I haven’t read any of Dante’s inferno prior to taking this course. However, I have some general idea as to Dante’s style of writing since I did read La Vita Nuova which translates to “the new life”. Inferno in my opinion is Dante’s historical fiction which is based off his personal experiences where he can express his admiration with Virgil.

I have blogged a few posts on my interpretation of some cantos. In the first post, I summarized the first canto which I have realized that I should’ve elaborated more. I interpreted this canto as Dante having lost his way and he needs the guidance of his mentor (Virgil) to guide him through the dark forest. I think that this is Dante telling the reader where he gets his inspiration from for all his works although he isn’t actually dead. In this post, I put an image of the beasts that are in this canto. I think this image was useful in a sense that it helps us visualize what is actually happening.

Although I had trouble understanding what was actually happening in the cantos, I decided to create my own images to help myself understand Dante’s journey through the circles of hell. My favorite canto that I have drawn out was canto 19. This canto begins with Simon Magus who is being punished for selling spiritual and divine favors. This of course is considered a sin to Dante which is called Simoney. I drew the souls having their bodies in a hole with their legs sticking out completely on fire which is their punishment. One of the souls especially stood out who turned out to be a former pope sold God’s grace to his followers named Pope Nicholas the 3^rd. this canto showed me that Dante doesn’t feel any pity or compassion for those who sin against God.

Lastly, I mentioned canto 25, the 7^th pouch of the 8^th circle. Again, Dante is glad that Vanni Fucci was being tortured by snakes because he also had sinned against god. In this canto, the thieves are the ones who are being punished. This is why a centaur by the name of cacus was being tortured for stealing from Hercules. This introduces the reader to the theme of transformation where spirits/people are transformed into serpents. We can see that in this canto Dante has a greater acceptance of God’s punishment towards these souls.

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