Comedy is loaded with history, intrigue, allegory, religion, and yes even comedy.

4. This is a work that can't be read just once.

Like all great literature, this work demands multiple readings. It speaks to us wherever we are in life's journey, and grows as we grow.

5. It covers the whole range of emotions.

Frustration, confusion, terror, rage, compassion, and love. And that's just in the first book.

6. It's an education in theology, philosophy, and history.

Learn about Aquinas, the classical philosophers, artists, and poets as well as the political, and religious leaders of Dante's lifetime.

7. The inhabitants of Hell remind us some people we know.

Let's face it, maybe somebody in the office?

8. Souls don't always end up where you think.

Popes in Hell, killers in Heaven, it's all about redemption and mercy.

9. Everyone loves a story about a journey.

Earth, Hell, Purgatory, Heaven. The greatest journey.

10. It has a happy ending.

After a rough start, Dante ends up in Heaven. This is ultimately a story of hope.

The paintings of William Blake

Saint Lucia transports Dante to the gate of Purgatory, 1807

Images from Inferno

Maps of Dante's Afterlife

Summary of Dante's Circles of Hell

Gate of Hell - Cowards who refused to take a stand for or against God

Forever running and getting stung by wasps.

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Circle one - Limbo

Virtuous pagans, Virgil,  Plato.  Unfulfilled desire and hopelessness.

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Circle two - The lustful

Francesa and Paolo. Cleopatra. Eternally being swirled in wind.

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Circle three - The gluttons

Guarded by the three-headed dog, Cerebrus.  Eating slime and muck.

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Circle four - The prodigal and the miserly

Hoarders and wasters pushing an enormous stone against each other.

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Circle five - The wrathful and the sullen

Thrashing and bodies torn apart in dark filthy water.

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Circle six - The heretics

Living in smoking tombs.

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Circle seven - The violent, the suicides, the blasphemers, the sodomites, the usurers

A river of boiling blood guarded by Centaurs.  Souls become a forest of suffering trees, others torn apart by dogs, rain of fire, mutilation.

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Circle eight - Fraudulent, pimps, seducers, flatterers,simonists, sorcerers, corrupt politicians, sewers of division, falsifiers, alchemists, thieves

Eternally walking and tormented.  Living in excrement.  Stuffed into holes.  Heads turned backwards.  Boiling tar.  Lead capes.  Snakes.  Flames.

Dante chats with a pope in Hell

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Circle nine - Sinners against family, betrayers, traitors against country

Encased in ice.  Home of Satan.  Cannibalism. Judas being eternally chewed by Lucifer.