Fire & Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
and would suffice.

In the Inferno, by Dante Alighieri, Dante travels through the nine  rings of hell and throughout these rings we see the symbols of fire and ice. The symbol of fire is used in the six, seventh, and eight circle of hell, while the symbol of ice is only used in the ninth. These two symbols are used in expression of god feelings toward the sinners, fire represents god’s anger while ice represents god’s love toward them. This shows that Dante’s plan for hell is that even though god is angry at you he still loves you in the end.

            As Dante travels through hell he sees the elements of fire and ice as punishments for the sinners. Even though they are involved with the punishments each element is a symbol of gods feelings. Fire is the symbol of gods anger toward the sinners, and it is used in the six, seventh, and eight circle of hell. In the six circle of hell the sinners are the ones that did not believe in the afterlife and god. The sinners of circle seven are the ones that had committed violence against god, god’s nature, and other men. The sinners of circle eight are the ones that have committed fraud using gods free will. Fire is used in these circles because god was angry at the sinners who didn’t believe or committed violence in god’s name. However in circle nine we see the symbol of ice.

            In the ninth circle of hell we see the only use of ice. The sinners that reside in this circle are the ones that did not accept god’s love in their lifetime. God had put ice here as a punishment to the sinners, but also to show that god still loves them even though they did not accept god into their hearts. In this circle resides Satan, who was an angel of god but eventually betrayed him and god sent him to hell, but he is frozen into the ice which shows that even if you betray god he still loves you.

            The symbols of fire and ice relate to Dante’s overall plan for hell. As he traveled through hell Dante saw the sinners that god was angry with and made them punish for it. However as he went deeper into hell he saw that everything ends in ice, or god’s love.

Fate and Fotune

No mortal power may stay her spinning wheel.
The nations rise and fall by her decree.
None may foresee where she will set her heel:

she passes, and things pass. Man's mortal reason
cannot encompass her. She rules her sphere
as the other gods rule theirs. Season by season...

In Dante’s The Inferno fate and the figure of Dame Fortune play an important role in the book. In the above passage Dante specifically talks about the mythological figure of Dame Fortune. He says that she is a very powerful god and no man can comprehend her decisions of fate. When Dante says, “No mortal power may stay her spinning wheel. The nations rise and fall by her decree” he is talking her power with the fate of man. He explains that no man can stay in her favor for long and that their fate will eventually turn bad. He also says in the passage, “ None may foresee where she will ser het heel” he says this because no one knows how their fat will turn out. I believe Dante relates the figure of Dame Fortune to god in many ways. One way is that he believes they are both powerful, by god being the creature of everything, and the figure of Dame Fortune being able to control man’s destinies. Another way is that no one can understand god or take in god’s being, and Dante explains the same thing with the figure when he says, “Man’s mortal reason can’t encompass her.” He also compares her to god by saying, “She rules her sphere as the other gods rule theirs” saying that she does the same things as other gods. I believe that this version of fate and destiny is very different than fate from Sophocles. In Sophocles’ book Oedipus, everyone is on a straight path to their destiny with no way to change it. However in the Inferno everyone has a destiny they must meet, but they can take different paths to get there. Also in Sophocles’ Oedipus the path is made by the gods, while in The Inferno it is directed by the gods, but made by man.

Punishments and the Contrapasso of the Vestibule

As Dante journeys through upper hell he goes through Vestibule, which is filled with the souls of the people that wear not accepted into heaven nor hell. They endure the punishments from the sins of opportunity and lack of moral choices. The punishments they face for the sins they committed relate to what the sins was exactly.

The punishments that the souls face in the Vestibule relate to the sins they committed in their real life. One of the punishments was not being accepted into heaven nor hell because they had made moral decisions that were neither good or bad throughout their life. Another punishment in the vestibule is being forever stung by wasps and their blood being eaten by maggots from ignoring their conscience. Also they are forever to be chasing a banner that they can never catch to represent the opportunities they had in life. In the rings of hell each one of their punishments corresponds with the sin they had made in life.

In each of the rings of hell, the punishment corresponds with the sin made in life. In the vestibule people are forever stung by wasps and hornets. This is represents their conscience that they ignored when making moral choices during their life time. Another punishment is that maggots eat at the blood and puss caused by the hornet stings. This represents the filth and dirt from the immoral choices they made. Also the souls are forever chasing a white banner that they can never catch, and it represents the opportunities that they chased after in their life. The final punishment in the vestibule is not being allowed into heaven or hell. Not being allowed into hell or heaven represents how the sinners didn’t chose a side in the battle of God and Satan by making conscience moral choices in life.

As Dante goes through the Vestibule he sees the souls that wear not allowed into heaven nor hell. Also he sees the punishments they face for their lack of morals and the opportunities they chased after.