Tag Archives: Satan

Justified Punishment

Dante at this point, now fully understands why these sins are punished and how essential it is for the punishment to match the severity of their sins. What I want to find out is why is Lucifer isn’t active throughout Inferno? It would make sense for the king of Hell to apply his might against the dammed throughout Dante and Virgil’s pilgrimage. To help us understand the very nature around Hell and Lucifer let us examine Canto 33 . Here in this Canto, Dante and Virgil are in the ninth circle and they come across a sinner named Count Ugonilo who chews the neck of his killer and betrayer, Archbishop Ruggieri. Both of these men are betrayers, but what’s important to note is how Ugonilo acts for his sins: “That sinner raised his mouth from his fierce meal, / then used the head that he had ripped apart / in back; he wiped his lips upon it’s hair.” (Alighieri 1-3).  Ugonilo attacks the man who betrayed with anger and disgust. There is hate in those bites. It’s evident here that wrath has made Ugonilo go insane with rage.

Examining Canto 34, Virgil and Dante are in the City of Dis. They meet the king of Hell who stands in the middle showing no emotions(I will discuss about Lucifer nature later). Lucifer has three heads to which each mouth contains a sinner: Judas, who betrayed Jesus Christ, Brutus and Cassius both of whom betrayed Julius Caesar.  All three men are chewed and shredded, never dying: “Within each mouth he used it like a grinder/ with gnashing teeth he tore to bits a sinner, / so that he bought much pain to three at once.(Alighieri 55-57).  According to this, these sinners are forever in a state of perpetual agony. Notice that these sinners are expressing emotion unlike Lucifer himself. With these examples in mind, I believe Dante meant to show the readers that although the sinners are touched by evil. They still remain human. Pure evil has no traces of humanity, which would make sense since Lucifer is evil incarnate.

There is an interesting note about Purgatory that further explains the presence of sins around humans and perhaps Dante’s intentions about the sinner’s circumstances. In Canto 1 of Purgatory, Dante and Virgil meet Cato, a Roman Politician who is famous for his defiance of Julius Caesar.  What fascinating about this sinner Cato is the fact he killed himself as a form of freedom from Julius Caesar as explain by Virgil, “You know it who, in Utica, found death/ for freedom was not bitter, when you left/ the garb that will be bright on the great day.”(Alighieri 73-75). Since we’ve come to know that suicide is a crime against God, it’s problematic to see Cato’s role in this realm. To understand why Cato is in Purgatory instead of Hell we must remember that Dante based his morality on Aristotle’s schema. According to Aristotle, death by suicide is a crime against one’s society, but in Cato’s case his society was conquer by Julius Caesar. Rather than being in part of the new society by the conqueror, he decided to free himself by suicide. This is why there is a special case for Cato Presence, for his actions is proof his incorruptible nature.

 

The Punishment of Satan/The Contrapasso of Lucifer

Dante and Virgil Encounter Lucifer in Hell, 1923 Giclee Print by Henry John Stock

In Canto 34, Dante is introduced to Satan, “the creature who had once been beautiful.” (17-18) Dante’s descriptions of Satan are haunting, so haunting that Dante pauses the dialogue to engage the reader stating: “I became frozen and feeble, do not ask reader, for I do not write it, and all speech would be insufficient.” (22-24) But Satan’s real punishment isn’t just his eternal fate in hell. He’s doomed to forever be one with hell, punishing not only Judas, Brutus, and Cassius, but also the other members of the 9th circle with the cold beats of his bat-like wings. In other words, he’s reduced to a mechanism of hell, equivalent to other beasts and lower forms we’ve seen in other Cantos, like Cerberus or Plutus from upper hell.

The contrapasso of Lucifer is very evident. Not only through his punishment, but Dante’s descriptions of Lucifer. Almost without exception Dante refers to Satan’s prior perfection, literally a “light-bearer,” the translation of Lucifer: “If he was as beautiful then as now he is ugly, when he lifted his brow against his Maker.” (34-35) This further develops the idea of his punishment. A rebel against God, he is now doomed to forever remain a mechanism of God’s divine justice. A punishment to others who also violated God’s divine authority.

