Dante's Inferno

Dante Alighieri's Hell 

(Click the Hell link above to see a simple pictorial representation of Dante's Hell).

Dante's Hell is explained in a very interesting way in Dante's Inferno. The entirety of Hell is described as a funnel-shape, leading eventually to the bottom where Satan/Lucifer sits. Along the funnel, however, are circles (separated by each canto) where separate eternal punishments exist depending on the different sins. It is through Dante's explanations of these separate circles that we find some humor peeking through his overall message. 

Dante uses many of the names of his contemporaries in this work, often poking fun at them through his description of their punishments (or foreseen punishments) in Hell. Some of the people he makes fun of are long-dead, others are those he dislikes, while still others are those he actually admires--no one is safe from his satire. For instance, in Canto XV Dante describes his former teacher, Brunetto Latini, who was a famous Florentine intellectual, as being punished in Hell in the circle kept for Sodomy (though this is never stated in the work except in a footnote on 1512) (Norton 1510-1512). Also, in the same section, a man named "Jacopo Rusticucci," blames his wife for his sin of sodomy. In Canto XVIII, those who are known as 'Flatterers' are "immersed in excrement" as punishment for their sin (1519). The hilarity of this part is further pronounced in lines 115-126, wherein Dante includes his brief conversation with Alessio Interminei from Lucca, a prominent citizen in Northern Italy. Dante makes multiple references to his own exile, and to "the rustic party" as well, of which he was allied. 

Dante mixes mythology with religion in this narrative, often making references to monsters that have been fought by Hercules, or are simply related to "pagan" gods like Jupiter, Juno, and so on. The Gorgon (Norton 1491, lines 52-60) is a threat to Dante's "pilgrim" (himself) at one point (and Virgil is ever vigilant in protecting him throughout), as are centaurs and giants. For example, lines 25-33 in Canto XXV refer specifically to the monstrous centaur with snakes on his back, Cacus, who was defeated in legend by Hercules (Norton 1543). The Furies also make an appearance in this work, and are each called by their individual names. It is uncertain as to why Dante chose to mix in mythos with religion, though this is perhaps a critique on religion as well. Regardless, the monsters he includes add their own spice to the rest of the tale, making it all the more interesting and fun to read because of the way their appearance relate to other religious and non-religious tales. 

Some of the most humorous part of the poem may be smaller details such as the part about the devils saluting to one another, making crude gestures and then the leader farting in response. It is also funny that Dante made the title "poet" sacred in Hell, giving it benefits over any other sort of career present in Hell (seeing as Dante was a poet himself, this is not altogether surprising) (1476, lines 76-79). 

Small parts of the work are interesting because of the beauty of their writing, but also because some of the words used or phrases are not familiar to us now. For instance, the word "spelt," which relates to an ancient grain, is used at one point during the tale (and I was not aware of it previously). The word "contrapasso" is used in Canto XXVIII, and it usually means "counter-penalty," or retribution (an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth). However, Dante is using it here to mean that the punishment for a sin is the sin itself--whatever sin a sinner committed in life, they commit for eternity in Hell (Norton 1460). So perhaps a flatterer is forever cursed to flatter others as he wallows in shit? 

It is also interesting to note that those heretics in Dante's Hell can see the future but not the present, and that after Judgment Day (when everyone gets their bodies back), they will be unable to see anything at all (Norton 1496, lines 97-108). Perhaps this punishment is dealt because to know something and be unable to stop it or to know if it is even being set in motion presently is a kind of torture (this feeling can be equated to how an audience might feel over the dramatic irony of Romeo's suicide in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet).

I remembered this link from a few years ago when I first had to read Dante's Divine Comedy: Click Here

This is another site of the same sort (perhaps better to use as a resource): Click Here