INFERNO

By: Dante Alighieri

It is the first part of Dante
Alighieri’s poem, the Divine
Comedy. The Inferno tells the
journey of Dante through hell,
guided by the ancient roman
poet Virgil.
CIRCLES OF HELL
Circle of Hell Sin

Circle I
Virtuous Unbaptized

Circle II Lust
Circle III Gluttony
Circle IV Prodigality, Avarice
Circle V (Styx) Wrathful
Circle VI Heresy
Violence
Circle VII
•Against Neighbors,
•Self, God, Nature
Fraud
•Panderers, Seducers, Flatterers,
Circle VIII •Hypocrites, Thieves, False
Counselors,
• Counterfeiters, Falsifiers
Betrayal to:
Circle IX Kindred, Country, Guests, Masters
LIMBO
• The first circle contains the unbaptized and
the virtuous pagans, who, although not sinful,
did not accept Christ.

• Virgil explains that these souls are only here

because they were born without the benefit of
Christianity

• PUNISHMENT: STRUCK WITH GRIEF FROM

LACK OF GOD’S PRESCENCE
They live in a castle with seven gates which symbolizes the
seven virtues.
Dante saw many prominent people such as Homer,
Socrates, Aristotle, Cicero, Hippocrates and Julius Caesar.
LUST
• In the second
circle the lustful
were punished
by having their
spirits blown
about by an
unceasing and
strong wind.
Francesca da' Rimini cheating
with her husband’s brother
Paolo

The demon Minos judging

the sinners and assigning
them their place in Hell.
GLUTTONY
• The original sin of Gluttony encompassed
overeating, as well as wasting food. Food is
precious, especially when scarce, which
explains the inclusion of Gluttony as a Deadly
Sin.

• The gluttons were guarded by Cerberus.

• PUNISHMENT: LYING IN MIRE BOMBARDED
BY HEAVY RAIN, SNOW & HAIL; FLAYED
AND EATEN BY CERBERUS
Cerberus guarding the gluttons
• They had to pass the demon Plutus, who
praised Satan.
• The fourth circle contained the avaricious
and prodigal.
• This area of Hell is divided in half: one
side is for the wasters, the other for the
hoarders.
• PUNISHMENT: FORCED TO PUSH
BOULDERS; SOULS FACING EACH
OTHER, ENTER INTO A FIERCE BATTLE
 “See the souls over whom anger prevailed. In
the warm bath of the sun they were hateful,
down here in the black sludge of the river
Styx do they wish they had never been
born.” — Virgil
• The fifth circle also known as Styx
contains the souls of the wrathful and
the sullen.
• Dante will also hear about, but not
see, another type of tormented soul,
the Sullen.
• Punishment: The Wrathful fight each
other on the surface of the Styx, while
the Sullen gurgle beneath it.
• Those who denied the existence of God or
who worshipped false idols and devils.
• The sixth circle of hell is the City of Dis.
• PUNISHMENT: HERETICS ARE TRAPPED
IN FLAMING TOMBS
• Its entry is guarded by the Minotaur. The
seventh circle is divided into three rings.
The outer, middle and the inner ring.
• The outer ring houses the violent against
property, who are immersed in Phlegethon
, a river of boiling blood.
• The Centaurs commanded by Chiron, patrol
the ring.
• Violence against themselves or suicide
are placed as part of the Wood of the
Suicides , condemned to writhe in
eternal pain as gnarled trees.

• The other residents of this ring are the

profligates who destroy their life by
destroying the means by which life is
sustained. They are chased and torn by
dogs.
• Finally, in the inner ring those who showed
violence against God are placed in the harsh
region of the Abominable Sands.

• The blasphemers and sodomites reside in a

desert of burning sand and burning rain
falling from the sky.
FRAUD
• This circle of hell is resided by the fraudulent.
• It is divided into 10 Bolgias or stony ditches
with bridges between them.
1. Panderers and Seducer 7. Thieves
2. Flatterers 8. Evil Counselors
3. Simoniacs 9. Divisive
4. Sorcerers Individuals
10. Perjurers and
5. Corrupt Politicians
Counterfeit
6. Hypocrites
• Panderers and Seducers: Panders and Seducers run
naked in opposite directions as horned demons with
whips goad them on.
• Flatterers: They are immersed forever in a river of human
excrement.
• Sorcerers: The Sorcerers wander with their heads turned
backward on their shoulders.
• Grafters: They are thrown into a river of boiling pitch and
tar.
• Hypocrites: They are forced to wear heavy lead robes as
they walk around the circumference of their circle.
 “The lowest, blackest, and
farthest from Heaven. Well do
I know the way.” — Virgil

• Dedicated to those people who betrayed their

loved ones, friends, best friends, countries,
cities, guests and even their masters.

• Divided into 4 circles according to the graveness

of the sin. Those who commit a very severe sin
are deeper within the ice.
• Caina—Traitors to kindred: They are immersed in ice up to
their faces.
• Antenora—Traitors to country/political entities: They
are immersed in ice and forced to eat out the skull of another
sinner or have their skulls eaten by another sinner.
• Ptolomaea—Traitors to their guests: They lie supine in the
ice, which covers them, except for their faces. Their bodies on
Earth are immediately possessed by a demon, so what seems
to be a walking man has reached the stage of being incapable
of repentance.
• Judecca —Traitors to their lords and benefactors: They
are completely encapsulated in ice, distorted in all
conceivable positions. Satan appears upside down with three
faces, and in each mouth eternally being eaten are Brutus,
Cassius, and Judas Iscariot.