Lucifer’s physical punishment also reflects this contrapasso. Massive in size, but rooted in ice, Lucifer is both incredibly intimidating but at the same time utterly docile. This is further illustrated by his utter silence throughout the canto, forced to continue God’s will and chew sinners for eternally with three mouths, a parallel to the trinity.

I think that the geology of lower hell is very interesting, especially in reference to Satan. As Virgil and Dante leave the 9th circle to exit hell, Dante describes how “I raised my eyes, thinking to see Lucifer as I had left him, and I saw that he extended his legs upward.” (88-89) I like to think that this is a reference to the 8th circle, 3rd Bolgia, in which the feet of simonists are engulfed in flame. In a certain way, Satan too used his position in a different context for personal gain.

Ultimately, I think that the punishment of Lucifer is a poetic and powerful transition into Purgatorio. I think that because of Lucifer’s silence in the Canto and his diminished state as a mechanism of hell reflects the punishment of sinners in the Anti-Inferno, who aren’t recognized at all. While Satan is recognized, he isn’t glorified or even dignified by speech, as other sinners have been. He’s simply condemned to his fate and eternally frozen in the absence of God’s light, and warmth.

The final encounter – the most terrifying or the most puzzling?

 

 

Suloni Robertson

Lucifer (with Brutus, Judas, & Cassius)

I found this photo in a Circle 9 Gallery , The University of Texas at Austin, http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/gallery12.html

 

 Dante’s journey through hell is slowly coming to an end. As he walks on sinners (literally) completely submerged in thick ice, he can barely see, through dense fog, an enormous shape slowly appearing on the horizon (similar situation to when he saw the giants). Both the pilgrim and the readers anticipate to finally see not only the greatest sinner of them all but also the most terrifying and ultimate punishment that takes place at the very bottom of hell. Dante builds the suspense with the pilgrim’s words: “How do I became frozen and feeble, do not ask, reader, for I do not write it, and all speech would be insufficient.” (Divine Comedy, Canto XXXIV v. 22-24). Will this encounter with “the emperor of the dolorous kingdom” (Divine Comedy, Canto XXXIV v. 27) go beyond sadness, anguish, despair and growing cruelty that we saw through the pilgrim’s eyes in previous cantos? Or are we, the readers, up for a big disappointment?

First of all, although the physical appearance of the fallen angel might look horrifying end extremely bestial at first glance, it doesn’t seem so scary after more thorough observation. Lucifer is completely isolated, trapped in a frozen lake from the waist down. He has three faces with three different colors (yellow – impotence, red – ignorance, black – hate), which mirror the Trinity. As Barollini described it: “In spiritual terms, Lucifer is the antithesis of the Divine Trinity: Lucifer spirates death where the Trinity spirates love.” He moves his gigantic bat wings bringing about freezing wind that keeps the ice from melting.

Besides, the king of hell, although repulsive and frightful, is completely immobile. He performs several functions, in a very mechanical and repetitive way, that make him look like a robot. He mechanically bats his wings and continuously munches on three damned souls (Judas Iscariot, Brutus and Cassius). The bloody tears that come out of his monstrous eyes also seem robotic because there is no emotion to be seen in his face (or faces in this case) The repetitive and ongoing movement makes Lucifer extremely predictable, monotonous but also powerless. It is obvious that he is nothing but an instrument operated by God’s hands.

Moreover, Lucifer is completely mute, unable to express himself in any way. He is deprived of any voice, emotion or reaction. There is no communication between him and the pilgrim, no involvement or any part, no interest. This is completely different from what was presented in previous Cantos. Dante was able to communicate with the damned souls who expressed their reaction to the situation they found themselves in. Some of them asked the pilgrim to remember them when he gets back to the living. The sinners in previous cantos have a voice, some show emotions, some tell their stories and some just choose to stay silent and be eternally forgotten.

