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Religious Allegory In Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy

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Religious Allegory In Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy
Dante Alighieri wrote The Divine Comedy, an epic poem which was split into three parts: The Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory), and Paradiso (Paradise). The Divine Comedy is a religious allegory, which teaches a moral lesson. The Inferno is a telling of Dante’s journey through the nine circles of Hell. He begins his journey through Hell on Good Friday and ends on Easter Sunday. This symbolizes the journey of Jesus, crucified on Good Friday, where he descended into Hell and resurrected to live again on Easter Sunday. The Divine Comedy was written when Dante was going through a rough stage in life. The Roman Catholic Church abandoned and tossed aside Dante where he was now “lost,”questioning his experience in faith. The moral lesson of Dante’s …show more content…
This circle consisted of religious figures who foreshadowed Christ. Such as non-Christians, and unbaptized infants. The only sin the infants committed was not being baptized as a Christian. “For such defects, and not for other guilt, lost are we and are only so far punished, that without hope we live on in desire." The people in the first circle of Hell were not bad people they are just there for not being baptized or being born after Christianity. The consequence for circle one is that they are forced to run after a black banner or flag because they chose no banner to support in the war of Heaven. The race after the flag without stopping for eternity. Circles one through five are sins without malice. They do not hurt others. The last circle of Hell, which is the most severe circle is Traitors. This circle is a place where people who have betrayed family, their masters, their guests and their country. This last circle in Hell is the most horrendous. It consists of an ice frozen lake which Satan makes sure the ice stays cold for the sinners. Also, the final circle is divided into four sub circles. Each sinner goes to the level of betrayal they have committed. People are expected to love their family, country, masters, and guests. Not doing so will lead to alarming

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