In Canto fourteen, Dante and Virgil enter the Third Ring of the Seventh Circle of Hell. The punishment of the violent against God, nature, or industry is derived from the biblical account of the destruction of the “cities of the plain” (Martinez and Durling, note to lines 8-39, canto 14 p.5797r). The destruction of the cities of the plain was said to be a figure of the Last Judgement in the New Testament (Martinez and Durling, note to lines 8-39, canto 14 p.5797r). The “three laws” correspond to the three sins, blasphemy, usury and sodomy, are punished in this sub circle (Martinez and Durling, note to lines 22-24, canto 14 p.5797s). The rain of fire falls throughout all three zones of this sub circle. The first zone that they come across is for the Blasphemers. In this zone “Of naked souls… some were lying supine on the earth, some were sitting all huddled, and some were walking ceaselessly” (Inferno 14, 18-23). Among the sinners Dante sees a giant, whom Virgil identifies as “Capaneus… This was one of the seven kings who besieged Thebes; and he had, and seems still to have, God in disdain, and respects him little” (Inferno 14, 60-71). Capaneus’ pride is not “extinguished” (Inferno 14, 63). I researched more about Capaneus and found that he was a figure who thought himself so strong that not even Jove could destroy him, but instead he was destroyed by the thunderbolts of Jove (Cliffnotes). For his blasphemy on Earth, he is condemned to Hell, and states “As I was alive, so am I dead” to Dante (Inferno 14, 49). This emphasizes that he has not changed (Cliffnotes). According to Virgil, Capaneus will continue to be punished more than anyone else in this circle as he keeps blaspheming against God (Cliffnotes). Capaneus is an example of the saying “We are our own hell” (Barolini). Hell is a condition in which the soul is permanently oneself as one was on earth- unrepentant and unameliorated, with no hope of change or growth (Barolini). The soul that did not repent of its sins while alive, is fixed for eternity with its sins, it is stuck with itself; this connects with Capaneus’ line “As I was alive, so am I dead” (Baronlini). Vergil explains that his undiminished pride is in fact his most appropriate punishment (Baronlini). If the motto of the sinners here is that they are now what they always were, then in effect these sinners create their own Hell (Baronlini).

References:
Alighieri, Dante, et al. Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri : Inferno, edited by Ronald L. Martinez,
Oxford University Press USA – OSO, 1996. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/huntercollege-ebooks/detail.action?docID=693941.

Barolini, Teodolinda. “Inferno 14: We Are Our Own Hell: sunt lacrimae rerum.” Commento
Baroliniano, Digital Dante. New York, NY: Columbia University Libraries, 2018. https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/dante/divine-comedy/inferno/inferno-14/

https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/d/the-divine-comedy-inferno/summary-and-analysis/canto-xiv

Koch, Joseph Anton (Austrian painter, engraver, and draftsman, 1768-1839), Ghirardoni, Giovanni Andrea (Italian painter, died ca. 1628). Iconografia dantesca. 1904. Artstor, library.artstor.org/asset/SS33624_33624_33391147

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