To sum up, the last encounter between the pilgrim and the king of hell seems a little puzzling and powerless, although expected to be powerful and dramatic. The characters do not have any kind of relationship or communication due to the fact that Lucifer is only a mechanical beast performing robotic functions. It comes as a surprise that he is in fact utterly insignificant, immobile, sterile and mute. Who I believed to be the biggest sinner at the bottom of hell is not in fact one of those being endlessly tormented. He is nothing but a tool in God’s hands, like other devils in hell. He doesn’t participate whatsoever in Dante’s moral growth, which will eventually bring him closer to God, but he does provide a passage for the pilgrim and his guide to Purgatorio.

The transition from torment, sin & evilness to spiritual cleansing, unification & praise

In canto 33, the sinner who is chewing on his neighbor raises his head and tells Dante that he is Count Ugolino from Pisa and he eats the head of Archbishop Ruggieri (who imprisoned Ugolino and his sons in a tower, where they starved to death). Ugolino re-tells his story to Dante, by saying that starvation led Ugolino to gnaw at his own hands and his sons mistook this for hunger and offered their bodies as food, willingly sacrificing their own bodies. Ugolino states, “There he died; and as you see me, I saw the three fall one by one between the fifth day and the sixth; and I, already blind, took to groping over each of them, and for two days I called them, after they were dead. Then fasting had more power than grief” (Canto 33, lines 70-75). Dante cries out against Pisa because Ugolino was a traitor, but his sons were starved to death as a punishment for Ugolino’s betrayal in which Dante the author accuses the Pisan government of unjustly punishing Ugolino’s sons. Dante uses this individual’s story (Ugolino) as a way to criticize an Italian town; unlike Dante the pilgrim’s previous journey where he faints from the pity from Francesca and Paolo’s story, Dante is learning to moderate his responses in regard to the suffering souls of the sinners. But for Dante the author, Ugolino’s betrayal of his city does not negate or make invalid the fact that Ugolino loves his sons and the grief Ugolino felt for his sons was genuine. Moving on to the next ring, one suffering soul begs Dante to pull the layer of frozen tears from his face, so that he can cry once more (even though these tears will freeze over his face again and again). Dante agrees as long as the spirit tells him his name, which is Fra Alberigo. Friar Alberigo killed his own brother after inviting him to a dinner. Dante learns Alberigo is not dead, but that this region of Hell called Ptolomaea (which reserves souls for those who betray guests; the demon in this circle holds the souls even before they have died). The bodies of these people are then possessed by demons on earth. He points out another suffering soul to Dante whom is Branca d’Oria, who Dante knows to be alive. Dante’s sense of God’s justice is evident as Fra Alberigo asks Dante to scrape the ice from his eyes but Dante refuses, saying “I did not open them for him; and it was courtesy to treat him boorishly” (Canto 33, lines 149-150). This canto draws a contrast between Dante’s criticism of the Pisan government, which demonstrates the imperfection of human beings and God, whose punishments may seem pitiless but are always just.

 

