Author: Dante Alighieri
Year: 1965 (1321)
Publisher: Rabén & Sjögren
Language: Swedish (Translator Aline Pipping)
MIDWAY upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.*
These are
the first lines of “Inferno”; the first book in Dante Alighieri’s legendary
epic The Divine Comedy. What follows is an account of the horrors of hell, but
also its structure, its purpose, and the sometimes surprising shadows or souls that
it contains.
In this
journey through the underworld, Dante guides his readers through a vividly
imagined afterlife, where souls undergo trials and tribulations commensurate
with their earthly misdeeds. The journey is structured as a descent through
nine concentric circles of Hell, each representing a different category of sin,
with the final circle housing Satan himself. Throughout Inferno, Dante employs
rich symbolism to convey his allegorical vision of Hell. The various
punishments inflicted on sinners, both contemporary and historic, both real and
mythological, are not only literal but also symbolic representations of the
spiritual consequences of their actions.
Through his
allegorical exploration of sin, redemption, and divine justice, Dante offers
profound insights into the human condition, inviting readers to contemplate the
nature of existence and the quest for spiritual enlightenment, but he does so
through a distinctly Christian lens. Even though the deeds of the men and women
whose shadows populate underworld in the afterlife may be perfectly human, the
judgment is altogether Christian.
This
hierarchical structure of Hell reflects medieval Christian theology, which
categorised sins based on their severity and moral implications and yet Dante
is by no means oblivious to the plight of mankind and the weaknesses of the
human flesh and mind. The very first circle is Limbo and is dedicated to those
who departed from the world of the living without ever having known Christ as
their saviour, for example heathens and unchristened infants, who have
otherwise not sinned. The next four circles of Hell house the sinners of
incontinence. This refers to sinners who have fallen prey to the exaggeration
of natural human desires and follows the teachings of Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics
which singles out those weak minds that allow their desires to overcome their
rationality. Here we find the lustful, they gluttonous, the greedy, and the wrathful.
Heretics are found in circle six, and murderers and sodomites in the seventh circle
together with those who committed suicide. In the eighth circle, Dante meets
with panderers, flatterers, seducers, sorcerers, instigators, and counterfeiters.
The ninth and final circle of Hell is where Satan keeps traitors.
A key
element to all these sinners is that their sin only governs which circle they
are sent you to. According to Catholic doctrine, the reason anybody ends up in
Hell in the first place is their failure to repent. Until their last breath,
every human being is able to escape damnation just by acknowledging their sins
and accepting Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. Only if they fail to do that,
they will be subject to the torments of Inferno. The rest is simply logistics.
Having said
that, when we read “Inferno”, it is necessary to remember that, although heavily
influenced by Greek, Roman, and Christian symbolism, philosophy, and theology,
the work remains the brainchild of Dante alone. Although the concept of Hell rests
on Christian doctrine, and it is reasonable to assume that Dante, who was in
exile in the Vatican when he first began to toil over this masterpiece, made
extensive theological research for his work, the result is still the product of
a poet and artist and does not constitute part of the teachings of the Catholic
Church.
A few
observations may still be of interest to a 21st century reader.
First, the
hierarchical arrangement of the levels or circles in Hell seems to be grouped based
on with the victim of the sinners’ deeds in life. Those consigned to the upper
circles primarily inflicted harm upon themselves through their sins. The
circles behind the walls of the city of Hell but before the Well of the Giants
are for the deceitful who defrauded individuals who placed unwarranted trust in
them. This is also where sins of violence is punished. Beyond the Well of
Giants are those who deceived their own kin, homeland, friends, and
benefactors.
Second,
following as a consequence of the first, is the relatively light punishment for
the sinners of incontinence. Lust in particular, although disproportionately vilified
by contemporary adherents of certain pseudo-Christian denominations,
particularly of the evangelical low church confessions, is relegated to a
relatively lenient sentence. Dante positions these sinners outside the city gates
of Hell signalling his discernment that their offenses do not merit the same
type of perpetual torment endured by many others. In contrast, sins such as
simony, flattery, and sorcery are deemed far graver. It is noteworthy that
while acts of pimping and seduction incur explicit condemnation, the profession
of prostitution per se does not. Indeed, the sole mention of a prostitute, Ptolemy’s
courtesan Thaïs, in Inferno pertains to her flattery rather than her
extramarital liaisons.
Third, it
may appear counterintuitive to a modern reader that acts of violence and even
murder receive milder retribution than e.g. deceit. Dante also grapples with
this conundrum and in Canto 11 eturn man away from his humanity and make him a
beast. Acts of deceit on the other hand, are sins that exploit the unique faculties
given to man from God to the fullest: reason, planning, the comprehension of
truth, and the volition to deceive. Therefore, by perverting the most quintessential
attributes God has given to man, the gifts that define man as opposite to
beasts, these sins are more odious to God then any act of violence.
Fourth, all
of us sin in more ways than one way and each of the shadows in Inferno would
qualify for more than one circle. Dante seems to place the shadows in the
circle that corresponds to the sin that most prominently defined the sinner’s
life, not necessarily the sin that is the gravest. On the other hand, people
who had been fair and respected in their lifetime but made one decisive error are
unceremoniously condemned by Dante to the underworld. Such as Farina di Umberto
who was sent to the sixth circle as a heretic even though he had otherwise
lived his life according to the highest human standards. Perhaps the fact that
he belonged to a different political party than Dante might have had something
to do with it.
Reading
“Inferno” proves fascinating in a number of ways, not least of which is its value
as a historical document. Dante skilfully weaves personal relationships and
political feuds into his poem, occasionally lending it a somewhat parochial air.
It is as if a modern poet would grapple with the concept of damnation by
introducing King Charles III, Taylor Swift, and Rupert Murdoch into the various
infernal circles. Particularly intriguing is Dante's candid depiction of sin in
his surroundings. For example, in Canto 9 he encounters the father of his best
friend among the heretics. Apart from that, he names a catalogue of historical celebrities,
but conspicuously few of them hail from the epochs most recently predating
Dante’s own. Even biblical figures are scarce. Instead, he delves into antiquity
and summons both real and mythological beings from ancient Rome and Greece. It seems
reasonable to perceive this as a pedagogical method, referring to characters familiar
to his readers for illustrative purposes while he allowed his allusion to coeval
Florentines to serve as contemporary political critique.
Dante’s
remarkably compassionate eyes and his sublime poetry, expertly translated by into
Swedish by Aline Pipping who, contrary to Longfellow’s English rendition,
retains the poetic metric of the Italian original, Hell becomes vividly palpable
and intuitively comprehensible. While no depiction, whether verbal or visual, can
probably even begin to encapsulate the profound darkness and desolation of the underworld,
it is undeniable that after seven centuries, Dante’s project still constitutes the
benchmark for the popular conception of Hell in the Christian part of the
world.
*In Henry
Wadsworth Longfellow’s translation from 1867
