Western World Literature

Dante's Canto VI

In Canto VI, Dante mixes and weaves ancient stories and mythology into his Christian portrayal of afterlife, such as the three-headed dog Cerberus.

However, by placing the pagan gods into the Christian concept of Hell, his intention reflects that he believes Christianity as the supreme moral order and the ultimate authoritative system.

Much like the punishments in the prior circles, here they too are equally grotesque as the sins themselves (Alighieri 1983). Those who lusted pay dearly in Dante's circle of hell for their sins and obsessions of the bodily flesh. Although, he laments for them, Dante's condemnation of the lovers, Paolo and Francesca, are harsh and appear unequal to their sins.

Dante places those who derived excessive pleasure from sex were thrown into the mire of excrement along with the other sinners of gluttony (Alighieri 1983). Those souls, such as Paolo and Francesca, were forced to lie prone in the dark, having their nerves stimulated by the storm, unceasingly, for eternity. Just as the act of sexual contact stimulates the nerves of the flesh, and is usually conducted in the dark while lying down, Dante recreates these conditions in his inferno for the lovers (Alighieri 1983). Moreover, because they could not restrain the temptation of their emotions, their bodies are bludgeoned. Dante is telling his audience that those who enjoy pursuing pleasure in life will lie for eternity in disgust, using excrement to represent the product of their greed. "New torments I behold, and new tormented, Around me, whichsoever way I move, And whichsoever way I turn, and gaze" (Alighieri 1983).

Although, Dante laments the lovers' fate, he condemns them nonetheless based on Christian morality. "And I, sad soul, am not the only one, For all these suffer the like penalty, For the like sin" (Alighieri 1983). It is almost as if he feels that by denying earthly passions and romance on earth, no matter how tempting, would help one achieve Godly perfection. However, he does show sympathy for Paolo and Francesca, and the mythical queen, Dido, who committed suicide for unrequited love. Dante punishes Dido, for loving too much, a lesser sin than suicide (Alighieri 1983).