In canto 34, Virgil and Dante are approaching Hell and the king of Hell –Satan. Satan has three faces: one red, one yellow, and one black. Satan also has three pairs of wings that beat which causes the great wind and freezes the river. In each mouth he chews a sinner—Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus, and Brutus and Cassius, who betrayed Julius Caesar. Virgil and Dante then climb up onto Satan’s monstrous body. Dante holds tight to Virgil as they make the perilous climb up Satan’s body (which isn’t the first time they climb up something steep; which occurs in Canto 24-25 — when they cross the bridge). Dante and Virgil finally reach an area in which they can rest. Dante looks out from it, expecting to see Lucifer’s head, but instead Dante the pilgrim sees his legs stretching up before him, as if everything is upside down. Also, instead of night, its now morning. Virgil says they have passed through Earth into the Southern Hemisphere, and because Satan fell to Earth from Heaven in this hemisphere, there is no land, just ocean. As a transitional segue, Virgil gives more information about the structure of the world as he and Dante move towards Purgatorio. When Satan fell from Heaven, Virgil says, his impact caused a pit to form on Earth which became Hell. Dante looks up and is able to see the bright stars in the sky, which he hasn’t seen since entering hell. The symbolism of the three heads represents Dante’s tendency to mix Christian figures (the holy trinity) with those from Greek and Roman history and mythology. The other demons of Hell express emotion(s), however, Satan, as the manifestation of damnation doesn’t explain his circumstances or express any emotion; instead Satan seems automatic in a mechanical way – hence his tears and his violent, chewing of the sinners. Perhaps Dante the writer does this as way to show that while many of the other sinners are affected by evilness, they still remain fundamentally human; which is something readers are able to see in Virgil and Dante as well. However, pure evil (like Satan) contains no traces of humanity. The imagery in the ending of this canto is visually appealing when Dante writes, “My leader and I entered on that hidden path to return to the bright world; and, without taking care for rest at all, up we climbed, he first and I second, until I saw the beautiful things the heavens carry, through a round opening. And thence we came forth to look again at the stars” (canto 34, lines 133-139).  Dante the pilgrim is no longer in a dark wood: but instead is exiting from the world of torment, suffering and sin and heading towards a world signaling God’s presence: emerging into the light of God’s love. He has to more to learn on his journey and has to move forward, but at the end of Inferno, the cantica suggests that Dante the pilgrim is no longer lost.

 

Canto 1 in Purgatorio an important soul appears which is Cato — Cato who was a Roman politician and known for his defiance of Julius Caesar. Cato questions Dante and Virgil asking Virgil why he is in Purgatory, since Virgil’s soul is designated to Limbo and Dante is not yet dead. Virgil explains to Cato that their journey is permissioned by the heavenly figure Beatrice whom asked Virgil to lead Dante through the afterlife. Cato orders Virgil to prepare Dante by binding his waist with a reed and washing him clean of the filth of Hell. Because Cato is a non-Christian, it seems strange he welcomes souls entering into Purgatory. Therefore, Cato would seem to belong with Virgil in Limbo. In addition, another, more perceptible problem is Cato’s death is suicide, which he chose rather than surrender to his enemy Julius Caesar. Traditionally, Catholic religion held suicide to be among the greatest of mortal sins, and Dante puts those who died by suicide their own special place in Hell (canto 13 with Pier Della Vigna). However, Dante the poet, makes an exception for Cato, whose suicide is excused and even proves the politician’s righteous nature. Canto 2 in Purgatorio, there is a flash of light from across the sea which signals the approach of an angel coming towards Dante and Virgil, a sight that overpowers Dante when he states, “When, for a moment, I’d withdrawn my eyes that I might ask a question of my guide, I saw that light again, larger, more bright. Then, to each side of it, I saw a whiteness, though I did not know what that whiteness was; below, another whiteness slowly showed” (canto 2, lines 19-24). This angel is guiding a boat which contains departed souls heading towards Mount Purgatory. The souls ask Virgil and Dante for directions, but Virgil admits he knows nothing of the geography when he states, “but we are strangers here, just as you are” (canto 2, line 63). Dante recognizes a friend, a musician named Casella (who is also a passenger of the boat). As Dante moves to embrace Casella, he is surprised because he grasps only air. Casella talks with Dante about life back in Italy then sings a song — Dante pleasantly listens to the soul when he says, “he then began to sing—and sang so sweetly that I still hear that sweetness sound in me” (canto 2, 113-114). Other souls join Dante in listening to the song but Casella leaves in a hasty departure. Although Dante is not dead yet, he is welcomed by the penitents with curiosity and politeness. This is one difference noted between Purgatory and Hell is that Purgatory is structured around this idea of fellowship with others, whereas the souls in Hell are cut off from God and from one another (like Farinata and Cavalcanti are in the same tombstone but don’t communicate and acknowledge each other). The damned are physically near one another, their sinful behavior causes them to be in a terrible form of solitary confinement. The singing from Cato and the souls listening also displays a type of form such as reciting psalms and singing hymns. Therefore, Purgatory consists of souls who come together in divine praise.